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I'm using Canon 450D + SMC Takumar 28/3.5 for nature shooting for a couple of years. And I'm not satisfied how it works. Now I have the option to buy something else and upgrade my wide-focus lens.

Could you please advise anything to get better results (colors, sharpness near edges; I do not like idea to do much work in Lightroom, just minor corrections)? Budget approximately 400 euros.

Please do not advise to get something from "L" series.

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  • Can you elaborate on what you don't like with your current lens? Do you want a Canon mount lens or are you happy to use an adapter? Is autofocus important? Do you want more speed? (Bigger aperture?) Or would you like something more wide angle? Do you want another prime? I ask all this because those old SMC Takumar lenses are pretty nice, and you may be surprised how hard it is to beat it for image quality under 400€. Particularly, that lens is well-regarded for sharpness, one of the specific complaints you mention. – mattdm Dec 6 '11 at 11:16
  • @mattdm, mostly i do not like sharpness near edge of frame (it is fine in the center and middle of the frame but at the edge - too much blur). Sharpness the main issue the rest are fine. Also i'm ok with adapter, lack of autofocus. Maybe you can suggest something ~600 or just a lens (despite price)? – usr Dec 6 '11 at 13:33
  • In the title, you're asking for a wide-angle lens. Does this mean you'd like a wider lens? 28mm (45e) is a normal lens on a Canon crop body. – Imre Dec 6 '11 at 14:19
  • It is entirely possible that the problem is the angle at which light is striking the antialiasing filter and sensor with this particular lens/camera combination is too flat near the extremes. In that case, then even a "lesser" lens with a steeper (more nearly straight) exit cone would give better edge performance, even if the center isn't as good. – user2719 Dec 6 '11 at 16:12
  • @Imre, sorry for this inconvenience. I'm talking about approx. normal angle (it's a wide lens on M42 and normal on crop) – usr Dec 6 '11 at 16:24
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Another 28mm to check out is the Zeiss 28mm/2.8 Contax/Yashica mount lens. It's a very nice lens, and there are a large number of adapters available for it, some including focus confirmation chips. You can find quite a bit of information about this lens on the web, but here's review to get you started.

I just looked at the ebay.de and saw a couple very clean copies available for around 350€

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  • Not a problem. I'd also suggest reading some reviews of the various available adapters. – AndrewStevens Dec 9 '11 at 1:48
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I know you said not to advise to get Canon L glass but you didn't say why! I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess it is because of the price, L glass is expensive. But, I paid $595 for my Canon 17-40mm L glass. It was used and I bought it from a reputable camera dealer. Not Canon refurbished, but used. I tried it out on my body before getting the wallet out.

Now I'm in the US and don't know really know what a euro is worth these days but google tells me that 400 euros is about $534 dollars. So that's awfully close to what I paid for mine.

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  • thanks for your reply. "L" lenses i have to buy only new because i can't test them before. And sparing 500$ is too much for me. – usr Dec 6 '11 at 16:27
  • Ah, new is very expensive, yes. Maybe you can travel to a nearby city that has a good camera store and try and find a used one? – Paul Cezanne Dec 6 '11 at 18:06
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If you want edge to edge sharpness for under 400 euros consider looking either at
1. Samyang 14mm f 2/8
2. Samyang 35mm f/1.4
They are both manual focus lenses though.

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