Wide Angle Lenses?

[Irie Times]

Could anyone recomend a wide angle lense for a Canon EOS 300D in the $300 - $500 range?

Also my canon shoots with a naturally wider than is seen in the viewfinder, does this effect the wide angel lenses and if so how?

Thanks

[Michael Fanelli]

Could anyone recomend a wide angle lense for a Canon EOS 300D in the $300 - $500 range?

Also my canon shoots with a naturally wider than is seen in the viewfinder, does this effect the wide angel lenses and if so how?

I'll answer these in the opposite order for no particular reason!

Your viewfinder is about 95% of the image. That other 5% is minor and doesn't affect most shots you take. This 95% is true regardless of the lens you use.

How wide is wide for you? Zoom or prime? The kit lens goes down to a 28mm equivalent. If you need something wider with quality, you'll probably have to hit the used marketplace. These WA lenses are more expensive than your stated budget.

Perhaps someone else has a better suggestion.

[Irie Times]

I am going to show just how clueless I am with this question.

What is the difference between Zoom and Prime?

Here is an example of what I am looking for:
A lense to do landscapes showing a close up of a flower for example and also showing the background exagerated distance however still sharp. I hope that makes sense.

Thanks

[another view]

What is the difference between Zoom and Prime?

A zoom lens has an adjustable focus length, like 18mm to 55mm, or 70mm to 200mm, etc. A prime has a fixed focal length.

Here is an example of what I am looking for:
A lense to do landscapes showing a close up of a flower for example and also showing the background exagerated distance however still sharp. I hope that makes sense

It's going to take a very wide angle lens to do this on a DSLR. On a 35mm SLR, a 20mm would be a good choice, but that's only about 30mm equivalent on a DSLR (assuming 1.5 factor). If you have the kit lens for that camera, then you're even wider than that. Sigma has a 12-24 zoom that might be what you want, it's about $650 I think though but there aren't many less expensive options. Canon makes a 14mm prime, but it's probably over twice that much; at least the Nikon equivalent is. This is a hassle on DSLR's...

[Michael Fanelli]

Here is an example of what I am looking for: A lense to do landscapes showing a close up of a flower for example and also showing the background exagerated distance however still sharp. I hope that makes sense.

I think know what you are talking about and the answer is "good luck"! The shots you are seeing are almost all from large format cameras where the plane of focus can be bent. A similiar effect can be obtained with Canon cameras using one of their special "tilt" lenses that mimic the movements of a LF camera (in a way). Very expensive!

If very wide DOF is important for many of your shots, I'd recommend looking at a P&S style camera. The lenses on these are single digit, values such as 7mm, that provide massive amounts of DOF. The quality is not as good as a DSLR but might work very well for your purposes.

[Irie Times]

Thanks for all the information, I will have to take a look at that Sigma lens.

Thanks

[Liz]

Irie -
If you could think about waiting until you save another $150 more - you could consider the 17-40mm/f4L lens. I tried a few "wide angle" lenses with my Rebel 300D, but was never happy with any of them until I got this lens. It's really awesome. And it gives you a good range. I've seldom taken this lens off of my camera since I got it 2 months ago. I use it as my walk around lens.

However, $150 could be a lot of money. I sold some of my other lenses to get it.

Otherwise - go with what you're presently considering. Good luck. Keep us updated.

Liz