Equipment Wide angle adapters

[dullonien]

I've been looking into getting a wide angle adapter for my 18-55mm Canon kit lens and possibly my nifty fifty too if I can afford it. I'm mainly looking for a way to increase the possibilities open to me when photographing my architecture models for uni etc.

What should I be looking into when purchasing a wide angle adapter. Searching amazon and ebay is a minefield of super cheap Chinese jobies which are temping due to their price. What could I expect from these super cheap options?

With limited money I'm looking for the cheapest viable option.

Thanks for looking.

[dead beat]

Tbh, they ruin the the quality of the image. Usually those cheap wide angle adapters just result in an incredibly blurred picture.

The only real way to get decent wide angle shots is with a dedicated wide angle lens.

[dullonien]

Originally Posted by dead beat

Tbh, they ruin the the quality of the image. Usually those cheap wide angle adapters just result in an incredibly blurred picture.

The only real way to get decent wide angle shots is with a dedicated wide angle lens.

I was afraid that would be the case. I don't have the money to fork out on a dedicated wide angle lens unfortunately.

If I do decide to ignore the advice and buy one I'll report back with my findings. Maybe it'll allow me to take a couple of interesting shots where quality isn't the most important thing, and that could be worth the £10-30 asking price (probably just get one of the £10 jobbies, because I can live with that even if it is total carp as you suggest). I'm expecting the edges to be extremely blurry, but that might be ok in the right circumstances....

[Fredcompany]

If you're using the 18-55mm at 18mm and f/8 or so, it should be wide and sharp enough for most things. Do you need to go wider than 18mm?

[dullonien]

Originally Posted by Fredcompany

If you're using the 18-55mm at 18mm and f/8 or so, it should be wide and sharp enough for most things. Do you need to go wider than 18mm?

Yeah, I was looking for a solution to go a little wider, especially when photographing my architecture models (although stitching a few photographs together would also do the trick).

I purchased a £40 0.45x wide angle adapter from Amazon. I've not had time to fully test it, but it certainly widens things a little, but not quite as much as I was hoping. The picture quality seems ok, although as expected the corners are a little blurry. I'm not sure how much it'll be used, but its a nice option to have available.

A full-frame camera would be a nice upgrade though, because if I understand correctly my 50mm prime lens doesn't really act as a 50mm on my 1000d? I find it extremely narrow for normal use, especially indoors. It means I don't tend to use it much, which is a pity because the image quality and high aperture produces nice shots, even if the auto-focus is noisy and slow.

[wuyanxu]

Those adapters never work. I've had one and it not lonely vignettes heavily, it also makes things soft.

You are correct in saying crop sensor means 50mm isn't 50mm. You only get equivalent field of view of 1.6x. So a 50mm is actually 77mm equivalent field of view. On a full frame, a 17mm has over 90deg horizontal field of view, whereas the 18mm kit lens is only offers average field of view. You will need to buy Canon 10-22mm or Tokina 11-16mm to get a good crop sensor wide angle lens.

[dullonien]

Originally Posted by wuyanxu

Those adapters never work. I've had one and it not lonely vignettes heavily, it also makes things soft.

You are correct in saying crop sensor means 50mm isn't 50mm. You only get equivalent field of view of 1.6x. So a 50mm is actually 77mm equivalent field of view. On a full frame, a 17mm has over 90deg horizontal field of view, whereas the 18mm kit lens is only offers average field of view. You will need to buy Canon 10-22mm or Tokina 11-16mm to get a good crop sensor wide angle lens.

Thanks for the info. I might have to look into upgrading my camera body at some point to a full frame one. Probably wouldn't cost too much for a second-hand one of a similar age to my 1000d. Problem is that I doubt my 1000d is worth much to sell on, still in great condition, I've really kept it nicely, but still quite old and done over 10,000 actuations.

[Mister_Tad]

Do note that you can't use your 18-55 kit lens on a full frame body.

Going full frame isn't ever going to be cost effective, you'll be much better off with a canon/tokina wide-zooms stated above to get good wide angle shots.

[Atomic]

Also look at the Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6, it's much cheaper than both the other two and would be fine for what you're shooting.

[Silver51]

The Sigma 10-20mm works quite well.

[dullonien]

I've been quite happy with my wide angle adapter. I've been using it quite heavily in conjunction with my nifty fifty (messing up the crisp image the 50mm gives no doubt :P), but it's meant that it has become a more useful lens to me for general use with my 1000d, and has been good for photographing my models.

Quick question regarding FD lenses.

How easy is it to use older FD mount lenses on EF-S camera's like mine?

Also What compromises are there? If it's just that AF is lost I'd be quite tempted to pick-up a cheap ultra wide FD lens from ebay or the like to use to photograph my models etc. where I manually focus anyway.

From a quick search it looks like an adapter is required, which has some kind of correction element within. Does this mean getting a good quality adapter is essential?

Yes, I really am looking at all the cheap options before probably giving in at some stage when I've got the money and purchasing proper kit for the job. I'm a student though, wouldn't be right not to try to save money everywhere possible .

[Prime]

Originally Posted by dullonien

I've been quite happy with my wide angle adapter. I've been using it quite heavily in conjunction with my nifty fifty (messing up the crisp image the 50mm gives no doubt :P), but it's meant that it has become a more useful lens to me for general use with my 1000d, and has been good for photographing my models.

Quick question regarding FD lenses.

How easy is it to use older FD mount lenses on EF-S camera's like mine?

Also What compromises are there? If it's just that AF is lost I'd be quite tempted to pick-up a cheap ultra wide FD lens from ebay or the like to use to photograph my models etc. where I manually focus anyway.

From a quick search it looks like an adapter is required, which has some kind of correction element within. Does this mean getting a good quality adapter is essential?

Yes, I really am looking at all the cheap options before probably giving in at some stage when I've got the money and purchasing proper kit for the job. I'm a student though, wouldn't be right not to try to save money everywhere possible .

It's not. I can't comment on the aftermarket adapters the genuine FD to EF mount adapters are extremely expensive and only work on the 200mm fixed focus lens and upwards.

Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_FD_lens_mount

Following the introduction of the EOS camera line, Canon briefly marketed an adapter which enabled certain FD telephoto lenses to be used on EOS bodies. The adapter contained high-quality corrective optics and functioned as a mild tele-converter; it could not be used on lenses less than 200mm, nor any lens that interfered with its protruding optics. The adapter was produced in limited numbers, with the intent of easing the initial cost of conversion for professional users who owned expensive FD telephoto lenses. These adapters are now scarce and highly valued, selling for around $1000 on the second-hand market. (The original selling price was $250). Other inexpensive aftermarket FD to EOS adapters are available and can be used at the cost of severely reduced image quality, particularly at large apertures.[7]

Lastly, adapting a wide MF lens to your crop body will give you a normal lens so it isn't worth it.

[dullonien]

Thanks for the reply Prime. I'll forget that one then. I'll make do for the moment and look to upgrade my kit propperly in the future.

[Silent_Raider]

You could also go with the Rokinon 8mm Ultra Wide Angle Fisheye, which is a decent manual focus lens. If will give you a very wide field of view. And it's specifically for your APS-C camera.

[Atomic]

Fisheye isn't as great as you'd think, it's a one trick pony and gets boring quickly as all the pictures are the same.

An Ultra Wide Angle (UWA), something like the Tokina 11-16mm or Sigma 10-20 would be more versatile as the range give a variety of pictures and the 20mm end is actually useable for normal pictures as it's not overly wide.

[dead beat]

I have the Sigma 8-16 and think it is fantastic. An extra 2mm at the wide end makes quite a lot of difference.

[October]

I initially went down the Canon FD route, definitely not worth it. Unless you spend a fortune on the adapter, you're putting a cheap nasty piece of glass between your lens and camera thus undoing whatever quality the lens might have. You could get a glass-less adapter but then you lose infinity focus...although if you're only going to use it for photographing models that might be ok.

Having said that you won't get much wider than your kit lens in the first place...

[dullonien]

Thanks for that October. Probably not worth it at. I wish I could afford something like the Sigma 8-16 or 10-20. Maybe in a year or so.

[October]

That's my current dilemma, I'm trying to decide if I would use the Tokina enough to buy it, and coming down on the side of not really...

I have a Sigma 18-50 2.8, not the best quality lens but if I really need something wider than my primes it'll do for the time being.

[wuyanxu]

The Tokina 11-16 is a good investment, I heard it will work on full frames at 16mm without any problem.

Truth is if you enjoy landscape and wide angle, these lenses are a good investment. Looking back at my photos, I found my personal favourites and those liked the most are mostly taken on the 17-40mm (ultra wide on full frame).