I've been shooting with my Canon 20D + 50mm/1.8 for awhile now and I think I'm ready to diversify a bit. I find myself shooting a lot more landscapes/sunsets/buildings than people/wildlife/flora, so I am considering getting a wider lens.

I'm looking for something for <$600 or so, and I have no problem buying used from a site like KEH or Adorama (which is where I picked up my used 20D). I'm a little more hesitant to go with used from eBay, even though Bing sometimes runs 20% cashback on stuff that's already crazy cheap.

Here's what I'm looking into, please feel free to give any recommendations/advice:

Canon 10-22 3.5-4.5 USM ~$600 (crop sensor only)
Tamron 17-50 2.8 DIIii ~400
Sigma 17-35 2.8-4 Ex ~$300
Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5 Dc ~$300

The other option is to put this money towards a used full-frame body so I wouldn't need something quite on the extreme wide end. I could also get a cheapo kit lens (17-85 or something similar) to learn a little more about wide angle, but I feel like I'd end up moving on pretty quickly from there.

On the other end of the spectrum, I plan on following this up with a Sigma 70-200 sometime in the coming months to give me the opposite end of the spectrum. I'd really like a Canon 70-200 /2.8L or /4L, but I don't think the budget is quite there yet.

Tia

can i recommend just getting a 20 or 24 mm prime instead?

you can get the sigma 20mm 1.8 for 520 and the sigma 24mm 1.8 for 450 off amazon.


if you are lucky, you might find a tokina 11-16 2.8. thats the lens i wanted to get, but i chose to get the tamron 10-22 with a variable aperature because i thought i wanted the zoom range.


i rarely found myself using the zoom on that wide angle when i had it on my crop camera. there was way too much distortion @ anything > 18mm.

The Tamron 17-50 is crop only as well.

I got a Canon 17-40L for $500 used, and it beats the everliving pants off every lens you posted.

Constant aperture is always better IMO.

Another option would be to rent one of the lenses you are considering for a while to see if it fills your needs before committing to buying. I don't shoot a lot of wide angle, but have rented the Canon 10-22 a couple of times for times I knew it would come in handy. It does have some distortion, especially at the wider end, but that is pretty much expected at such extreme focal lengths. It worked great for me. Most of the shots here were used with it. If you are into landscapes and especially buildings, however, the distortion may be too much for you. And if you decide to go full frame in the future, which happens a lot with landscape shooters, the 10-22 will be useless.

I would ignore those two Sigmas you listed.

I've heard nice things about the Tamron 17-50, but have never used it.

Recommended lenses:
Tokina 11-16 2.8
Canon 10-22
Sigma 10-20
Canon 17-55 2.8
-------Can be used FF--------
Canon 17-40
Canon 16-35
Canon 17-35 (old version)


If you do buy a crop sensor lens, the good thing is that if you take care of it, you can probably get what you paid for it when you sell it, if you go FF. I've bought and sold a bunch of lenses and always gotten about what I paid for them later.

A good 20mm lens might work for you, too.

I've been very happy with the 17-40L. It was my first L lens, and was pretty eye opening as far as image goes.

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I'll be browsing for a used 17-40L here in the coming weeks. If I can find a used one on Adorama, B&H, or KEH I'll go with that, otherwise I might wait for an ebay + Bing cash back deal to roll around (sometimes up to like 20% cash back).

Out of curiosity, is this you Ogle?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00009R6WO/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1272132134&sr=8-1&condition=used

Thanks again for the advice.

Haha, no, funny coincidence.

I'm very happy with my Canon 10-22

I also have the 10-22 and can highly recommend it

Update: I've been looking for a used Canon 17-40L, Canon 10-22, or Tokina 11-16 and it's been pretty slim pickings so far. I've been checking ebay, Adorama, KEH, craigslist, and the sports shooters classifieds from the sticky thread without much luck. After re-reading this thread, I might also check out the Tamron 17-50, which I apparently missed the first go around. I'm not in a hurry to buy, but once I get an idea in my head it's tough for me to wait on it.

That's why I was wondering what you guys thought about maybe trying out a manual focus lens? So far I've done mostly landscapes using a tripod, so I'm not too worried about focusing quickly. I would still lean towards a faster lens so I have the option of hand-holding, but I'm open to suggestions. I know literally nothing about manual lenses, so any insight would be much appreciated.

Tia!

You can manually focus any Canon L.