Sub-$200 wide angle lens?

[Joshua Cairns]

Any suggestions out there? Looking for something wider than the 16mm, preferably less than $200 (used, of course).

I should add: I'm not looking for a heavily distorted fish eye!

I know this will be hard to find, and legacy lenses are largely out of question as wide angle is a pretty recent phenomenon, but any help is appreciated!

 

[Dioptrick]

Have you considered the VCLECU1 coupled with the SEL16?

It has it's limitations but at that price point, others seem to be pleased with the results they're getting...

Link: https://www.talkemount.com/f11/sony-vclecu1-opinions-image-samples-274/


Here is a link for a review... there are three pages to this review. The conclusion and several sample images are on page 3.
Sony Wide Angle Converter VCL ECU1 : ERPhotoReview

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[Joshua Cairns]

I have, and I'm tempted. The price is holding me back (as I'd have to acquire the SEL16 and the adapter). I might do it, but thought I'd explore other, perhaps cheaper, options first.

Thanks though!

 

[Joshua Cairns]

Hrm, I hadn't looked at prices in a while but it seems I could probably get both the adapter and lens for about $200, maybe slightly more...

 

[quezra]

Yep, the SEL16 secondhand is available for next to throwaway prices. There are very few legacy lenses faster than f4 that are also wide enough on a 1.5 crop - they did have to cover full frame after all. Also, starting from 21mm and wider, they are quite enormous. I'd look at the wide angle converter first before anything else.

 

[applemint]

The 16mm + convertor is a lot of fun and the 16mm on it's own makes the Nex very compact - easily fits in a jacket pocket.

There is a seller on ebay (UK and US) who sells the 16mm new but split from kits for a very reasonable price. I got the convertor from amazon.de but about a week after I got it amazon UK dropped their price - it was only around £80 last time I looked. The lens + convertor cost me under £200 and you are basically getting two lenses for that price.

 

[RalllyFan]

Outside of the Sony 16mm, the only prime close to that price range/focal length that I've seen is the older Voigtlander 15mm which retails new at around $500. I've seen some used, but they're not much cheaper. If size is a concern, it is tiny. I think there's a fairly cheap Samyang, too, but it might be a fisheye (I don't know much about it). Other than that, I used to have the Sigma 10-20mm in Nikon mount. Those can be had for around $300 used and are a fairly decent lens. Not really that big, either, but maybe a tad heavy. For a wide angle though, that's a tough price point.

Regarding the Sony 16mm, I've tried 3 examples and returned them all. They all had either a focus shift problem, or the corners were terrible. Though oddly, If I could have combined the corner performance of one with the non-focus shift of the other, I'd have had a great lens! I know a lot of people have great results with them, I suspect my local store had a batch from a bad production run (?). Anyway, I've stopped trying simply because I've switched to only using lenses that can work on a full frame in hopes of there being a full frame mirrorless in the future.

 

[Jefenator]

You might keep your eyes open for an old Tokina RMC 17mm f/3.5. I recently saw one in a "dead mount" version (i.e. not Nikon F) go for about $125. Mine isn't perfect but it handles very nicely and covers my occasional extra-wide needs well enough for the time being.

   ---