Question for landscape people - DPChallenge Forums

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/25/2019 06:39:01 PM · #1

So I don't have a wide angle lens at the moment. I can't afford the 16-35mm zoom, and I'm spending 6 weeks in England, so I probably should have something wider than 24.

Fixed lenses are cheaper,. But I'm not sure what focal length I should get if I'm getting a fixed length.

Suggestions?

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

06/25/2019 07:16:07 PM · #2

Learn to shoot handheld sequences and stitch them later ... a "medium" focal length (maybe 60-140mm?) seems to work best. Shoot in portrait mode and make 2-3 horizontal passes -- "good" stitching software should handle that.

I use the demo (free!) version of AutoStitch and get acceptable results most of the time -- only downsides are I think you'll have to convert first if you are shooting RAW, and it can take a lot of storage. On the plus side you'll and up with a really big image. It's available for both Mac and Windows -- why not test it out before you go? :-)

Photologist

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

06/25/2019 07:30:50 PM · #3

I agree with the General. Simply take your own manual panoramas. Try to overlap them at around 30%. Stitching them together in Lightroom is a breeze.

Tip...do not change anything between each shot in the sequence (aperture, shutter speed, focal length, ISO). You may have to go into manual mode so that those settings won't change.

Message edited by author 2019-06-26 02:40:04.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

06/25/2019 08:02:55 PM · #4

Are you taking the Sony? If you are taking the 7D Canon, I can loan you a Tamron 10-24

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

06/25/2019 08:05:10 PM · #5

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Are you taking the Sony? If you are taking the 7D Canon, I can loan you a Tamron 10-24

Bringing two Sony's...

Bear_Music

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

06/25/2019 09:58:47 PM · #6

24mm is a good, all-around WA for FF. 20mm is very wide. 16mm is super-wide...

Alex_Petrini

Sony Alpha a7R III

Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM

06/26/2019 01:14:39 AM · #7

First of all, which is your budget? Without that it's impossible to give you an advice. In case in the next weeks Tamron Will start selling the 17-28 2.8 and it will be slightly cheaper than 1k dollars. Otherwise you could get the 14mm Samyang, the 15 f/2 Laowa (it's a manual but stunning) or other Sigma, which are pretty big in terms of size and weight.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

06/26/2019 07:05:40 AM · #8

Originally posted by Alexkc:

the 15 f/2 Laowa (it's a manual but stunning)

I have the 7.5mm micro 4/3 version of the Laowa and I a very happy with it.

06/26/2019 10:15:02 AM · #9

I'm seriously just looking for the ones that are under $400. More isn't an option ( all funds real and imaginary went to the new camera and lens!), but I figured a cheap lens that's wide was better than no wide at all. :)

Also, weight is a serious issue. I'm a lousy landscape photographer, and my gear has gotten very heavy. So I'd almost give up a wide angle if it added too much weight.

So Bear, I wouldn't really need to bother with something wider than my 24-105?

And Alex and Spiffy -- 7.5??

The only wide angle I've had was the 10-22 Canon on a crop sensor which was 16-35 equivalent.

Message edited by author 2019-06-26 10:31:01.

06/26/2019 10:37:49 AM · #10

Originally posted by vawendy:

I'm seriously just looking for the ones that are under $400. More isn't an option, but I figured a cheap lens that's wide was better than no wide at all. :)

Seriously consider taking Paul's advice. For many years I had no rectilinear lens wider than 24mm, and I was able to capture some scenes with as much as 180 degrees of horizontal coverage. I still use the technique, as it can be a lot quicker than digging out and switching to a very wide lens, and has the advantage that I get greater resolution in the final image. If you go this route, keep the following points in mind:
- Know where the entrance pupil of your lens is located when at 24mm. This is the point you want to rotate about to avoid parallax errors. It's sometimes erroneously referred to as the nodal point. It's not hard to determine.
- Shoot in manual mode, so that exposures and colors match. If absolutely necessary to vary exposure, use Av mode; stitching will be more difficult (but see below)
- Start by flipping the camera to portrait mode and shooting 5 or 6 images overlapped by about 25-35% and try stitching that. Stitching manually can be done if shooting is done with meticulous care, but purpose-specific software is a godsend. I can literally do a high-quality stitch of a hand-held pano in a few minutes that will pass pretty rigorous inspection for stitch quality.
- Keep very close objects out of the scene if you are not shooting with a pano head that gives you precise control of rotation point
If you follow the above advice and put in some practice, the results you get can be stunning. A lot of my work that I've printed and hung has been shot like this, a lot of it shot hand-held.
ETA: Purpose-built stitching software can make it much easier to compensate for varying exposure. Even with camera settings held constant, lenses have vignetting which results in uneven exposure, and will need to be compensated.

Message edited by author 2019-06-26 10:40:05.

06/26/2019 10:39:17 AM · #11

It looks like cheap choices are 12,14 & 16.

But I'm a bit confused: there's a 7.5 fish eye and there's one that says 12mm fish eye. I just assumed extra wide was fish eye. ? Would all 7.5s be fish eye? Why do some 12s say it and some don't?

Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS

06/26/2019 11:20:23 AM · #12

Practically, anything that is 7.5mm is going to be a fisheye. In theory there is no reason that needs to be so, it's just that it is wildly impractical to make a rectilinear lens that wide.
When you get up to 12mm, there are plenty of rectilinear lenses in that focal length these days, and there are also some fisheyes. A 7.5mm fisheye will produce a circular image that fits in the 24mm dimension of the sensor and covers 180 degrees in all directions. A lot of the 35mm frame is left dark. A 15mm fisheye will cover all of the 35mm frame, and cover 180 degrees diagonally.

Things to remember:
- A rectilinear lens keeps straight lines straight, however something circular located in a corner of a wide-angle image will be stretched into an oval. One reason why a very wide rectilinear lens is not a good portrait lens choice!
- A fisheye lens will bend straight lines that don't pass through the center of the image. Anything circular will remain circular, however, no matter where it is in the image.

MargaretNet

Apple iPhone 15 Pro

06/26/2019 11:33:19 AM · #13

Do you know what you want to shoot with wide lens? My previous lens on A7R II was Zeiss 16-35 f4. It did help with some landscape and architecture shots, I could take wider landscapes from the same place (like my balcony where I cannot go any further away!) and I could fit whole building where shots were not possible from a further distance. Since I got Sony 24-105 I have almost forgotten that I still have 16-35!

Personally I would not go any wider than 16 because of too much distortion. The fisheye seems to be a fun lens but rather limited in application to everyday photography.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

06/26/2019 11:59:05 AM · #14

Originally posted by kirbic:

Practically, anything that is 7.5mm is going to be a fisheye. In theory there is no reason that needs to be so, it's just that it is wildly impractical to make a rectilinear lens that wide.

I have both a fisheye and a normal wide-angle in this focal length for micro 4/3

These two shots were taken with it.

I did do a little bit of perspective correction for getting things straight near the edges, but it doesn't have the curvy distortion of the fisheye, like this one.

Message edited by author 2019-06-26 12:16:03.

Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, S21 Ultra

06/26/2019 12:22:01 PM · #15

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

I have both a fisheye and a normal wide-angle in this focal length for micro 4/3...

Yes, but that's for a system with a sensor half the size of 35mm - so a 7.5mm rectilinear is quite feasible.

Bear_Music

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

06/26/2019 01:20:00 PM · #16

Originally posted by vawendy:

So Bear, I wouldn't really need to bother with something wider than my 24-105?

Correct. If you need something wider, you have a great pano mode on your camera, and you can just flip orientation to vertical and do a short pano to get a wider spread, or do a few shots side by side and stitch 'em. As others have said. But in my experience, 24mm is plenty wide enough for practically all landscape work. Even with our 16-35mm I was rarely shooting at 16mm...

Where the wider angle is more useful is shooting buildings and, especially, interiors. But you can get by with 24mm, it's not a big issue. My new SX70 canon "bridge camera" is about 24mm equivalent at the wide end and I didn't feel like I was hurting for coverage but maybe once in our 2 weeks in Cornwall/Devon.

06/26/2019 01:56:40 PM · #17

Ok. I'm convinced. No lens. Try out stitching and find pano mode.

Thanks for the info: it was all very helpful!