Good Manual Ultra Wide Angle Lens for Canon 450D?

cmontoya

Hi guys,

I don't want to spend too much on Canon EF-S 10-22 or any auto focus UWA lens for that matter. As such, I'm looking for a good manual focus UWA lens for my 1.6 crop Canon 450D.

I've been searching ebay for 'M42 ultra wide angle' but I found none. I assume there are non-M42 UWAs that could attach to my cam via another adapter.

Since some of you are Canon digital SLRs users too and have more experience with MF lenses, I'd be happy to know what lenses you'd recommend. I'm looking between 16mm to 20mm.

I was supposed to get a Zenitar (although this is a Fisheye rather than an UWA) but I got turned off by its focusing/aperture setting mechanism.

Thank you.

aoleg · Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 1387 Location: Berlin, DE

Samyang is about to release their 14/2.8 lens in a couple of months. This will be full-frame compatible (but will of course work just as well if not better on crop bodies), and it'll be available in pretty much all mounts, including EOS. The cost is supposed to be around $320. Other than that, MC Arsat-H 20/2.8 (Nikon mount) is available new for about $125. There are also Tamron and Tokina 17mm lenses (17/3.5 I believe), but I feel these are currently overpriced for what you're getting. If you can find one for a reasonable price, they can be good.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9098 Location: Houston, Texas

Aoleg summed it up pretty nicely. The widest ultrawide rectilinear lens I know of is Canon's 14mm f/2.8 L, whether FD or EF. But for a 1.6x crop body, even 14mm doesn't really correspond to ultrawde. You really need to get down to 10-11mm for that. In this case, you really are better off going with a modern AF lens rather than a trusty old mf one. I've read good reports on the aftermarket zooms available that cover the 10-11mm range, as well as the Canon 10-22, of course. Go to B&H and read up on the customer reviews of the various ultra-wides for the crop bodies.

cmontoya · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:51 am Post subject:

Thank you aoleg, cooltouch. I'll wait for the Samyang and research on the MF UWA lenses you mentioned.

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

MF isn't the best choice for wider angles on crop bodies. Either get an AF lens or upgrade to full frame/film body.

Tharos · Joined: 03 Nov 2009 Posts: 322 Location: Istanbul/TURKEY

There is a 20mm Takumar but not as wide as you want Smile

and costly too..

egidio · Joined: 02 Sep 2009 Posts: 222 Location: slovenia

something cheap AF canon zoomish would do the job.

If you got the moneys go look for zeiss flektagon 20mm

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Trying to be helpful, I don't think you'll get many Ebay hits if you search for the combined terms "M42 ultrawide". In my experience most sellers use the manufacturer's designation inscribed on the lens, such as "Macro", "tele-" or "W.Rokkor" and, on some Vivitars for example, "Wide Angle" or "Close Focus". Personally I don't know of any M42 lenses inscribed "Ultrawide". You don't always get "M42" either - many sellers call it "Pentax" or "screw mount".

You can often work out what the mount is from the pictures or just from the name of the lens, but if you're only interested in using it on an EOS camera, then the mount is not too critical anyway.

So I think you're much more likely to find what you need if you search for a particular make and focal length (both with and without "mm") for example "Flektogon 20".