The 24mm lens provides an even narrower angle of view than the 18-200mm. Sorry, am i missing something?

Sorry to be your dumb question, but that was part of my confusion. Some posts state that a 24mm offers good wide angle results, but I'm not even satisfied with the wide angle results we are getting with the 18-200, so how could a 24 do any better?

I was hoping to run into someone here that has experience with this camera, who has achieved desireable wide angle effects, and which lens they used to achieve them.

The most appropriate wide angle lens for a Canon digital Rebel is the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. I have tested this lens in the field with APS sensor size Canon EOS cameras and it has performed exceptionally.

David,

Thanks so much for your advise. I'd love to see some example photographs. Do you have any that you wouldn't mind showing me? It would be great to see before I buy.

Thanks,

Rick

There were some made with that lens that were published as part of an article in Shutterbug about a year to two years ago, and to be candid I don't even recall the title of the article at this point, too much water under the bridge since. However it probably had Canon in the title somewhere and may be in the archives under my name on the Shutterbug web site. Otherwise I do not put any of my images on-line unless published and copyrighted by the magazine. In the early days of the web I had hundreds of photos in a library on Compuserve that were copied illegally and used without permission by other web sites - so I never post images on the web any more.

What is it that you think you can see from a low resolution image on the web? The only way you can somewhat make any educated viewing decision is to examine a RAW file that hasn't been processed yet, if it was captured using laboratory conditions as to camera steadiness and exposure. This is one of those times that you have to trust the reviewer's judgement and experience.

I recently purchased the 12-24mm Nikon to compliment the 20mm Nikon lens I was using for wide angle on my D200 and am very happy with it's performance. Given the options, I wouldn't even think of considering anything else but a Nikon lens because I'd always wonder if my images would be better if I hadn't tried to save a few dollars.

I'd recommend accepting David's recommendations about Canon cameras and lenses.

Quote:
Thanks so much for your advise. I'd love to see some example photographs. Do you have any that you wouldn't mind showing me? It would be great to see before I buy.
Rick

Rick,

You didn't state what you were unhappy about. Were you unhappy with the fov (want a wider lens than 18mm) or with the quality of the zoom (hence your question about a prime lens)?

John

We are not at all unhappy with the lens itself. It is a great all-around zoom. Tamron did a great job on this lightweight zoom.

I was unhappy with the FOV at 18MM. I really figured it would be wider.

I found the article on the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM that David Brooks referred to earlier. Am I correct in understanding that the "EF-S" means that this lens is compatible with the Rebel XTi? If so, the FOV obtained with this lens is exactly what I was hoping for.

This would also mean that there are a lot of "EF" wide angle lenses that would NOT be compatible with this camera, right?

Thanks for your patience with us amateurs.

Rick

Canon EF-S is the "digital" lens designation specifically for the camera's like the Rebel that have the smaller APS size sensor chip, rather than full-frame 24x36mm. The EF lenses are designed for all full frame digital EOS cameras as well as 35mm film EOS cameras. Virtually all EF lenses can be used with the digital Rebel or 20D/30D cameras but the focal length with those cameras is effectively 1.5X greater.

David,

As I understand it, the 1.6 factor still applies to the EF-S lenses. In other words, the EF-S zoom at 10 mm (on the Rebel body) will have the same FOV as a 16 mm lens on a full frame or film camera.

Not sure if I explained that very well.

John

Yes, you're understanding is correct. Essentially the 10mm focal length provides with a digital Rebel the same angle of view as you would obtain with a 16mm used on a 35mm film camera or a full-frame digital like the 5D, which is the shortest practical wide angle that still achieves a rectilinear image (no curvature distortion).