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Best wide lenses
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    In this topic we'll talk about best wide lenses for m43, Canon, Nikon and Pentax cameras.

    m43 lenses

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    Panasonic 7-14mm F4 - about $1000
    Very sharp, highly recommended lens. Not fast.

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    Panasonic 14mm F2.5 - about $350
    Also not very fast for prime lens. Sharpness is average, corners are quite soft wide open.

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    Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 - about $700
    Very highly regarded lens. Good compliment to longer 2.8 zoom.

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    Samyang 14mm F2.8 - about $400
    Very sharp, quite large lens. Has quite complex distortion, unfortunately.

    Canon lenses

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    Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 - about $700
    Very highly regarded lens. Good compliment to longer 2.8 zoom.

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    Samyang 14mm F2.8 - about $400
    Very sharp, quite large lens. Has quite complex distortion, unfortunately.
  • 120 Replies sorted by
  • stoneystoney
    I want 7-14... but $$$$
  • stefanosstefanos
    I'm trying to find out more about the Goyo lenses but their site and customer support is terrible ofcourse, and then how do you hunt one of those lenses down is another question.
    http://www.goyooptical.com/products/industrial/GMHR61220MCN.pdf
    This lens, if it's cheap and good would be the most awesome-perfect lens for me right now 12mm f/2 !!! And most industrial c mounts have very good build quality, aperture with no clicks, and some of these megapixel lenses are extremely sharp edge to edge cause they are used often for measuring and scientific processes.
    A ultra low budget option is the pentax 6mm 1.2 c mount lens used with the ETC crop mode on GH2. I've been using it way before the other bloggers "discovered" it. I had to machine it though to achieve infinity focus. Build quality is excellent, very small, sharp, cheap, it becomes about 31mm FF equivalent. The only downside is that as we know the crop mode looks bad at high iso with very noisy blacks and shadows, so it's not ideal in very lowlight.
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    @stefanos

    I suggest you to make separate topics for cheap and less expensive lenses, like C mounts.
    What do you think?
    I hope that we'll be able to find gems with time.
  • stefanosstefanos
    if the goyo is actually a "real" lens that we can buy, I assume it's not going to be cheap, at 12mm f/2 (23mm image circle coverage) my guess is above 400$ . the pentax is dead cheap yeah. I agree. I'll make separate threads though, I'll get my act together now that I have time and make some reviews. I ordered a huge gini shoulder rig and the 10" monitor that are coming in tomorrow. So I've got quite a few toys to review very soon:)
  • svartsvart
    I have a 16mm Sigma filtermatic fisheye. You can find them around 150-200$. They are pretty decent for the price but tend to have problems focusing at infinity. The edge distortion is manageable and the barrel distortion is fairly even across the frame. I did have to modify an adapter(shortened it by 1mm) to get infinity focus.
  • bitcrusherbitcrusher
    I am using the Tokina 11-16mm. It really is a nice lens but is quite big and heavy.

    Would love to see fast wide prime... something in the f2 range so that goyo lens sounds nice.
  • EOSHDEOSHD
    The interesting wide c-mounts are:

    Computar 12.5mm F1.3 - almost covers entire sensor, slight crop needed to avoid vignetting.
    Pentax 6mm F1.2 - works as fast wide angle (roughly 28mm equivalent) in Ex-Tele crop mode.
    Rainbow 3.5mm - as tested by Seb Farges here:


    My personal favourite is not a c-mount, I like the look of the 14mm Lumix pancake with my LA7200 anamorphic with 1.33x wideness stretch in one direction producing 2.35:1 wide-screen with a roughly 10mm focal length at F2.5
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    Andrew, it is good idea to make separate topic on C-mount lenses and B4 zooms.
    People need detailed samples and video links to understand that is useful in their projects :-)
  • stoneystoney
    +1 on Lumix 14.5 & LA7200. Wide angle & anamorphic & fast AF. Sounds great. I own neither though. But it sucks that Lumix 20.7 has moving front element and 14.5 isn't as good as 20.7.
  • stefanosstefanos
    kind of random, but it just occured to me how awesome it would be if pana made a new cine-style version of the 20mm, same optically but with proper focus, aperture ring, made it bit larger ofcourse, larger filter thread, markings etc:) would buy it in a heartbeat! :)
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    > cine-style version of the 20mm, same optically but with proper focus, aperture ring, made it bit larger ofcourse, larger filter thread, markings etc:) would buy it in a heartbeat! :)

    Hmm. Price of 20mm is already in $450-480 region.
    Such cine version will be about $1000. May be more.
  • GOODEMPIREGOODEMPIRE
    I have one extra 20mm to sell. Got 2 in a rush once heard of the soaring prices. Let me know if anyone's interested.
  • stoneystoney
    I don't think Panny will make cine lens for m43. I'm bearish in seeing pro m43 lens anytime soon. Panny must sell lots and lots of consumer quality bodies and lenses first before developing pro lens. You know... the critical mass.

    Ah... another nice seb33's video. I've been wondering how the heck he got it so stable using only handheld. Mystery solved. He uses his nose bridge to support the camera. He has a tripod like feature on his face!!! I don't have that. me.. sad.
  • ttancredittancredi

    Anyone tried olympus 9-18mm for landscape shooting? Wonder if it is as contrasty as the pannys

    Still waiting to invest some money in a good wide glass. ( meawhile shooting with wide adapter atached either to the 20 1.7 or the kit 14-42).

    Just saw, on vimeo, some good footage of fisheye rokinon 7.5mm corrected on AE. a little soft in the cornerns but definetelly much better than wide converters..

    Anyone else tried working around with fish-eyes?

    Rokinon design really reminded me of voigtlander 15mm m mount.

    How nice it would be having a proper wide reliable and highly portable lens.

  • brianlucebrianluce

    This is the lens I use the most. You have to adapt it, the auto focus is a bit slow and noisy, but it's good. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/590390-REG/Olympus_261060_14_54mm_f_2_8_3_5_II_Zuiko.html

  • ttancredittancredi

    I tried convincing myself that 14mm was wide enough. ( the 14 pancake would be ideal than) But I really feel the need to go wider while trying (and spending weeks) to compose static powerfull shots. Most used lenght would be 8-10mm

  • yeehaanowyeehaanow

    @ttancredi I have the olympus 9-18 m4/3 and it's a great super compact lens. Man that thing is tiny. Full wide is sharp corner to corner. I think I found it for $350 used?
    In low light it's almost TOO sharp and tends to exaggerate noise maybe. More testing necessary with various patches and such to really confirm this.

    Also got the Opteka 6.5mm fisheye. Also very sharp and a fun fun lens. I think it's the widest you can get and will cover an aps-c sensor too. I got it mostly for doing spherical panoramas but I shot some video while ice-skating and it works really well for high-action sports/ lot's of movement type shots. And out in the wide open it has less fish-eye-ness than I expected.

  • AmandaNLAmandaNL

    9-18 oly is also on my list, one of the few wide-angle lenses that accepts screw filters!

  • LongJohnSilverLongJohnSilver

    And the Panny 8mm fisheye? Wide open it's sharper than the 7-14mm. Of course it's fisheye.

    Here the Oly 12mm f2 vs Panny 14 f2.5

    http://www.thephoblographer.com/2011/10/04/micro-four-thirds-lens-comparison-olympus-12mm-f2-vs-panasonic-14mm-f2-5/

  • PsycoPsyco

    Lenses to consider: Olympus Zuiko 4/3

    • 7-14mm F4 (like Pany 7-14, better built quality, heavy)
    • Zuiko 14-35 F2.0 (very good lens and F2.0 @ 14mm is ok, very heavy and big)

    Oh, and @Vitaliy: You are listing the Tokina 11-16mm under m4/3...is there a m4/3 version of this lens?

  • EbachervilleEbacherville

    if you want really wide a Tameron 4-12mm F1.2 is cheap, goes from fish-eye to wide nicely, is a C mount CCTV lens but does a good job for super low light super wide stuff.. great effects lens, but you need to use it in ETC mode. I love it for super wide shots, what convinced me to get one was this review , it does require a very simple of a modification, but its easy with a Dremel tool:

  • DancingCameraDancingCamera

    @Psyco Tokina 11-16mm is a terrific lens, but does not come in m4/3. Tokina has a Nikon and a Canon version, so make sure you know what lens mount the lens has and buy the necessary adapter. I have the Nikon version and use it with a Nikon-m4/3 with aperture control. You'll need the aperture ring or will have to pin the aperture dial open in the lens. Adorama has an aperture ring Nikon-m4/3 that works fine and is only $40 USD or so. This is an "always carry" lens with whatever kit I am using.

    I'll put in a general vote for the Oly 12mm f/2. Love this lens. Build quality is very nice, tiny form factor, tight fit in m4/3 mounts, and will run autofocus w/ GH2. A powerhouse on my AF100 on steadicam cranked to 60fps...

    Panny 7-14 is good in a pinch with plenty of light, very wide.

    Oly 12-60 also great and can be found for $500, and of course if you have $$$ then the Oly f/2 twins - 14-35 and 35-100.

  • PsycoPsyco

    @DancingCamera thanks for the info. I have the Oly 14-35 and I'm planning on getting the 35-100. Now I only need a wide angle to complete the set. The Oly 7-14 is nice but only F4, so the Tokina 11-16mm is very tempting.

    How does the Tokina 11-16 match the Oly 14-35/35-100? (Colour, sharpness, bokeh,...?)

    Is there a use for 7-10mm focal length besides outdoor panoramic establishing shoots and effect shoots? I have never used a lens that wide and don't know if I will ever need it;-)

  • ivanleeivanlee

    I can't believe no one mentioned the Olympus 11-22 f/2.8-3.5. It's sharp like a prime and very low on distortion

  • LittleDLittleD

    @ivanlee A link? Can't see what optic you're talking about.

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