Posted by Pam Colander on December 28, 2007 at 5:44 PM
I did a search here prior to posting this and nothing came up. I apologise in advance if I am in error.
My question is this...how do you use an ultra wide lens and not get vignetting? Using my Tokina 12-24mm f4 DX lens on my Canon 10D (1.6x sensor) worked through the entire focal range with no vignetting. On my 5D with its full frame I cannot go below 19mm without significant vignetting. 12mm is like looking through a porthole. Yet I see other photographers shooting a 5D at 15-16mm with no vignetting. How are they able to do this? Is it the difference between f4 on my lens and the f2.8 on the 16-35mm II?
Pam, the Tokina is not designed to cover a full-frame sensor (this is why it's designated DX). You may want to look into the Sigma 12-24 if you need something in this range that can cover a full-frame sensor.
Guy
Posted by Pam Colander on December 28, 2007 at 8:03 PM
Ah HA! Thanks Guy. I take it any brand ultra wide lens that doesn't have the DX designation will work through the entire range on the 5D?
Different manufacturers have different designations for lenses designed for smaller sensors (APS-C) so read the fine print! Tamron uses "Di-II", Sigma uses "DC", Canon uses "EF-S", etc.
If 17mm is wide enough for what you have in mind, I personally consider the Canon 17-40/4 L to be one of the best deals for full-frame ultra wide lenses.
Guy
Posted by Don George on December 29, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Pam as Guy suggested the Canon 17-40 f4 L works great!
Posted by Pam Colander on December 30, 2007 at 1:08 PM
I know that many great photographers here use the 17-40 f4 L. I was reading up on it and checking out reviews. I saw more than a few comments about it being quite distorted from 17 to about 22-24 mm. Is this true? I find it hard to believe that so many good photographers would use it if this were the case.
Pam, all lenses of this type will show distortion, especially when tilted (which, more often than not, is the case for landscape photography). The effects are visible in the finder and you can judge whether the distortion is severe enough to detract from the image. There are several applications and plugins that can correct it very effectively (e.g. PTLens)
Some people criticize the 17-40 for corner softness, though this seems to vary between different samples. Apparently some are better than other so if you can get your hands on a couple and compare them, you can keep the one that works best and return the other(s). For the price, it is an amazing lens (considering the comparable 16-35 is significantly more expensive).
Guy
Posted by Pam Colander on December 31, 2007 at 3:34 PM
Discussion
7 repliesMy question is this...how do you use an ultra wide lens and not get vignetting? Using my Tokina 12-24mm f4 DX lens on my Canon 10D (1.6x sensor) worked through the entire focal range with no vignetting. On my 5D with its full frame I cannot go below 19mm without significant vignetting. 12mm is like looking through a porthole. Yet I see other photographers shooting a 5D at 15-16mm with no vignetting. How are they able to do this? Is it the difference between f4 on my lens and the f2.8 on the 16-35mm II?
Thanks for your help,
Pam
Guy
Pam
If 17mm is wide enough for what you have in mind, I personally consider the Canon 17-40/4 L to be one of the best deals for full-frame ultra wide lenses.
Guy
Pam
Some people criticize the 17-40 for corner softness, though this seems to vary between different samples. Apparently some are better than other so if you can get your hands on a couple and compare them, you can keep the one that works best and return the other(s). For the price, it is an amazing lens (considering the comparable 16-35 is significantly more expensive).
Guy
Pam