{"id":3040,"date":"2010-02-23T20:30:39","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T10:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/?p=3040"},"modified":"2010-02-23T22:06:11","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T12:06:11","slug":"ultra-wide-zoom-lenses-for-cropped-sensor-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/?p=3040","title":{"rendered":"Ultra-wide zoom lenses for cropped sensor cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In my book, the best lens to get for ultra-wide zoom if you can afford it at $A1849 is the <strong>Panasonic 7-14mm f\/4 lens for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/?page_id=1510\">Micro Four Thirds cameras<\/a> <\/strong>which of course will be image stabilised when used on Olympus cameras and gives field of view of 14-28mm (and a touch wider when used in 16:9 aspect ratio on a GH-1).<\/p>\n<p>It is almost as good as the much larger, heavier, more expensive Olympus 7-14mm f\/4 Four Thirds and the Nikon 14-24mm f\/2.8G lens for full frame Nikon.<\/p>\n<p>It is far smaller than anything else in that range, ideal for travel, and generally gives as good, if not better results &#8211; another great reason for buying the Micro Four Thirds system instead of a cropped sensor dSLR.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s built-in petal lens hood means you cannot attach polariser or ND gradient filters &#8211; even on lenses which can take filters, you are likely to get vignetting at focal lengths wider than 21mm in 35mm terms &#8211; this may be a big factor in your decision, particularly if you are buying it for landscape work rather than urban or creative work.<\/p>\n<p>Another excellent option for Micro Four Thirds users, is the more affordable (?$A600-800), forth-coming <strong>Olympus M.ZD 9-18mm lens<\/strong> (the Four Thirds version is very popular and retails for a very reasonable $A795 and you can attach filters &#8211; the M43 version should be easier to design and much smaller).<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you have an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/?page_id=1520\">Canon<\/a> APS-C dSLR then you have a choice of generally cheap, consumer to mid grade lenses, albeit not as good optically<\/strong> as the lenses mentioned above, but that&#8217;s one of the prices you pay for getting a Canon APS-C dSLR &#8211; wide angle lenses has never been their forte, but at least they are relatively cheap.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Canon EF-S 10-22mm f\/3.5-4.5:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>eq. to 16-35mm range; has reasonable build quality             and minimal aberrations with good resolution. Not dust proof. 77mm filter; $A1269<\/li>\n<li>said to be better than the Nikon 12-24mm, the Tamron         11-18mm, and the Sigma 10-20mm<\/li>\n<li>less distortion at 10mm than a Canon 16-35mm L on a full         frame<\/li>\n<li>see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.photozone.de\/8Reviews\/lenses\/canon_1022_3545\/index.htm\">Photozone review<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kenrockwell.com\/canon\/1022.htm\">Ken Rockwell&#8217;s review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sigmaphoto.com\/lenses\/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3301&amp;navigator=6\">Sigma     10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>16-32mm in 35mm equiv.; 0.24m macro; 77mm filter;         non-rotating front element; 6 blades; $A769<\/li>\n<li>significant distortion limits architectural use;<\/li>\n<li>perhaps the worst optically of the bunch, and is no longer the widest of the zooms<\/li>\n<li>see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dpreview.com\/lensreviews\/sigma_10-20_4-5p6_n15\/\">dpreview lens review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Sigma 10-20mm f\/3.5 DC HSM:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>82mm filter; $A989<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Sigma 12-24mm f\/4.5-5.6 EX DG:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>19-38mm equiv.; a great lens but you need to find a good         one as they are quite variable in quality.<\/li>\n<li>$A1179<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tamron 10-24mm f\/3.5-4.5 Di II LD IF:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>16-38mm on APS-C cameras; 77mm         filter; 370g; bulky lens hood. $A789<\/li>\n<li>sharper centrally and with less distortion than the Sigma 10-20mm, but still generally soft, especially wide open<\/li>\n<li>see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dpreview.com\/lensreviews\/tamron_10-24_3p5-5p6_n15\/page4.asp\">dpreview lens review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tokina 11-16mm f\/2.8:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>77mm filter; $A859<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm f\/4 IF DX:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>19-38mm range; $A739 and $A799 for version II;<\/li>\n<li>easily beats the Sigma 10-20mm f\/4-5.6 EX DC HSM and         Tamron 10-24mm f\/3.5-4.5 Di-II as it is much sharper, especially wide open with good distortion results and solidly built<\/li>\n<li>best used at 12-18mm<\/li>\n<li>not so good at 24mm end and complex CA difficult to         remove; not good for close up work.<\/li>\n<li>almost as good as the consumer level Olympus ZD 9-18mm<\/li>\n<li>see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dpreview.com\/lensreviews\/tokina_12-24_4_n15\/page4.asp  \">dpreview&#8217;s lens review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Sigma 8-16mm f\/4.5-5.6 DC:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dpreview.com\/news\/1002\/10022011sigma8mm16mm.asp\">announced Feb 2010<\/a> and will be the widest zoom available offering 12-24mm range in 35mm terms<\/li>\n<li>545g, HSM motor, close focus 24cm.<\/li>\n<li>but will it&#8217;s optics be good enough as promised with its 4 FLD glass elements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In addition to the above third party APS-C lenses, Nikon DX users have the choice of the following lenses &#8211; perhaps no better off than Canon APS-C users:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nikkor AF-S 10-24mm f\/3.5-5.3G ED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>$A1399<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Nikkor AF-S 12-24mm f\/4G DX\u00a0 IF ED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>$A1569<\/li>\n<li>said to be not as good as the Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens, particular in distortion reduction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f\/2.8G ED for full frame:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>$A2285; generally regarded as the best full frame ultra-wide zoom but on cropped sensor becomes 21-36mm range.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Finally, if you are like me and you have a Canon 1D Mark III (or\u00a0 Mark IV), then forget ultra-wide zoom capability &#8211; you have to use a full frame lens at 1.3x crop factor, thus:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/consumer.usa.canon.com\/ir\/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&amp;fcategoryid=148&amp;modelid=7487\">Canon         EF 16-35mm f\/2.8L II USM<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>becomes 21-46mm on 1.3x crop &#8211; hardly ultra-wide zoom, but could still be useful, although no where as good as the Nikon 14-24mm which in addition to being sharper, would give 18-31mm range, but no AF, and you would need a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16-9.net\/nikon_g\/\">special G adapter<\/a> to allow aperture control.<\/li>\n<li>$A1999<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my book, the best lens to get for ultra-wide zoom if you can afford it at $A1849 is the Panasonic 7-14mm f\/4 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras which of course will be image stabilised when used on Olympus cameras and gives field of view of 14-28mm (and a touch wider when used in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[44,18,48,14,29],"class_list":["post-3040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lenses","tag-canon","tag-four-thirds-micro","tag-nikon","tag-olympus","tag-wide-angle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3040\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ayton.id.au\/wp02\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}