Does what it says on the tin. Over the years I’ve tested all the main ultra wide-angle zoom lenses for Canon’s APS-C cameras, including the third party ones. They’ve all been tested from slightly different positions, so here’s a slightly more informal video of my findings.
It’s pretty hard to choose and ultra wide-angle zoom lens, because most of them are good, but in different ways. All I can do is give you my favourite couple of lenses and leave the rest down to you!
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All pictures and footage taken by me on Canon 60D and 70D cameras
Be sure to follow my Photostream on Flickr, to see sample pictures of lenses I’ve reviewed and to see previews of upcoming lenses, too! https://www.flickr.com/photos/56334263@N07/
Music:
‘Shades of Spring’, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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I was thinking of getting the Canon 80d but would prefer a UWA prime, has you tried the EF 14mm?
I prefer wide angle lenses with a low aperture. Why? Because 99.9% percent of the time I would use it outdoors with a low aperture regardless. Out of focus backgrounds is not my style. Why should I pay extra money for a high aperture lens when I am not going to use it? For me, the Sigma 8-16 is very appealing. If they made it with an aperture of 2.8 and they had to add an extra couple hundred of Euros it would not be so appealing.
Maybe canon ef-m 11-22 will beat them all. (No mirror to compensate for. I don’t own any of these.)
Asides from the lens here are there any particular wide angles you would suggest? Are there any cheaper lens that arent that bad?
Hello, Chris!
Do you mind making a review for Tokina 12-28mm versus the Tokina 12-24mm? I sold my Canon 10-18mm as I tend to swap it out to another lens when I feel limited to its 18mm range.
Odd.. I have a Sigma 8 – 16mm lens and I would hardly call it sharp. So I have to disagree with you. Unless of course my model has issues?
Wow! I can’t thank you enough for your really, really helpful and useful comparison.
now I know what to buy, i definitely will recommend this video when my friends ask about what ultra wide lens to buy.
thank you!
Does the canon 10-18 stm have better quality than my 18-55mm kit lens? canon 550d
Hi Chris, thanks very much for your videos! Very informative!
Just like to know what would be your recommendation for real estate photography, mainly in small indoor rooms ?
good comparison but i think canon 10-18 should have one more apert/zoom star.
would you please recommend me 24-70, fish eye ,macro lens for both photo and video on a budget
Hi, Chris I was in conversation with you few months back, about buying the correct lens and didn’t realise that a 50mm f1.8 wasn’t wide enough I study Architecture, so I would appreciate it if you could recommend a wideangle lens such as the Canon 10-18mm. However having spent a lot on my whole collection to be honest I would prefer not spending over #150 for a lens. But I appreciate any suggestions thank you.
-Samar Ali Khan
I’m still searching for a ultra wide angle lens for video. So i need one with image stabilization like the Canon 10-18mm. But an aperture of only 4.6 is a big down point.
Anyone has any recommendation for me?
Focusing distance would be good
What do you mean by “you can’t use canon lenses on other cameras”
Because I’ve seen alot of people doing exactly that
Or am i missing something??
Know any prime auto focus lens that go to at least f/2.8?
I really push myself through these videos because of the content, but the ‘accent’ is always nearly getting me to drop out at some point …
Hi +Christopher Frost Photography. I love your videos, they offer me great understanding about photography and I used them to buy my lenses. I wonder if you could help me a bit. I can buy the 10-18mm new for €225, some one offered me the 10-22mm second hand for €275 with 3 different filters with it. Any advice as to what to do? Thanks a million! and keep making awesome videos!
I use Nikon, Sigma 8-16mm f4.5-5.6 is out of my price range, so it’s between the Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 and the Tokina AT-X PRO 11-16mm F2.8.
I suppose I should go for the Sigma 10-20mm for a bit more flexibility?
What about SAMYANG AE 14mm f / 2.8 ED IF UMC wide angle Lens?
Hi Chris… Thank you for reviewing the ultra wide lenses. Very helpful indeed. Quick question: between Canon 10-18 mm and Sigma 8-16 mm, which one is your personal favorite and why?
Thank you for this! I found the right lens for me!
Hey Christopher. I am a Nikon user and I do astrophotography. I’ve been shooting on an 18mm lens to get some wide angles on shots as I haven’t invested in a star tracking set up yet and thus can’t stitch photos together the way I would want to. I do some other non-astro photography as well, but it is always long exposure. I was wondering, given my usage, what your recommendation would be to capture the sharpest images of the night sky. Star trails tend to start around 20 seconds so ideally an aperture that allows me to use a lower ISO setting at 15 seconds would be great, but I am also willing to turn up my ISO settings if the lens really will produce a better shot.
Thanks for an objective review of the lenses. The benefits of each lens really helped me out.
Amazing comparison for the lowish budget ultra wide market. Thank you!
A very useful and well presented review Chris – Thanks
This was excellent! Thank u so much for this review!
Thanks a lot for the recommendations. Excelent points to decide which one I can buy.
Hi Christopher! Thank you for the great video.
I am looking to buy a new gear next month and I’ve been very confused about what to buy. My old setup was a Canon Xti with Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye that I use for skydiving. I am going to buy the Canon EOS Rebel T6i and for lens I am between: Tokina 10-17mm F/3.5-4.5 DX Autofocus Fisheye, Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM or the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM, but this would be my last option since the price is double of the other, also double of the weight and is only f/4. What would be the best option? Should I just keep the Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye? Which I don’t see much wider when using with my xti.
Thank so much.
Peace
Hi Christ,
I want to know your opinion about the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero D between the lenses you choose in this test.
Thanks
Excellent review and comparison. Thank you very much!
Hi! What would you recommend for a really wide angle lens for
Nikon 7000? 🙂 tnx
where’s Nikon!?
i have been lookin for a couple of months for a good ultra wide angle was told to get the sigma 10-20mm or the sigma 8-16mm so today i went out n get the 8-16mm so am lookin to test it out
could you make a comparison between the old and new tokina 11-16?
You are awesome, Chris! Thank you for your knowledge and time!
Thank you for the reviews. They are very helpful. I wanted to ask you for your opinion about a wide angle lens for landscapes. I’m planning a trip to Iceland and want to make sure I have a good lens when I go. I’m torn between the sigma models and the tokina. I’d love to hear your thoughts about which you would grab for landscapes. Thanks again.
Cant decide between, sigma 10-20mm f3,5, canon 10-22mm or the tokina 12-24mm f4. Which one should i choose? I can get all these second hand for about 240€ each,
Hi Chris!
I’m considering to buy my first ultra wide lens and after watching the video 10-18mm is looking like a good deal! I’m also very interested in Samyang’s ultra wide-angle lenses so which one from Samyang would you recommend to compare with the canon. I’m using Canon 70D and image sharpness and quality are the most important aspects for me.
Thanks Chris for your advice!
Hi Christopher, which thrid party lens would be good for say thunderstorm images, where you get lightning plus some landscape detail ?. I would be using it on a Canon 7DMKII and my budget would be around 300 to 750. I’d like to know your thoughts, cheers.