[Light_Horseman]

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I'm hoping the greater forum knowledge can help me find a good ultra-wide prime lens. I'm looking for something 16mm or less focal length and not a fish-eye.

I would love a Pentax 15mm rectilinear but they are hard to find and very expensive, so I'm looking for an alternative. I'm not particular about brand or speed, just as long as it is decent quality.

So what are my options and what should I look for.

Cheers

LH

[fearview]

da 14mm 2.8 will do i think.

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meantime me really hoping tokina will release their 11-16 2.8 in pentak mount

[roentarre]

da 14mm 2.8 will do i think.

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Bingo. The only choice available. Otherwise long live sigma 10-20mm

[benjikan]

I would highly recommend the Pentax 12-24 f4.0 lens. I found it to be more versatile than the Pentax 14mm and sharper at f5.6 and above.

Ben

[fearview]

Bingo. The only choice available. Otherwise long live sigma 10-20mm

a nice candid lens i remember you said

[Wheatfield]

I'm hoping the greater forum knowledge can help me find a good ultra-wide prime lens. I'm looking for something 16mm or less focal length and not a fish-eye.

I would love a Pentax 15mm rectilinear but they are hard to find and very expensive, so I'm looking for an alternative. I'm not particular about brand or speed, just as long as it is decent quality.

So what are my options and what should I look for.

Cheers

LH

If you really want a prime, the DA14mm is the way to go. I have the A15/3.5 and the DA14/2.8, and find the 14 is the better lens on the DSLR format.
The 12-24 is a decent lens as well.

[Light_Horseman]

Thanks for the replies all. I had also looked at the da 14 and the sigma 10-20 but I was thinking a prime would suit my needs better and that maybe there was an older (and cheaper) lens around that might fill the role.

If there is nothing else anyone can think of, I guess I'll look again at the da or sigma.

Cheers

[Miserere]

meantime me really hoping tokina will release their 11-16 2.8 in pentak mount

I suspect that it will be released by Pentax as a DA*, and would fit in nicely with the DA* 16-50mm. I have no more info than you do, but the Nikon and Canon mounts of this lens are out and I have not ready anything in the Tokina press releases indicating that they plan to offer it in K mount. Because of this, and the fact that Tokina already offer the 2 DA* zooms in Nikanon mount, I believe the same will happen with the 11-16mm.

[vanchaz2002]

You are looking for rectilinear lens shorter than 16mm, which leads to FOV of around 110 degree. There are a few options available including the already mention DA lenses.

Tamron has 14mm one covers 115 degree. Pentax has K18 covers 100 degree. Tamron one is fairly expensive and K18 is MF, hard to find, and relative expensive.
Zeiss has its new distagon in 18mm fits Pentax. It covers FOV of 99 degree. Sigma also has a relative cheaper 14mm but not sure it come with Pentax mount.

Basically, rectilinear lens are hard to build, especially over FOV of 100 degree. Said such, ultra-wide rectilinear is most likely an exotic and luxurious option.

So what left for budget hunter is using a fisheye lens and covert the image in computer. I believe Photoshop has plug-in that can do the job. Internet has enough information of fish-eye to rectilinear conversion.

Hope that helps, good luck on lens hunting.

CY

[Fl_Gulfer]

Is this what you want??

Pentax A 3.5 15mm - eBay (item 190234546263 end time Jul-11-08 13:50:21 PDT)

[vanchaz2002]

Just checked Sigma 14mm.

It has two version, one is f3.5 and newer one is f2.8. Both should have Pentax mount. However, I believe both in P mount was produced in small amount and hard to find. The used piece should cost around 300-400 range in those common mounts (C or N). But there are other source indicate it may cost 800-900. If I have such a budge of 800-900, I will pick up a Pentax 15mm in any mount (K or A). The most sought m42 version should cost more than 1000.

Good luck.

[stevebrot]

Is this what you want??

Pentax A 3.5 15mm - eBay (item 190234546263 end time Jul-11-08 13:50:21 PDT)

You would have to bring that one up! I have been trying to forget that the Pentax-A 15/3.5 even exists (way too much for my budget) and you have to blow it for me! I had to settle for a Zenitar 16/2.8 and even that has yet to be delivered!

Steve

BTW...I got an e-mail from rugift.com indicating that my replacement Zenitar is shipping...hurrah!

[weaponx525]

I remember asking about wide angle lenses in a previous post and was reminded that a wide angle lens would make any human subjects potentially appear distorted/wide.

Personally I was also looking for a wide angle alternative but wanted one to use during vacations with family, therefore people would be included into the picture.

From Ben's great pics I was seriously considering the DA 12-24 but would like some more pics posted of more vacation style shots with this lens.

Does anyone have samples taken with this wide lens with people in the shot as well?

(Apology's in advance if this post is a little off topic )

[Light_Horseman]

Is this what you want??

Pentax A 3.5 15mm - eBay (item 190234546263 end time Jul-11-08 13:50:21 PDT)

Yes, I had seen that and no, I can't afford it.

Keep the Ultra-wide discussion coming. I'd like to know more about what is out there.

[Confused]

Hi weaponx525

Re your observation:

I remember asking about wide angle lenses in a previous post and was reminded that a wide angle lens would make any human subjects potentially appear distorted/wide.

If I can draw an appropriate analogy for a moment, a skilled painter will usually employ a varying palette of colours to achieve their final masterpiece. By the same criteria, any photographer "worth their salt" should learn to appreciate the respective distortion characteristics that exist between rectilinear, wide-angle or fish-eye lenses and then apply that knowledge to it's full advantage.

This is something I singularly failed to remember, when I was recently asked to take some informal group photos for a wedding ! Although my rectilinear Sigma 10-20mm wide-zoom is fantastic for capturing panoramic landscapes, it caused some particularly unflattering distortion to those unfortunate individuals who happened to be standing at the extreme edge of my photos !

I'd also taken my Tamron 18-250mm with me and sadly it wasn't "quite" wide enough to cram everybody in, but I don't think that a fish-eye would have been much use either in this instance......in truth, a genuine no-win situation !!!!!

Obviously, there is no single wide-angle lens solution in existence that will prove ideal in every respect, but this explains why an interchangeable lens DSLR is generally so invaluable !

Best regards
Richard