Affordable Wide Angle Low Light Lens

[Metalliogre]

Good Morning!

I am in search for a nice wide angle low light lens I can use on my 70D. I would prefer something under $500. I am looking to capture photos of the night sky and landscapes at all times of the day/night. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Metalliogre]

Is there a way I can still use this with a ring and get the same quality?

[kvbarkley]

Does it look like this (Nikon mount):

Or this (Canon mount):

If it looks like the Nikon, you might as well return it.

[Metalliogre]

It says NI. Definitely Nikon.

[ebiggs1]

Return it.  It will never work for you.

[TTMartin]

---

@ebiggs1 wrote:

Return it.  It will never work for you.

---

And get the EF-S 10-18 IS STM.

[Metalliogre]

---

@ebiggs1 wrote:

Return it.  It will never work for you.

---

How do you feel about the lens that TTMartin suggested? Should I still go with the Rokinon? I don't mind the manual focus at all, I just want beautiful pictures.

[TTMartin]

ebiggs dislikes anything I suggest simply because I'm the one who suggested it.

[Waddizzle]

---

@kvbarkley wrote:

If it looks like the Nikon, you might as well return it.

---

Yup, that's the EF mount.  I have a cinema version of this 14mm lens.  The shots I posted earlier were made with the lens focused at the hyperfocal distance.  After a little trial and error, which means about a dozen shots, I found the hyperfocal setting on my lens.

Do you see the white bar next to the "3 m" mark on the distance scale.  That is the reference mark.  The lens seems to be focused at a distance of 3 meters, and is using a aperture that is between f/16 and f/22.  The aperture ring is what it is.  Dial in whatever aperture that you want to use, or need.

So,, where did I find the hyperfocal settings?  Just "above" the 3 meter mark is an "L" shaped bar, that ends with the infinity mark.  The entire length of the of the "L" represents infinity focus, or hyperfocal focus.  Depending upon the nature of the ambient light, your hyperfocal distance can fall anywhere along that short reference line.

As it turns out, finding the hyperfocal setting in bright sunlight is pretty simple.  Just use the "foot" of the "L" shaped mark that represents infinty focus.  From that setting, I can adjust the DOF by dialing in different aperture settings.  Most of the time for landscape shots I can use f/5.6 with a lens this short.  With my 85mm, I seem to get better results at f/8,than f/5.6.

[Waddizzle]

---

@TTMartin wrote:

---

@ebiggs1 wrote:

Return it.  It will never work for you.

---

And get the EF-S 10-18 IS STM.

---

Great lens, but falls short on the low light front. 

I hate to say it, but Rokinon, and a few others, have Canon soundly beaten, hands down, on the wide angle, wide aperture lens market.  One quirk of the Rokinon lenses is that they can show high CA outside of the DOF, but  within the DOF they tend to be razor sharp.  This behavior is quite the opposite of the focusing behavior of most lenses.

I like the idea that Canon does not make any manual focus lenses for EF mount.  But, there is really nothing wrong with making high quality manual lenses for the EF mount, IMHO. But, I can see why Marketing would not want to do so.  {Warning, I'm an Operations guy, so i am notorious for blaming Sales.]

Don't get me wrong. Canon does make high quality, manual focus lenses.  Their EOS cinemat lenses are reputed to be the best in the business.  NBC used them exclusivelhy at the Rio Olympics in 2016.  Those images were very high resolution, and razor sharp with very little CA. 

But, the Rokinon manual focus can be pretty good, assuming you can get your hands on a good copy, supposedly.  Well, I have had no problems with the more costly versions of their manual focus lenses, the cinema verions of them.

[Waddizzle]

---

@TTMartin wrote:
Yes, it can do low light landscapes. First low light can be corrected for with slower shutter speeds. Between the wide angle and image stabilization with good technique you can handhold full one second exposures.

Also low light can be corrected by taking multiple photos and stacking them.

---

"Use the Force, Luke."

Taking a handheld one second exposure is a pretty neat trick.  Don't try that at home folks.  Most folks will need a tripod for one second exposures, seriously.

As for taking multiple shots of long exposures and stacking them, that would test the skills of a Jedi Master.