FS7: Wide Angle Lenses

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digitalinnovations

Well-known member
I am looking to pick up a wide angle lens that covers both full frame and APS-C. I have a 17-50 but it only covers APS-C and I'd like something a bit wider without too much fisheye distortion. I believe there are some zooms available even but I'm not set on a zoom or prime but I'd like at least f 2.8. I appreciate any thoughts and experiences.
 
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21mm Contax Zeiss f2.8 will end your search for a wide. I have it plus a regular mount and then a focal reducer to have a 15mm f2 with Zeiss Optics, coatings and mechanic on the FS7.

However, it's not cheap. Far cheaper and still great is the Contax Zeiss 18mm f4 which is great, if not particularly fast without a speedbooster.

If cheap is the big factor then the Samyang 14mm is okay, although I used it once and offloaded it as I thought the distortion was too noticeable in the sort of stuff I was shooting. The Tokina 11-16mm works on full frame without vignetting from 14mm so a 14-16mm f2.8 full frame ultra-wide for that money is pretty amazing value.

Again though, after a while I offloaded it. I found that ultimately image quality trumped all other considerations so I saved up for the 18mm and 21mm Zeiss lenses.
 
Have you considered a speedbooster? For example, a 24-70 is wide enough on FF and will be wide enough on APS-C with speedbooster.

There are plenty of Prime options from 20mm and below depending on your budget.
 
I have on my FS7 tokina 11-16 with speedboster (usable @ 14mm FF) and Sony sel 10-18 stabilised APS-C, i more often use the Sony sel 10-18 lighter and not bad .
 
What's your budget? Budget aside, one of the best options would be a speedbooster with the Canon 11-24 f4 (it would a 2.8 with the speedbooster). Alternative would be speedbooster with the tokina 16-24. I own the tokina 11-16, it's a sharp lens but not good in the corners and only compatible with full frame at 16mm. A great prime lens is the Canon 17mm tilt and shift. It's amazing quality lens but the front element is very precarious and it's expensive if not using it for it's tilt and shift capabilities.
 
I guess I haven't really set a budget for the lens but probably wouldn't want to spend over $750. I was hoping to see what is available, provides the best bang for the buck and image quality. Also, I probably want to stay with the EF mount for future lens purchases as I have a few already.


Nirv said:
Have you considered a speedbooster? For example, a 24-70 is wide enough on FF and will be wide enough on APS-C with speedbooster.

There are plenty of Prime options from 20mm and below depending on your budget.
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I do have a Speedbooster adapter and that's what I've been using to convert my existing EF lenses for the FS7. I find that my 24-105L F4 is not quite wide enough or bright enough for some of my needs so I need to go a bit wider / brighter. My Tamron 17-50 vignettes something terrible pretty much throughout with the Speedbooster and I don't currently have a standard E-to-EF adapter BUT even if I did the 17mm is not wide enough on APS-C. It also sounds like the Tokina 11-16 would pretty much put me in the same boat with vignetting on the Speedbooster since it is designed for APS-C.

There is the Tamron SP 15-30 which is full frame compatible, f2.8 and has VC but at $1,200 is a bit steep. Does anyone have any opinion / experience with this lens?

The Rokinon 14mm and 16mm seem tempting and the price point is great but I *think* I read one is better than the other and earlier in this thread it was mentioned that there is a lot of fish-eye distortion from the 14mm - can this be corrected at all in post?
 
I appreciate that the FS7 has a lot of users of all levels and all budgets, but $1,200 really isn't steep for all the things you have said you want in your wide lens.

If it is simply out of your budget then I'd say be realistic and get the Samyang/Rockinon 14mm or Tokina 11-16 and deal with its quirks until you can save for something better. The 16mm and 12mm are APSC only. The 14mm is full frame.

Personally, at the budget end, I'd say the Tokina 11-16mm was a better lens than the Samyang 14mm.

You might actually find you are far better off buying and adapting an Olympus OM 21mm f2.8 for now, as it won't lose any value, is a classic looking lens and is full frame
 
Ben Scott said:
I appreciate that the FS7 has a lot of users of all levels and all budgets, but $1,200 really isn't steep for all the things you have said you want in your wide lens.
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Steep is also relative in terms of how much it's worth to the end user for a particular piece of gear, Ben. I realize there's a bit of "mine is bigger/better than yours" on the forums but seeing as no one has a real clue about what anyone else makes from their projects, how much is profit AND how much of that they're willing to immediately part with to put back into gear plays a big role. I've been guilty of "chasing gear" over the years but I've become quite fond of profit margins and ROI.


Ben Scott said:
You might actually find you are far better off buying and adapting an Olympus OM 21mm f2.8 for now, as it won't lose any value, is a classic looking lens and is full frame
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I haven't looked at the Olympus lenses before so thank you for the idea. Are they all M43 mount? *IF* the M43 adapts nicely to the E-mount (without vignetting or other issues) should I also consider something like the Veydra line? Such as their 16mm or 12mm? And what adapter would you recommend.
 
digitalinnovations said:
Steep is also relative in terms of how much it's worth to the end user for a particular piece of gear, Ben. I realize there's a bit of "mine is bigger/better than yours" on the forums but seeing as no one has a real clue about what anyone else makes from their projects, how much is profit AND how much of that they're willing to immediately part with to put back into gear plays a big role. I've been guilty of "chasing gear" over the years but I've become quite fond of profit margins and ROI.




I haven't looked at the Olympus lenses before so thank you for the idea. Are they all M43 mount? *IF* the M43 adapts nicely to the E-mount (without vignetting or other issues) should I also consider something like the Veydra line? Such as their 16mm or 12mm? And what adapter would you recommend.
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The Veydra Line is pretty tempting, as they are releasing E-mount versions of the lenses in October. However, Veydra lenses with focal lengths wider than 25mm will not cover Super 35 sensors. From the looks of it, I don't think a 25mm prime will be wide enough for your needs.
 
digitalinnovations said:
Steep is also relative in terms of how much it's worth to the end user for a particular piece of gear, Ben. I realize there's a bit of "mine is bigger/better than yours" on the forums but seeing as no one has a real clue about what anyone else makes from their projects, how much is profit AND how much of that they're willing to immediately part with to put back into gear plays a big role. I've been guilty of "chasing gear" over the years but I've become quite fond of profit margins and ROI.



I haven't looked at the Olympus lenses before so thank you for the idea. Are they all M43 mount? *IF* the M43 adapts nicely to the E-mount (without vignetting or other issues) should I also consider something like the Veydra line? Such as their 16mm or 12mm? And what adapter would you recommend.
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I meant it isn't steep for a high quality full frame fast wide stills lens with image stabilisation - all the things you said you were of interest to you. I think the Amira is a bargain for what it is but I can't afford one. If it's outside your operating budget for gear (these days I have a 1 out 1 in process) then that's absolutely cool but for what it is, that lens is a great deal in my opinion.

The Olympus OM lenses are old and fully manual and full frame 35mm. I'm interested in the Veydras but the widest will be 25mm...
 
Stills primes have not historically been designed to cover S35 (apsc) so mainly are not wide enough.

I think going for a lens that does both wont work.

So you should get..

1) a wide for FF35 which could be a 20,21 or 24 2.8 AND an S35 wide such as 11-16, Samyang 14 etc

or

2) a wide for FF35 whcih could be a 20, 21, or 24 AND a Speedbooster.

--

Personally Im using an FF24/2.8+booster (in the dark) or Stigma APS 10-24 in the light on my FS7

S
 
If you want UWA then requesting FF *and* APS-C will severely *severely* compromise its APS-C capabilities.

I recommend Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, as in a pinch it work well at 16mm too at FF.

I own one myself, in Nikon F mount of course.

Also they've released the newer Tokina 11-20mm f/2.8 if you wish to spend a bit more.
 
I'll also throw in a vote for the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8, it's just hands down my favourite wide angle lens ever, I find my eye is very sensitive to wide-angle distortion, and the Zeiss wrangles it better than any other option. As Ben suggests, having the option to put it on a Speedbooster is also brilliant for those times that you simply run out of space and need to go wider than 21mm.
 
I don't often have call to use it, but it's one of the sexiest lenses I have ever owned.

Big shout out to the modern Zeiss 15mm f2.8 as well, which is an absolute marvel of an ultra-wide. You can now get it modded by Zeiss to not have the petal hood and to accept filters.
 
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