Wide lens for less than $800?

M

mikrokev

Member
Am in the market to get a wide angle lens for my GH1 and looking for recommendations. I'm aware of a few possibles, but I'm interested to read your informed suggestions!

Would prefer a prime, but I see there are a few zooms that fit my budget. I will of course consider any lens where a micro four thirds adapter is available. Automatic with GH1 or fully manual is fine. Second hand would be okay too, especially if its price would enable me to get better quality than new.

As for spec, well anything up to 10mm (i.e. 20mm in normal terms).
 
You're probably not going to find a rectilinear lens that's less than 10mm...there's a m4/3rds 8mm fisheye and a 14mm f/2.5 coming out.
 
OK I get you. It seems one limitation of four thirds cameras is that it's going to be impossible to get ultra wide footage without fisheye distortion : (
 
7-14 is quite linear and quite wide, but a little outside your budget. The only lens I can think given your requirements is the Tokina 11-16/f2.8. Rectilinear primes shorter than 14 mm exist, but are very expensive. Just go for the zooms.
 
I just got an Olympus 9-18mm f4-5.6 micro 4/3 zoom and it's amazing. Olympus also makes a larger, non-micro 4/3 version that I wouldn't recommend since it requires an adapter. This native m43 version is even smaller and lighter than Panasonic's 14-45mm kit lens, and unlike the Lumix 7-14mm zoom, it takes 52mm filters. All of the GH1's auto-focus features work with it, both AFS and AFC, and you can barely hear it focusing. For less than $600, I couldn't be more pleased.
 
svecher said:
7-14 is quite linear and quite wide, but a little outside your budget. The only lens I can think given your requirements is the Tokina 11-16/f2.8. Rectilinear primes shorter than 14 mm exist, but are very expensive. Just go for the zooms.
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Yeah I know that lens I meant to say within budget.
 
Most probably the best rectilinear wide angle that you can get is the Tokina 11-16 2.8.
For the gh1, I suggest you get it with a Nikon mount and a corresponding adapter so that you can change the aperture (if you get an EOS mount you can only shoot wide open).
The panasonic 7-14 is a good lens but does not take filters, whereas you can still use a slim profile polarizer on the Tokina to get some dramatic effects, even if a polarizer is not always recommended on such a wide angle lens.
The Tokina is also the fastest available at this range for lowlight shooting.
 
The Tokina is a very good lens and I don't think you can go wrong with it. But I wouldn't overlook the Olympus Zuiko 11-22 f/2.8-3.5 which gets great reviews, costs around $600, has aperture control when using the DMW-MA1 adapter (around $100) and, if you should ever upgrade to a GH2 also adds AFS focusing (not available with GH1).

That Oly 9-18 sounds really very nice too and avoids needing an adapter. The only drawback might be that it's a little slow compared to the aforementioned. However, there's a big difference between a 9mm and an 11mm so maybe the comparative slowness isn't a big factor if your main goal is to go as wide as possible. I was actually considering either the Tokina or the Oly 11-22 since I prefer fast glass, but ended up buying the 7-14 because it's just totally sick at 7mm. The difference between an 11mm and a 7mm is HUGE.
 
Ben_B said:
AFAIK the Panasonic is the better lens but it's like $930 right now.
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Ack - where'd you find it for $930? I shelled out $995 to B&H... grrr.

Well, doesn't matter, I got free shipping. :thumbsup:

Anyway, yeah -- the 7-14 is awesome... it's extraordinarily wide, and it's really very rectilinear. I should post up a pic from the 8mm Peleng fisheye, and the 7-14, and you'll see just how frickin' wide and square this lens is. Very happy with it. Wish it was a 2.8, but it's not, and the difference between 7mm and 11mm is massive. Actually I should post up photos of that too, I'll take a shot at 11mm and then zoom out to 7mm. I understand the appeal of the Tokina (a stop faster and a lot less expensive) but the integration with the camera, the ability to set the iris, and the much wider field of view are what sold me on the Panasonic.
 
Barry_Green said:
Ack - where'd you find it for $930? I shelled out $995 to B&H... grrr.

Well, doesn't matter, I got free shipping. :thumbsup:

Anyway, yeah -- the 7-14 is awesome... it's extraordinarily wide, and it's really very rectilinear. I should post up a pic from the 8mm Peleng fisheye, and the 7-14, and you'll see just how frickin' wide and square this lens is. Very happy with it. Wish it was a 2.8, but it's not, and the difference between 7mm and 11mm is massive. Actually I should post up photos of that too, I'll take a shot at 11mm and then zoom out to 7mm. I understand the appeal of the Tokina (a stop faster and a lot less expensive) but the integration with the camera, the ability to set the iris, and the much wider field of view are what sold me on the Panasonic.
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http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-7-1...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1288891447&sr=1-1

Amazon. It just happened recently. I have prime so free 2-day shipping lol...but I haven't ordered one and probably won't unless I have a real need.

I played around with one @ B&H in Sept.

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It's also tiny! Here it is next to the Olympus 7-14mm for 4/3rds.

63252_1532614148748_1036590222_31444892_7443413_n.jpg
 
7-14 is awesome lens. Very popular among Korean and Japanese m43 owners. Mostly for photography. I've seen some good video clips effectively using the lens.

With GH2, it can cover these ranges in 35mm format in 16:9 mode
13-25 w/ no ETC
33-66 w/ 2.6x ETC
50-100 w/ 3.9x ETC

just in case I carry nothing but the lens.
 
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