Wide or ultra-wide angle with excellent corner performance

[JoaoPedro]

Good evening to all,

Knowing that there's no perfect lens, I am desperate to find an ultra-wide angle or wide angle with a performance excellent or very good in the corners.

Here's what I found with the lenses I had or still have:

(had) 17-40mm L f4.0: Poor in the corners at 24mm and 20mm, but unusable for me becaus it's only f4.0.

(had) 16-35mm L f2.8 mark ii: Very poor in the corners at 24mm and 20mm, at 16mm it was terrible.

(have) 20-35mm L f2.8: Much better than all the previous ones in the corners and at any focal length, but with two probems: the minimum focusing distance is too long, only 50cm; and the lens is very prone to flare.

(had) 24-70mm f2.8: I always found this lens not very sharp at 2.8, and the performance in the corners was not better than 17-40.

Are the 20mm f2.8 or the 24mm f1.4 better? The lens I want doesn't exist? =) I will mostly use it at 24mm or 20mm.

 

[Drizzt321]

Have you tried the 24L or 14L? What about the 17 or 24 Tilt-Shift lenses without using the tilt or shift? What about a 3rd party lens such as Zeiss?

 

[Loswr]

The TS-E 24L II is exceptionally sharp from corner to corner, the TS-E 17mm only slightly less sharp. Either trounces the UWA zooms.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Zooms are a compromise, the Zeiss 21mm is pretty much the reference standard, as is the TS-E 17mm. For ordinary mortals, those are the best. You can undoubtedly get a cinema lens that is better, but the price is out of sight, and they will likely only cover APS-C.

 

[Tammy]

I have the 24L II and it is very good in the edges/corners by F/2.8 and the center is razor sharp. It may not be as wide as you prefer if you are specifically looking to shoot sprawling landscapes but for general purpose photography, landscape and low light it is your best all around wide angle option. The 24mm TSE is F/3.5 and the 17mm TSE is F/4.

 

[AJ]

Canon 24/3.5 TS, Canon 24/2.8 IS, or Zeiss 21/2.8 ZE

 

[extremeinstability]

http://www.lenstip.com/200.1-Lens_review-Samyang_14_mm_f_2.8_IF_ED_MC_Aspherical-Introduction.html

They have the 14mm F2.8 Samyang beating the 14mm canon in most everything except distortion. $400. Mine just arrived today and so far I wouldn't expect a whole lot more from the corners of such a lens. The 24 F2.8 II canon I just got is also good towards the corners full frame.

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/532-samyang14f28eosff?start=2 Just look at the samples on there. Kinda crazy resolution. Maybe 14mm is too wide for what you want?

 

[TommyLee]

new to posting this forum...but read it all the time...
I like the 14L II ... already had the 16-35 II... this small efficient autofocus lens is really fun for an all day walk thru tall buildings etc...
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/3368222485/photos
here you see a few 14mm shots.....then some other shots
but..next pages... more 14MM shots..

only my 100L macro is as much fun - IMO

 

[TommyLee]

still trying to figure how to paste a link..
or photo here.....

http://masters.galleries.dpreview.com.s3.amazonaws.com/2194013.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=14Y3MT0G2J4Y72K3ZXR2&Expires=1348883724&Signature=zJHLBKJhO6sFjiKporWFrKXXM2k%3d

http://masters.galleries.dpreview.com.s3.amazonaws.com/2194007.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=14Y3MT0G2J4Y72K3ZXR2&Expires=1348883771&Signature=gRhZYlYOBQAxBtdg0XyiAS%2bsC4s%3d

http://masters.galleries.dpreview.com.s3.amazonaws.com/2186270.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=14Y3MT0G2J4Y72K3ZXR2&Expires=1348883820&Signature=N4S2Nub96T%2fzzq%2b2i3Ua7fJ%2fbKE%3d

http://masters.galleries.dpreview.com.s3.amazonaws.com/2186269.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=14Y3MT0G2J4Y72K3ZXR2&Expires=1348883843&Signature=dUEF1XgPBbunk9Tziad3vX67934%3d


..................

I admit I am still learning where to 'put' everything...and I mean everything.....

I did rent the 24 TSE and 17 tse that Neuro mentioned ... they are wonderful....
(and thanks Neuro for all the things I read that helped me)
but I believe for a tripod...maybe the 24 is a walkaround type ...sometimes...

the 14 II has some CA/fringing..but comes out with that great LR 4.x ...
I had a great day with 14L II, 85L II and 35L (waiting for the II)
early morn is cool in the City on a summer day

what more could one wish for...??
wider than all get out and so sharp..
.......and then switch to a larger aperture than all get out (85L II)

I say get an autofocus prime .... as wide and sharp as you can afford

TOM

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Good evening to all,

Knowing that there's no perfect lens, I am desperate to find an ultra-wide angle or wide angle with a performance excellent or very good in the corners.

Here's what I found with the lenses I had or still have:

(had) 17-40mm L f4.0: Poor in the corners at 24mm and 20mm, but unusable for me becaus it's only f4.0.

(had) 16-35mm L f2.8 mark ii: Very poor in the corners at 24mm and 20mm, at 16mm it was terrible.

(have) 20-35mm L f2.8: Much better than all the previous ones in the corners and at any focal length, but with two probems: the minimum focusing distance is too long, only 50cm; and the lens is very prone to flare.

(had) 24-70mm f2.8: I always found this lens not very sharp at 2.8, and the performance in the corners was not better than 17-40.

Are the 20mm f2.8 or the 24mm f1.4 better? The lens I want doesn't exist? =) I will mostly use it at 24mm or 20mm.

absolutely forget the 20mm
or the 24 2.8 non-IS

You need modern primes or a superduper zoom.

Basically you tried almost everyone but the ones you need to try ;D.

24 1.4 II is very good at the extreme edges, extreme corners are not perfect but ok enough (not at f/1.4 though! gotta stop down some)

24 T&S II has good corners

zeiss is pretty decent

24 2.8 IS is apparently sharp there stopped down

17 T&S might not be bad

samayng 14mm is actually pretty sharp stopped down there is seems, VERY wide and good deal of distortion though

the samples from the new 24-70 II look decent, stopped down a bit, other than maybe the extreme corners (but extreme edges appear to be very sharp stopped down a bit it would seem)

 

[keithfullermusic]

I have the 20mm and 50d and 5diii. I love the lens, and I find it sharp compared to other wide angle lenses, but it is certainly not the sharpest thing out there. I'm not sure that you're ever going to get something really sharp when you go super wide because of the distortion, but I am no expert.

 

[Aglet]

If you're on a budget and don't mind manual focus, pick up an old Nikon 20mm f/2.8 AI or AI-s and put an F<>EF adapter on it. I use one of these oldies on my D800 and it's a terrific lens, sharp right out except for the extreme little bits in the corners. Use it for all kinds of landscape work.

Other than the Canon T&S and the one Zeiss 21mm someone mentioned and there's the 14mm Samyang (with lots of distortion in the central area) there's virtually nothing available for across the frame sharp glass for some reason.

Canon's pricey new 24 and 28mm IS lenses may be decent; i haven't tried them but from what I've seen for tests, published on SLRgear, their corners are much improved but still not great.

Nikon's 14-24mm can also be used with an adapter
and their 17-35mm f/2.8 is better than Canon's 17-40 in the outer regions as well, tho 2x the $.

 

[JoaoPedro]

Thank you all.

Will find a way to try a 24mm T&S or a Zeiss 21mm.

 

[@!ex]

The 14LII is crazy sharp in the corners. LOVE this lens, and I've shot with a LOT of UWA lenses. I'll let a couple examples I shot last weekend do the talking:


Fools Gold by @!ex, on Flickr


Light Pollution by @!ex, on Flickr

This one is a 5 minute exposure so the sharpness isn' really great, but it shows what you can do with a rear filter.

Road to Eldorado by @!ex, on Flickr


End of the Road by @!ex, on Flickr


DOF for Miles (literally) by @!ex, on Flickr


Sitting on the Dock by @!ex, on Flickr

 

[mrsfotografie]

http://www.lenstip.com/200.1-Lens_review-Samyang_14_mm_f_2.8_IF_ED_MC_Aspherical-Introduction.html

They have the 14mm F2.8 Samyang beating the 14mm canon in most everything except distortion. $400. Mine just arrived today and so far I wouldn't expect a whole lot more from the corners of such a lens. The 24 F2.8 II canon I just got is also good towards the corners full frame.

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/532-samyang14f28eosff?start=2 Just look at the samples on there. Kinda crazy resolution. Maybe 14mm is too wide for what you want?

Considering the 14mm F2.8 Samyang myself as the 14L II is out of my budget for such a specialty lens. Am a little worried about possible QC issues with the Samyang though, it really is that cheap! :

 

[Kernuak]

I haven't tried it myself, but the reviews I've read are good, although they say it isn't as sharp as it's big brother the 21mm, but also consider the Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 Distagon if you need something a little wider. It's cheaper than most of the others available, such as the Zeiss 21, Canon f/1.4 24 MkII and 14 MkII, as well as the tilt/shift options.

 

[PavelR]

The only sharp wide lenses are: 35L, 24TS II
(14L vs 24TS II: http://the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=454&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=2&LensComp=486&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=1)

 

[scarbo]

The only sharp wide lenses are: 35L, 24TS II
(14L vs 24TS II: http://the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=454&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=2&LensComp=486&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=1)

And the Canon f/1.4 24mm II.

 

[crasher8]

I am amazed how sharp the corners are on my Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4. Not super sharp but as good as a 17-40. Plus $295 wasn't too bad a deal for it since the center is as good as a 16-35 and the CA and distortion is not too bad and if there is some it's easily correctable. It also uses my B+W Haze MRC off my old 10-22!

 

[PavelR]

The only sharp wide lenses are: 35L, 24TS II
(14L vs 24TS II: http://the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=454&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=2&LensComp=486&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=1)

And the Canon f/1.4 24mm II.

I do not think so:
http://the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=480&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=5&LensComp=486&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=1
But if AF is needed, there is no other way...