Going Wide

[Tracey]

I'm looking at buying a wide angle lens for my Olympus.

The "standard" lens that came with the camera was a 17 to 40 zoom (which I believe is the equivalent to the "old" 35 to 80 zoom), but I'm finding that its "not quite" wide enough to get the full picture in some cases.

As the cost of the wide angle lenses for my camera is so expensive, I want to make sure I get the right one.

Any tips as to what to look for, or what I should be asking in the shops when I go to seriously look?

Many thanks
Tracey

[Hedgehog]

Well...you sensor is pretty small so it makes a wiiiiiiiiide lens... erm... not so wide... a focal length of 10mm will actually look like a close on 20mm on a "proper" 35mm camera... so basically the wider the better... can you get 3rd party lenses for Olympuses... ? ... Olympusie? ... Olympussy?... 

[Tracey]

Sigma make lenses for my camera, as well as the Olympus ones... but holy moly the cost of them! 

[Hedgehog]

Sigma make lenses for my camera, as well as the Olympus ones... but holy moly the cost of them! 

Ah... now you understand... the camera is the disposable bit at the back of the lens, which is the important (expensive) bit 

[Tracey]

So as a bit of a comparison... a wide angle lens for your camera would be what?
(size and price) I'm just wondering whether hubby bought me the right bit of kit... and before I start adding more stuff, I want to make sure I have the right stuff

[Hedgehog]

Widest you can get before going totally fisheye is 10mm... I went for the Canon 10-22 which is a very nice lens (16-35 equiv)... there's a Sigma 10-20 I think for quite a bit less money (came out just after I bought the 10-22)... still almost £400... but on yours that's an equiv of about 20-40... still, not bad... go & try one in Jacobs or Jessops if you can. Otherwise it's 2nd hand lenses, adapters & bye-bye autofocus etc.

(The 8mm f4 Sigma fisheye is over £700  )

[Tracey]

Well I've been looking into this a fair bit over the past couple of months, and I have to admit I was all for dumping the Olympus before I spent too much, but having seen the quality of some other uses photos I've come to the conclusion its operator error and not the fault of the camera/lens.

I've decided to stick with Olympus and save for a good quality set of lenses, starting with a super-wide, and then gradually replace the lenses that came with the camera. Hopefully by the time I have them replaced, my skills should have improved enough to do the lenses justice

[Tracey]

Before I drop over £500 on a lens I have a further question...

this time regarding the f numbers (among other things)....
I've noticed that Olympus (and other four-thirds manufacturers) do a few "super-wide" lenses, with a big price variation (from just over £400 to over £1000), what would be the main differences be? I've noticed 2 that seem close in zoom size but price wise they're so different, is it something to do with the "f-stop" or would it be a better quality of glass... a better build quality or a mixture of all?
Will an f2 lens be better than an f4?

Gosh so many things to consider when spending so much money

[Hedgehog]

The focal ratio of a lens refers to the diameter of the aperture in terms of the focal length of the lens. The lower the f-number of the lens the more light the lens lets in, & the smaller the Depth of Field (DoF) that can be obtained giving you greater creative lisence to produce nice silky Bokeh's (the out of focus area around your supposedly pin sharp subject).

A low f-number doesn't necessarily mean an expensive lens... I've got a 50mm f1.8 that was under £100 & is a superb, quality lens... but in general the longer zoom lenses do go up in price... scary prices actually.

[Tracey]

Thanks Hedge, so the cost difference is likely to be a mixture of better glass, and better build quality and the low fstop number? - I'm trying to figure out why one lens is almost double the cost of another for a very similar zoom range

And yeah, the prices of some of the lenses is very scarey...
(I could do with a good lottery win to help fund this hobby )

[Tracey]

Sorry, I just cant let this drop.

I'm almost certain that I'll be buying the Oly 9-18mm lens, but my main concern is the f4 as opposed to the f2.8 that the 11-22mm uses. As I wont be able to justify buying 2 lenses at the wide end, in your opinion do I sacrifice the extra 2mm or the f-stop... What would I miss from each?

[Hedgehog]

Personally... I'd go for the 2.8-3.5 rather than the 4-5.6... the extra 2mm is negligible really unless you compared like for like... in normal landscapes the f stop doesn't matter too much but for interiors it could be useful & it allows plenty of scope for playing with DoF... I wish mine was a 2.8 for my gig shots.

[Tracey]

but the 2mm is really 4mm on a 35mm camera isnt it? Would it not make that much a difference?
Unfortunately the local camera shops dont seem to have either in stock so I wont be able to see for myself

[Hedgehog]

Yeah but no but yeah but you're effectively comparing 18mm with 22mm... same percentage... still only noticable to someone doin' a like for like test... pop down to your camera shop & have a try.

Oh... & another thing about wiiiiiide lenses... if you use the pop-up flash at full wide you'll most probably get a dark ark across the bottom of your photo where the top of the lens is obstructing the beam. You'll probably have to zoom out to about 17mm to eliminate this... the flash is usually made for lenses about this length & up (roughly the widest end of the kit lens). Of course on the f2.8 you're less likely to need the flash

[Tracey]

I'd heard there were possible issues with really-wide angle lenses... looks like I may need to get a flash too .

I have a few photos I would've loved a wider lens (like the Flying Horse photo attached) But I was stood as far back as I could go, and I still didnt get it all in. In your experience, would the 11-22 get it all in?  (This one was taken with my 17-40 at 17, with me pushed right back at the glass door) and as I'm going to start mum/daughter piccy trips shortly where most would be landscapes, I'm eager to get one that fits what I want to do