Budget wide-angle for FF

[thesirren]

Hello!

As of this moment my only lens is 85 f/1.8 and I am in dire need of something wider for landscape, architecture and some street photography.

Next year I am going to get myself some quality L lenses, but in the meantime I still would like to shoot stuff

I need the lens to be under $300, and within the 16-40mm range. I'm fine with both prime or zoom.
Need it sharp at F4-F6.3.

I'm leaning towards purchasing the recent 40mm pancake, though realising that it is not quite wide enough.

Which other lenses should I take note of? What good stuff is available at this price in the 16-24-28mm range?

Would I be correct to assume that my best bet is a used 24 f/2.8?

[Standard]

I'd highly recommend the Samyang 14mm which fits exactly in your budget and needs. It is a manual focus lens but don't let that fool you. It's fairly easy to use, especially for landscape and street photography. Search the forum and you'll find excellent discussion and examples.

[killswitch]

I'd highly recommend the Samyang 14mm which fits exactly in your budget and needs. It is a manual focus lens but don't let that fool you. It's fairly easy to use, especially for landscape and street photography. Search the forum and you'll find excellent discussion and examples.

+1

[thesirren]

Thanks a lot for the heads up. Looks like I know what I'll be getting now. One question though. Is there any difference between picking up Samyang or a Rokinon (which from what I understand is the same thing, but rebranded). Are they absolutely the same and Rokinon is just a North American name of Samyang?

[kubelik]

yep, they're exactly the same thing, it's just re-badged by the distributor.  are you looking for new or used stuff?

I wouldn't throw out the possibility of finding a used version of the Canon 20 f/2.8 or perhaps the Sigma 24 f/1.8, to bring them more into your budget.  I have a 16-35mm f/2.8 L II that I use on a full-frame, and despite what I originally thought, when shooting landscape I am far more often in the 21mm to 24mm range than I am under 20mm.  16mm really gets used the most for architectural photography and wide-field astrophotography under my usage.  your mileage may vary, but I think a lot of other folks will tell you the same, composition is much easier with a 20mm or 24mm lens.

[atvinyard]

Isn't there a difference in which way the focus ring rotates on the samyang and the rokinon, or something like that? The rokinon turn direction matches canon and the samyang matches nikon? 

If you're looking for good lenses on a budget, and you're willing to do manual focus, I would highly recommend looking at used Olympus OM-system lenses.  Since they're legacy, sometimes they need a little work, but they have outstanding optics, build and functionality. All it takes is a simple metal adapter that will cost you around $10. 

I would suggest the Olympus OM H.Zuiko Auto-W 24mm f/2.8. You can find a copy on ebay for around $125.  If you're lucky, significantly less. 

Half the beauty of canon cameras is that they have a short flange distance that makes it possible to adapt a wide variety of lenses. Once you start looking beyond the canon lineup there's a world of possibilities.

[symmar22]

Considering your budget, second hand seems to be the option. You could find a 28mm 1.8 USM, a 24mm non USM, or even the 28mm 2.8 non USM. For 100$ more you could have them new.

I would not recommend the 14mm, since these are extremely difficult lenses to use. Anything under 24mm is less than universal, the extreme angle of view makes it very challenging to compose an interesting image. If you are not used to wide angles, I would highly recommend that you try something between 24-35mm to start with. Extreme wide angles (20mm and shorter) are somehow specialized lenses useful when you have no other choice. I do a lot of architecture and interior photography, were wide angles are standard lenses; the shortest I use is the 17mm, only in a few occasions would I have needed a shorter lens. One of the rules I always stick with is : take a lens as short as you NEED but as long as you CAN.

Try if you can to rent a 14mm, you will quickly realize how difficult it is to compose a clean image in most situations.