Having several lens options to work with is what sets professional photographers apart from casual ones, and one of the lens types that shouldn’t be missing in his camera bag is a wide-angle lens.
Wide-angle lenses provide the user with a large portion of the scene he’s shooting. The important question here happens to be, do you need one, and how do you choose the best wide angle lenses for Canon cameras?
If you intend to shoot different kinds of scenes with your canon camera, you may want to ask, how wide is wide? As long as you’re looking at applying the right kind of wide-angle lens to the kind of photography it’s most suited for, it’s a fair concern, and for Canon, the options are more than just a handful.
With different wide-angle lenses floating on the market, you don’t want to buy what you don’t need for the kind of photography you’re into. Still, on answering the question about how wide is wide, our fair judgment would be to provide you with an mm lens that doesn’t stretch too far beyond control and, at the same time, doesn’t limit your scene. Find out which in this article.
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What mm Lens is The Best for Wide Angle?
The best mm lens wouldn’t be a single lens with properties that transcends all photography niches. Such perfection doesn’t exist if our focus is on the width of the lens, so what seems best would depend on what you’re shooting or what the proposed use of the lens is.
In the world of photography, however, what seems to be the ultimate wide-angle lens is the 14mm. This is suitable for landscapes with expansive vistas. The 14mm also happens to be the favorite for astrophotographers underwater and seems to get the job done in underwater photography.
But if the goal is to capture street scenes and get as many subjects in the shots, then a preferable lens here is the 35mm. This would not only pick as many subjects as you want, but it’ll also keep them focused on a desirable taste.
Conventionally, wide-angle lenses fall into three major groupings:
01. Ultra-wide angle lens
A lens with a focal length of 16mm and below falls under this category. Whenever you hear people talk of specialist lenses, ultra-wide angle lenses are what is being spoken about.
Their utility is more restricted to certain areas of photography like shooting astrophotography scenes and, interestingly, comes very handy when you’re looking at capturing the entire milky way band.
Another term you may need to acquaint yourself with in this category of the lens is the fisheye lens, which is an ultra-wide lens with a field of view that stretches through full 180 degrees, and as a result, making images shot with this kind of lens, circular and distinct.
02. Wide-angle lens
Wide angle lenses typically range from 16mm-24mm and are wide enough without falling into the fisheye group lens, where the frame is stretched extremely. For landscape photography, the sweet spot lies in this range; however, you can apply this focal length range to everyday use.
03. Standard wide-angle lens
If you’re new to photography, you may have some getting used to it, as the terms used here are essentially numerous to create little distinctions between brands, camera tools, and niches. Standard wide-angle lens is one of those terms that have been confused with the everyday wide-angle lens, but these two focal lens groups stand apart for pretty serious reasons.
Furcal length between 24mm-35mm gets the tag “standard” because only with a wide angle lens they don’t create distortions at very wide shots. However, if you want a lens that tears through confined spaces like small rooms or cityscapes, a better option may be to go wider.
What is The Best Wide Angle Lenses for Canon
Best Canon Full Frame Wide Angle Lenses
01. Canon EF 16–35mm f/2.8L III USM Wide Angle Lens: Best for Landscape/Real Estate Photography
02.Canon ef 16-35mm f/4l is usm Lens: Ultra Wide Angle for Landscape Photography
03. Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM Lens: Best Widest Angle Lens
04. Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art Lens: Best Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Best Canon APS-C wide-angle lens
05. Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
06.Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 Super wide angle USM SLR Lens
07. Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Budget Wide Angle Lens
While your camera may feature a kit lens with a focal range in the class of all-purpose, the widest setting may still not squeeze all your desired subjects into the frame you’re shooting. This especially is a situation in travel photography, while moving far enough from tall structures is a problem.
So, having rummaged through a good number of Canon lenses available, we settled for the best among them, which most importantly offers you the ability to exaggerate your optical perspectives while at the same time offering you unmatched backdrop receding and separation of the subject in the background. Check it out
Canon EF-M 11-22
Consider the Canon EF-M 11-22mm a tremendous complement to the EOS-M series, offering the user a unique wide angle of view. The EF-M 11-22 is an excellent choice for group photography in cramped spaces or a photographer seeking out the right landscape. It also fits perfectly as a nearly all-around lens.
Among the many fascinating characteristics of this lens is its built-in image stabilization, which helps improve its performance, even when you’re shooting in low-light conditions. A feature like this makes the lens undeniably a top consideration for shooting HD movies, as it comes with a Dynamic IS
The specialized and well-crafted Canon optics brings to the shot a certain kind of high resolution lacking in some other lens. The camera also embodies a quiet and refined autofocus system that keeps the target locked in position even when one is shooting at very high speeds, ensuring the output stays as sharp as possible.
This zoom lens has a built-in optical image stabilizer that can cover up to three shake correction stops. It also features a lens retraction mechanism that shortens the lens’s length, and its compact design makes it easy to move around and offers the user a good handgrip and handling.
Top Specifications I like
- The focal length is 11-22mm
- Maximum aperture is f/4-5.6
- Lens construction is 12 elements in 9 groups
- AF with overall manual focus adjustment
- Filter size of 2.2 inches/55mm diameter
- Diagonal angle of view of 102°10′-66°30.’
How Do I Choose a Wide-angle Lens?(Great Video)
Your choice of a wide-angle lens will depend on what project you’re planning for, or if you’re a professional photographer, what niche you’re into. Another factor you can’t afford to look into is what camera you’ll be mounting it on.
Landscape photography often comes to mind when wide-angle lenses are mentioned, perhaps because it’s the niche that has seen more use of this lens type. While this is the case, other genres that wide-angle lenses can be used for include street photography, architectural or real estate, night sky, or underwater photography.
Wide angle lenses are lenses that, on a full-frame camera, have a width above 50mm. Apparently, for cropped sensor cameras, you’ll require a wider lens to meet the criteria that designate above 50mm as a wide angle lens.
The major thing to consider before purchasing a wide-angle lens is whether you need a prime or a zoom lens. While typically, zoom lenses provide a more expansive range, prime lenses are built to be lighter and smaller and, in some cases, offer a speedier maximum aperture.
A faster maximum aperture means the shooter would get a shallow depth-of-field. I’m scenarios when they are looking for a soft, colorful background. If you’ve got the financial capability with a keen interest in architectural photography, you can consider a tilt-shift, which is more than enough compensation for skewed perspectives.
What is The Widest Lens for Canon’s Full-frame?
With lens technology witnessing a persistent march of getting additional megapixels into full-frame sensors, ultra-wide lenses are often where to turn to. Since for a full-frame Canon, a prime and a zoom lens alternatives are available; we will consider the widest zoom lens as well as the widest prime lenses available in full-frame Canon.
01. Widest Zoom lens (Canon EF 11-24mm f/4)
With a focal length of 11-24mm and a maximum aperture of f/4, it’s difficult to beat this lens in the game of width. Canon is known to offer some superb wide zoom lenses for its full-frame cameras, but until recently, the only lens shorter than the 16mm option was the EF 8-15mm f/4.
This lens, however, is a fisheye lens and not a standard rectilinear type. When compared to the longer 16-35mm, the 5mm lesser focal length impacts the maximum viewing angle a user has access to.
The 11-24mm alternative is the widest you can get as long as zoom lenses for Canon are concerned. As expected, for this kind of lens, the front element is blocked by a built-in lens hood. A lens cap is fitted over the hood, acting as a protection to the fragile glass while it is transported.
02. Widest prime lens (Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM)
Compared with some of the recent wide-angle primes lenses for Canon, this lens came into the spotlight in the last century. With a 20mm focal length matched with an f/2.8 aperture, it’s been in the business of providing photographers with the widest viewing angle possible with a Canon DSLR.
Its small, lightweight, and compact build also make handling easy. Great corner sharpness is a popular expectation for prime lenses as wide as this, and common enough, images tend to assume softer looks around the edges.
The Center sharpness of the lens is comparatively impressive and pretty stable between f/2.8 and f/8. Distortion is more visible than usual, and color fringing is brought to the forefront more than other lenses. Still, regardless of this, the lens’s ability to go wider than what’s obtainable with 24-70mm and other standard zooms is too unique to look away from.
Is an 18mm to 55mm a Wide-angle Lens?
The 18mm-55mm focal length lens isn’t taken much seriously by photographers since it comes with their camera when you purchase it. It is inexpensive, not too bulky, and highly versatile, which are features that make it an all-around gear for basic photography.
The 15mm-55mm lens can be applied to photography genres like street, landscape, and basic macro photography. But what descriptive box do we fit it in? Is it wide enough to be considered a wide-angle lens?
Well, the fairest possible way to adjudicate this is to refer to what wide angle lens means and what camera adjustments you can make with this lens to see if it can capture an extensive background. Wide angle lenses are conventionally known to have 35mm focal lengths or shorter. This offers the user a wider field of view.
The aperture range of the lens is f/3.5-5.6, and at 18mm, the lens can attain a wider aperture. In the photography industry, many lenses can do better than this. Hence the 18mm-55mm isn’t typically considered a wide angle lens.
Nonetheless, this doesn’t negate the fact that a shooter can not get a “wide angle” of his background while shooting with this lens. On a holistic characteristics judgment, the 18-55mm lens falls short of many other prime and zoom lenses that fit into the category.
Top Questions (FAQs)
What’s the difference between a fisheye and a wide-angle lens?
There are several noticeable similarities between fisheye and wide-angle lenses. A guide to the usage of bottoms is to remember that they are only similar but not the same. A fisheye lens fits in the category of a wide-angle lens, but not all wide-angle lenses are typically fisheye.
Wide angle lenses can help achieve more versatility, and if the goal of the photographer is to reach a wide field of view with very little distortion, a wide-angle lens is a lens to go for.
From a creative standpoint, a fisheye lens will meet the performance features of a wide-angle lens and will even create an interesting image output with distortion and curvature; however, composed of wide-angle lenses, they are lacking in versatility.
Is a wide-angle lens suitable for portraits?
Shooting portraits with a wide angle lens can improve perspective but, on the downside, distort proportions. For example, if you can capture the same portrait with a 50mm and 24mm lens, your 24mm lens will slightly cause your subject to be distorted in the edges of the frame.
What mm can be categorized as fisheye?
To go with the 35mm focal length format, the focal length of fisheye lenses is about 8-10mm for circular images and 12-18mm for images that are diagonal and fill the whole frame.
Final Words
If you’re looking at purchasing a wide-angle lens, there are certain considerations you must make to ensure you end up with a suitable focal length for your genre of photography. This article is a comprehensive collection of facts and references to wide-angle lenses for the Canon brand.
As the photography scene is laden with a lot of unfamiliar terms, to foster coherence in language, we have also attempted to differentiate terms commonly conflated with the hope that you find the precise kind of lens you need. Happy shooting!