Money's Tight, I need a wide lens

S

seven.b

Well-known member
Hey guys, I am just about to start filming some skiing in the coming weeks and I don't have a wide lens. I was planning on picking up the Tokina 11-16mm 2.8, but it doesn't look like it's going to be in stock and I just don't have the money for it.

I'm currently looking for a cheap solution to a wide angle lens for shooting some skiing this winter (or at least until I could get the tokina).

I'm thinking either:

1. Get a cheap merkury optics .45X wide-converter for 52mm threading for my 50mm 1.8 II which would bring the focal length down to 22.5mm. This would be wide enough for my needs and would only cost 30 bucks.

2. Cheap manual lenses (nikon, pentax?). After some searching around, these seem kind of tough to find? Any help here?

3. Save up and just get a sigma 10-20mm or the tokina.


Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.
 
I'm in a similar situation and would also be very interested in a cheaper wide-angle solution. This may be a stupid question, but what would be the downsides of using a Mekury Optics .45X wide-converter as opposed to something like a Sigma 10-22? Is there a noticeable loss of quality?
 
I used the merkury optics wide angle converter on my old HV30 and I was completely happy with the results. Sure, it isn't going to be as sharp as a dedicated wide angle lens, but we're talkin 30 bucks here.

I'm gonna go ahead and order one and see how it goes.
 
I think the saying goes "He who buys cheap buys twice" I am learning that lesson over and over with this camera stuff.
 
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If you need your wides ONLY for video, an adapter might be working quite well. I was using two different ones a 0.72 and a x0.5 with GH1 and Canon FD lenses. I could not see any resolution drop even on trumpet charts.
Of course in stills mode, a real lens is worth having.
One thing you should be careful with the adapter is for flare control.
 
I know it's not super wide, or super great, but you can find the 18-55 with IS for about $100 used. If you do a lot of day ext it gets much better at f8-16.
I think it's a good interim solution while saving up for something classy, and it's nice to have a cheapo walking-around lens if you're out in the bad part of town. :evil::Drogar-Angry(DBG)::Drogar-Sick(DBG):
 
Personally I think you should save up and buy what you really want. If money is tight, $30 that you didn't spend on the wide adapter puts you $30 closer to the tokina 11-16.

But then again, I'm terribly biased because I do have a barely used, pristine condition Tokina 11-16 for sale :D (Need money for a tripod)

Seriously, though. Unless you have a shoot that you just cannot wait to get the Tokina for, wait and get what you really what.
 
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