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ISO: wide angle lense for Sony a7RII comparable to my GH4's SLR Magic 10mm T2.1
  • olli66olli66

    I love this lense for different reasons. When I take photos of real estates (indoor and outdoor) this is the lense I use most the time. Owning the gorgeous Sony a7RII and not using it for the photos is a waste though. I pre-ordered the 24-70 2.8 GM lense but this won't do. Any other prime lense or zoom lense for my kind of purpose that you can recommend?

  • 23 Replies sorted by
  • nomadnomad

    Well, you'll be looking for something around 20mm. If you don't have heaps of money, I'd suggest the Olympus 21mm or a Minolta 21mm. Both not very fast, but great for their age. Then there is the Zeiss Contax 18mm, a bit more expensive, but low distortion for an ultra-wide. If you want something native, the Sony 16-35 is good and it's distortion is corrected by the camera. If money allows, there are the new Zeiss primes made for E-mount, like Batis and Loxia. They are as good as it get's — for a price…

  • olli66olli66

    thanks so much! I assume for the Olympus 21mm and Minolta 21mm I have to search ebay? Which one is more suited for the job?

  • nomadnomad

    The Olympus has two versions, one faster and more expensive, the other cheaper, but only f3.5. For indoor use you may want the faster one.

    And, yes, it's Ebay, KEH or the like.

  • olli66olli66

    oh that Zuiko OM 21mm 2.0 looks good! how does it handle on the Sony a7rII in full frame mode? any vignette? the lense is not made for full frame E-mount, isn't it? ebay prices around 700-1000 Euro sound about right?

  • TscheckoffTscheckoff

    Well - The old Olympus OM lenses are nice. But I think it´s a better idea to focus on native glass if you really want to use it for stills & everyday work primarily (as such a lens is way more comfortable through the AF, in body corrections and image stabilization). PLUS it is a modern (not that long on the market) lens - Image quality wise it should be a huge step up from vintage glass in general.

    The 16-35mm Sony FE is for example a good lens and in my opinion worth the additonal bucks over a OM 21mm F2.0 in pristine condition. Or you could even go for the (way cheaper but also REALLY nice) 10-18mm F4 lens from Sony. Only covers APS-C area - BUT it´s way smaller, lighter, cheaper and even 1mm wider than the 16-35mm F4 (if you compare the focal lengths 10mm x1.5 crop = 15mm vs. 16mm on the 16-35mm lens).

  • nomadnomad

    If you are concerned about vignetting or corners being not that sharp WO, I'd second this opinion. Go native.

    The Oly is a beautiful, very small lens for it's time, but it is not up with modern glass. And I did't know it became that expensive. I may need to up my insurance…

  • olli66olli66

    oh, the 10-18 lense looks like a perfect match for my needs. thanks so much guys!!

  • olli66olli66

    me again ;-) I just discovered this lense: Rokinon 12mm F2.0 NCS CS Ultra Wide Angle Lens any opinion on this one?

  • olli66olli66

    update: I just bought the 10-1 Sony lense. Too much distortion! Way too much. When I take a photo indoor the room looks like a tunnel (even after lense correction in PS/LR). I don't like it. Well, I guess I have to try out more expensive lenses that have less distortion. Will try the Sony 16-35 4.0 I guess...Anyone knows if the rumors are true and there will be a 16-35 FE 2.8 lense this year?

  • balazerbalazer

    What kind of distortion exactly did you see from the 10-18 that you couldn't fully correct? Did you try adjusting the degree of distortion correction in Lightroom?

  • nomadnomad

    Well, the 16-35mm will be corrected in camera. And a possible 16-35mm f2.8 will cost you a small fortune…

  • olli66olli66

    I tried to correct the distortion but the image was still weird I am really looking for a full frame lense now no matter if it will cost a fortune really hoping for the rumors for a 16-35 2.8 lense being true

  • nomadnomad

    Better wait for a prime…

  • olli66olli66

    a prime at what focal length would you suggest?

  • balazerbalazer

    You never did explain what kind of distortion you saw with the 10-18. I think you should be able to fully correct for geometric distortion. If it's some other kind of distortion, well, we need to know what you are talking about. A sample photo would be helpful.

    But now you say you want full frame lens even if it costs a fortune. Here it is: http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/13922/21mm-f2.8-zeiss-loxia-lens

    Why are you asking us what focal length to buy? You should know that based on your needs. The crop factor is almost exactly 2.0 between the GH4 and Sony a7-series, if you want to match the diagonal angle of view in photo mode.

  • CFreakCFreak

    I presume you were able to tweak the lens correction in LR, using the sliders in the control panel? You went beyond what LR thinks is correct (the preset) for the lens?

    I do have a 20mm Nikkor 2.8 AIS that has very little distortion for a 20mm. Zooms tend to have more distortion than primes. If it really matters that much and budget permits, look for a "rectilinear" prime lens or a wide angle shift & tilt lens or simpler PC (perspective control" prime lens. Though be aware, these are all manual focus options.

  • nomadnomad

    If manual is OK and money is not the main objective, wait until the new Voigtlanders get reviewed. They are very wide!

  • balazerbalazer

    Zooms tend to have more distortion than primes

    At the ends of the zoom range, yes. But in the middle, zooms tend to have lower distortion than most primes. Zooms also tend to have simple distortion that is easy to correct.

  • olli66olli66

    thanks! by asking for what focal length to buy I was looking for recommendations for a lense that has hardly any distortion. with the 10-18 everything in the corners looked so stretched. even after correction. or I did something wrong. already deleted the pictures and returned the lense. the loxia 21mm looks fantastic! but I thought maybe it would be possible to go wider than the GH2/SLR Magic 10mm and be still happy about the distortion. the Voigtlanders are not fast enough. I would really love to have F 2.8 or even F 2.0

  • nomadnomad

    Well, maybe there is some misconception here about distortion. Every very wide lens will give you the impression of stretched corners if it is rectilinear. The only distortion that should be fixed by a good lens or by software are straight lines that become curved. So, are we really talk g about the same thing? I'm just surprised since I didn't find too much distortion with the 10-18mm.

  • olli66olli66

    I am new to wide angle shooting. with my GH4 and SLR 10mm I was totally happy I put both my GH4 with SLR 10mm and the A7RII close to each other and matched the field of view on the Sony to the GH4 and the image on the GH4 looked much more natural to me even after Photoshop adjustments but yes, maybe we are not talking about the same things distortion wise... either way I decided I need a lense that is full frame with good in cam correction

  • balazerbalazer

    That stretching in the corners is called perspective distortion. Every wide angle lens (except for fish-eyes) has it. It's not a distortion of the image. It's just a mismatch between how the image was shot and how you are viewing it. The wider the lens and the lower the geometric distortion of the lens, the greater the perspective distortion. We can only guess why you thought the SLR Magic appeared more natural.

    I don't think you're going to be satisfied with any wide angle lens until you understand what it is about the SLR Magic that you liked. An expensive full-frame lens won't solve your problem. In fact it will probably be worse for you, because expensive wide-angle lenses tend to have very low geometric distortion.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    Whatever the debate about types of wide angle distortion, since nobody has specifically recommended it yet, I'd suggest giving the Voigtlander 15mm III a try. It's not cheap, but it's also not crazy pricey. I have one in M mount that I use with an adapter on my A7R II and it's tack sharp in the center and acceptably sharp across the entire frame (I generally use it stopped down to f/8 which also mitigates (but doesn't completely eliminate) the vignetting). I think that the native FE mount version of it is shipping now and the reviews seem pretty favorable. Also, Lightroom has a built-in correction for it IIRC and that'll save you some time screwing around with lens correction settings (assuming you're mostly concerned with shooting stills).

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