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help me choose a dSLR with wide angle zoom & IS
I could do with some help to choose a new dSLR to replace my Konica Minolta A200 & KM ACW-100 x0.8 wide converter. I find I am taking wide angle nearly all the time, but with the converter in place I have a fixed 22mm (35mm equiv) lens..

I would like to have a wide angle, minimum 2x zoom range, from 20mm or less, with image stabilisation (lens or body) and there should be little or no vignetting. Also need to have a bright clear viewfinder, I find getting a good composition with the A200 to be difficult, also a minimum 2.5" LCD screen. Price is not too important, and I expect to Photoshop all my images. I would also get a medium range zoom lens, but I am less fussy about that lens, it's the wide angle I want the best performance from..

So far been looking at the Sony A100 with Sigma 10-20, Pentax K10D with Pentax 12-24, and Olympus E-510 with Olympus 7-14. Image size ratio of 4:3 preferable to 3:2 but not a necessity...

Comments (5)

Any of those should be fine (though I'd prefer the Pentax system). I have the Sigma on my Nikon D200 and like it a lot..

But I'm not sure you'll need IS with such a lens, assuming landscapes are your preferred subjects - and I wouldn't get too hung up on it at all in a camera body..

My 3 non-dSLRs all have IS but not the Nikon, nor do I have it on any of my lenses, and I don't miss it one iota..

If I eventually get the Nikkor 70-200 VR (that's IS) obviously I'll appreciate it but it's not an issue on anything other than longer lenses for me..

Alex.

Http://akiralx.smugmug.com/..

Comment #1

Thank you for your reply. Preferred subjects are buildings (castles, chateaux, etc) outside and inside, and inside museums. I do not have steady hands and find even with IS (the A200 has IS) I have to reject a large proportion of my inside wide angle shots. I also like to take low light night-time shots. I would never buy another camera without IS, saying it is not necessary for wide angle only means that the blurring is less noticable with wide angle, not that it does not exist..

Doing a search with the features search in the buying guide here on dpreview led me to those 3 cameras, but I do not know which other camera systems have image stabilised lenses, seeing as I am only looking to get 2 lenses having an IS body isn't necessary...

Comment #2

Canon and Nikon both have IS lenses (called VR with Nikon). But wideangles with IS are non-existent and I don't see Nikon for one bringing any out soon, if ever..

I see where you're coming from, maybe a tripod or monopod would be useful, especially for the night shots. But who wants to go round a museum with a tripod..

But be aware that you will be able to crank the ISO to 800 or higher with a dSLR so you should be getting fast shutter speeds, especially outdoors, that may overcome camera shake..

Indoors at castles, museums etc I often find some object to plonk/rest the camera on - this one at Istanbul's Basilica Cistern @ ISO800, f/2.8, 1/10 sec, resting the lens on a handrail and with mirror locked up to avoid shake from that:.

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Fast lenses are another trick - if the thing goes to f/1.8 or even 1.4 it's amazing how the shutter speeds creep up, though no real use for landscapes as the DOF would be too shallow..

Outdoors I doub't you'd have any problems with a Sigma 10-20mm on any Nikon (even the D40 or D40x) or Canon (they do it for both Nikon and Canon fits)..

Alex.

Http://akiralx.smugmug.com/..

Comment #3

In-body stabilisation is surely the way to go if you want stablisation on wide angle lenses as it's only possible with those lenses if you have it in the body. And of course once you've invested in the body, all lenses become stabilised. So the A100, K10D, Oly 510 are the three 10MP cameras to consider. Oh, and stabilisation also goes with shaking the sensor to shake dust off. oly seem to have nailed that best, but whenever you change lenses you risk introducing dust so knowing your camera has a built in dust buster is great too. No complaints about my Sony.

Happy choosing!..

Comment #4

I went through the same process some years ago when shifting from Panasonic LC1 to dSLRs. I settled on Olympus more or less by luck and havnt regretted it. I shoot interiors for a living.i guess if you are into UWA all the time then just a stabilised lens would be okthing is Olympus do wide angle better than anyonecandidate lenses would be 11-22mm or the 7-14the 11-22 has a 89 degree field of view and is reasonably fast at F2.8but the 7-14/4 rectilinear corrected is a lens without comparison.

Both lenses are top quality and reasonably distortion free, certainly much less distortion than competitor glass. This shot accidentally shot at F2.8 (wide open) instead of my preferred F4 shows very little in the way of 'softness' at the edges..

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Such performance isnt typical of other wide angle lenses, check out recommended lens reports here, be sure about what you are getting intohttp://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html.

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With Olympus features like IS for all it's 4/3rds lens suite, dust buster that works, pixel mapping and LiveView it is the best featured dSLR, and they have the glass you need for sharp UWA photography .... no fussRiley.

Real men get zippo haircuts..

Comment #5


This question was taken from a support group/message board and re-posted here so others can learn from it.

 

 

 

 

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