wide angle lenses

NB. the prices here are very approximate values - I do not sell these!!

see also:

• lenses
• fast 35-40mm focal length lenses
• super wide angle lenses
• standard lenses
• portrait lens
• super tele
• perspective control lenses
• Note that with most zoom lenses, even wide angle zoom lenses, they are sharpest at the widest focal length

• this page is for lenses with field of view in the range of what a 28-40mm focal length lens would give on a 35mm full frame camera
• for wider lenses, see super wide angle lenses

• this is often the “standard” lens for street photographers
• it is very useful for wedding photographers, particularly full frame cameras used with lenses of apertures of f/1.4 to give some blurring of the background, and this is an important reason for some to choose a full frame camera over a cropped sensor camera
• see also fast 35-40mm focal length lenses

• the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4DG HSM lens (~$US900) is perhaps the best lens in this class although it is not weathersealed and bokeh is not as nice as it could be
• Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L ~$US1479
• Canon EF 35mm f/2.0 ~$US289
• Canon EF 35mm f/2.0 IS USM ~$US849
• Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM “optimised” for contrast detect AF
• Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G ~$US1650
• Nikon AF Nikkor 35mm f/2D ~$US360

• a Nikon/Sony DX dSLR with crop factor of 1.5 requires a 24mm focal length lens to give this angle of view

• a Canon APS-C dSLR with crop factor of 1.6 requires a 22mm focal length lens to give this angle of view, although a 24mm lens will give you 38mm equivalence

• these have a 2x crop factor so require a focal length in the range of 17-20mm
• Olympus mZD 17mm f/1.8 lens ~$US499
• Olympus m.ZD 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens ~$US249
• Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN asph lens for Micro Four Thirds ~$US199
• Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens ~$US349

• these are the classical wide angle lenses for 35mm full frame cameras

• Canon and Nikon 28mm lenses tend to be more consumer oriented than pro level
• Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM ~$US509
• Canon EF 28mm f/2.8
• Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM ~$US799
• Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28mm f/1.8G ~$US700
• Nikon AF Nikkor 28mm f/2.8D ~$US269
• Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX Aspherical DG DF Macro Autofocus ~$US449
• Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 28mm f/2.0 manual focus ~$US1299
• Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8 Color Skopar SL II manual focus lens ~$US599

• a Nikon/Sony DX dSLR with crop factor of 1.5 requires a ~18mm focal length lens to give this angle of view

• a Canon APS-C dSLR with crop factor of 1.6 requires a ~18mm focal length lens to give this angle of view
• eg. Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L tilt shift lens

• these have a 2x crop factor so require a focal length in the range of 14mm
• Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 pancake lens for Micro Four Thirds

• these are the classical ultra wide angle lenses for 35mm full frame cameras
• see super wide angle lenses

• Canon and Nikon both make 24mm f/1.4 lenses as well as 24mm perspective control lenses for architectural use
• Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L
• Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II ~$US1749
• Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 ~$US375
• Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM ~$US849
• Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED ~$US1999
• Nikon AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D ~$US360
• Leica M Summilux 24mm f/1.4 MF ~$5999

• a Nikon/Sony DX dSLR with crop factor of 1.5 requires a 16mm focal length lens to give this angle of view

• a Canon APS-C dSLR with crop factor of 1.6 requires a 15mm focal length lens to give this angle of view

• these have a 2x crop factor so require a focal length of 12mm
• Olympus m.ZD 12mm f/2.0 lens ~$US700