Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

Your choice of a wide angle lens should be based on what you intend to shoot, and what lenses you have now in your bag. The 7D is a cropped sensor camera, which uses the crop factor of 1.6, so a 10-22mm lens will give you a view of 16-35mm. If you want a wider view you'll have to look to a wide prime. Or you can learn photo stitching for panoramic shots. With a ultra wide prime, you'll possibly be looking for some barrel distortion, which can be fixed in post processing. One other lens that touts zero distortion is the Laowa 12 mm, by Venus Optics. Otherwise, many ultra wides will have some distortion from about the first 1/3 and last 1/3 of the frame, which will give a slight fisheye effect. Good luck, and enjoy Florida.

B

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Best is the 10-22mm lens
xxxxx or the 10-18 lens

JBruce Loc: Northern MN

Attached is not the usual straight on view of Mesa Arch in Canyonlands NP that I took last Look spring. Look at in the download and you will see the great detail on the far canyon wall about a quarter mile away. Shot with the 10-18 lens (at 10 mm) with a Canon 70d. The lens is light, small and silent in focusing, and reasonably priced. I'd buy another in a heartbeat, if something were to happen to this one.

(Download)

travisdeland Loc: deland, FL

I have several wide-capable lenses for my 7D2-a Sigma 10-20mm, 17-70mm, and Sig 24-105mm. While the 24-105 is my mainstay lens, I've found myself using the 10-20mm quite a bit-really like the sharpness and color.

canon Lee

Funny you should ask. I used my wide angle lens /(7D) last night on a shoot. (indoor, low light, at pool side). I usually use my EF 24mm105mm F4L but it was a tight space (and low light) to shoot from. So I took out my Canon EFS 17mm~55mm F2.8, (fixed aperture in Manual mode) and notice during the editing how unsharp it was compared to the EF 24~105. very noticeable. I have used this lens a lot shooting weddings in tight spaces but never compared it to how sharp the EF24~105 was. I had the lens fully zoomed out and my back to the wall. Perhaps it would be ok if not zoomed all the way out. I have also the EF 15/85mm 3.5~5.6, but frankly I don't use that lens enough to compare it. its my emergency lens. The EFS 17~55 was terrific for the group shot as I used the zoom half way. I don't know if this helps & you shoot a distance. I LOVE my EF70mm~200mm F4. as long as I can back up.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Don't get too confused. If you are using a 7D II then an EF-S lens is fine. They hold their value. You may never move to full frame. I have the EF-S 10-22, but the EF-S 10-18 is excellent also, although less expensive. The 10 -22 is more robust but doesn't have IS, although you hardly need that in an ultra wide. 10mm for an APS-C camera is as wide as you need without going to a fisheye, which is a very different thing. I have the 8mm Samyang for that.

If you want cost effective, get the EF-S 10-18. If you want more robust get the EF-S 10 -22. Consider used or refurbished. Then compare with third party lenses, some are excellent, and if you plan to go full frame they may give a better transition option than the Canon lenses.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

16, 17 or 18mm just is only slightly to moderately wide on an APS-C camera.

Most people consider truly wide such as might be wanted for landscape photography... "ultrawide" on crop cameras.... to be those that are 15mm and shorter focal length.

Hope you are okay with a zoom. There are almost no non-fisheye, ultrawide primes... Just a few 14mm and 15mm (Canon, Zeiss). But those are large, heavy and tend to be quite expensive full frame-capable lenses.

One exception is the Rokinon/Samyang 14mm f2.8 costing about $320-350. It sells under a bunch of brand names (Bower, Dot Line, Vivitar as a 13mm, and more). Same lens and it's manual focus, manual aperture only.

What's your budget?

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-5.6 USM is an excellent lens that typically costs about $650 new. It's one of the best ultrawide, crop sensor zooms made by anyone. It's been around for some years now and is widely available used, for some savings.

Or the relatively new Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM is also great and one of the least expensive ultrawides at $280 new. It's also the smallest, the lightest and currently the only lens in the category with image stabilization (that's about to change, Tamron will soon introduce a VC ultrawide). It uses 67mm filters, where most of the others use 77mm and a few use 82mm or can't be fitted with standard, screw-in filters at all due to protruding, convex front elements. The 10-18mm is more plasticky and not as well built as the 10-22mm and some others, but with reasonable care and moderate use it should be fine. I'd consider one for travel, in particular.

Neither of those Canon lenses come with a lens hood (as is the case with all Canon other than L-series). Their respective matching hoods are sold separately and I highly recommend getting and using them. The hood for the 10-22mm is a bit large (think of a small Frisbee)... the 10-18mm's hood manages to be a little more compact.

There also is the premium Canon EF 11-24mm f4L USM... but this is a full frame-capable lens and, at $2700, quite expensive to only use it on a crop sensor camera... large & heavy, too.... due to a strongly convex front element it cannot be fitted w/standard filters.

There are also a bunch of third party ultrawides that can work on your camera:

Tokina 11-20mm f1.8 DX.... $540.... rather large, heavy, 82mm filter (also a now discontinued 11-16mm f2.8 Toki can be found used).
Tokina 12-28mm f4 DX... $380... 77mm filter (also a now discontinued Toki 12-24mm f4 can be found used and new).
Tokina 10-17mm f3.5-4.5 DX... $529... actually a fisheye zoom, very heavy wide angle distortion, cannot be fitted w/filters
Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 DC $450... large, heavy, 82mm filter (used to sell for $650, current price suggests it's being clearanced and a new one is coming)
Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC... no longer available new... cheaper/smaller than f3.5 version, 77mm filter
Sigma 8-16mm f4.5-5.6 DC... $700.... widest non-fisheye lens available, heavy wide angle distortions, cannot be fitted w/filters.
Sigma 12-24mm f4 DG "Art".... actually a full frame lens and pretty expensive at $1600, cannot be fitted w/standard filters.
Tamron 10-24mm f3.5-4.5 Di II... $500.... not the sharpest at 24mm end... 77mm filters (a new, possibly improved, stabilized version is coming soon).

A Google search will find detailed reviews and discussion online for most of the above. I reference prices at B&H Photo in NYC... Other major, established and reliable retailers such as Adorama, Amazon, etc. are probably pretty close in their pricing. Shop around for minor savings. Canon USA website sells refurbished lenses directly... Those are often hard to tell from new and have the same warranty, but stocks there come and go quickly, plus shipping and sales tax might offset the savings to some extent.

Personally I use the Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM and the Tokina 12-24mm f4. Both are quite good. I tried out a number of the above, before settling on these two (first the Tokina bought new... later the Canon when I got a good deal on a used one).

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Good observation. I always have to pack the 10-22 hood separately from my grab and go bag!

RWCRNC Loc: Pennsylvania

Canon Efs 10-18. Love that lens and sharp. Also affordable

WillieC

Went to Italy last year and rented a 14mm L Canon lens for the 3 1/2 weeks and it was only a couple hundred dollars. Loved it so now in the market for that lens.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

I have the 10-18 and wow - talk about bang for the buck! Hard to beat in that regard (IMHO)

Mark1948

I've been enjoying & getting a fair number of keepers from a Sigma 8-16 f4.

Birdshooter Loc: Wisconsin

I want to thank all of you for your replies to my question about a wide angle lens for my Canon 7D. The Ugly Hedgehog is truly the best source of information from experienced photographers with a variety of issues, and I appreciate reading any advice given. I also appreciate the pictures of those that either posted one or sent a link to photos taken with ultra wide lens on a crop factor camera such as my Canon 7D. I have ordered the Canon EF-S 10-18 from B&H. My main purpose for going to FL is to get pictures of FL birds during the mating season. My new lens Canon L 100-400 IS will help with that (if I can hold it long enough). I also will take my Canon 18-135mm lens and I hope to take my old standby - Canon 70-300mm IS lens. I've used it since 2007 and it has performed beautifully, but just this last weekend, it stopped auto-focusing. I hope I can get it repaired before I go. Thank you again. Sonja

RWCRNC Loc: Pennsylvania

Hope you liked be that 10-18 as much as I do. Have fun at in sunny Florida

Basil Loc: New Mexico

You will love that little gem!