Wide angle lens

i have a tokina 12-24 and im happy with it. The build quality is great but it has a fair amount of chromatic abberation. I guess that the main thing is that Im just not into the wide angle asthetic so i cant comment on it like i could on a nice portrait lens. You definately need a proper flash though. The on-camera unit leaves a massive shadow.

You will find yourself using fill flash much more than expected with a very wide lens.

I think i would have been just as happy with a prime.

First of all, your options for wide angle zooms are:

• Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM - 680$
• Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM - 460$
• Sigma 12-24mm F4-5.6 EX DG ASPHERICAL/ HSM - 600$
• Tamron SP AF11-18MM F/4.5-5.6 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) - 530$
• Tokina AT-X 124 AF PRO DX (12-24mm) - 480$

you should take into account that canon ef-s, sigma dc, tamron Di and tokina dx are designed especially for APS-C size sensors (and for your EF-S mount on the 350D).

That means that you'll have considerably more distortion if you ever place one of these on a full frame body (if you'll ever switch to the 1D or 5D for example).

These lenses cost around 500US$ (give or take a 100$), and this is a lot of money for lenses you won't be able to use on your next cam.

On the other hand, most DSLRs made today have a smaller than full frame sensors, so even if you upgrade to a 30D or smthng like that, you won't have a problem.

All canon wide angle primes are for the EF mount, and not EF-S, all sigma's primes are DG and not DC, tamron's prime is not a Di and tokina have no wide angle prime at all.

By getting your self a prime, you avoid the dilemma above.

Thanks Rock, it's this distortion that I am looking for :)

Thanks for the info Mike. Is there any way to overcome the shadow problem without a flash? An extension tube perhaps?

no, an extension tube will just stop you focusing at infinity and obscure the flash more. The shadow is cased by the lens blocking the light from the flash. The solution is to move the flash away from the camera body (either higher than the cameras built in flash or to the side with a bracket)

I am using fill flash a lot becuase I feel that there is a need to provide a separaration between the FG and BG on very wide shots. It could just be my asthetic though.

I ended up getting the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. I am going to put it to a real test later today, and will report on my findings :)

Thank you all for the information & helpful advice!

To follow up on my promise from many months ago to report my findings -

I love this lens.

It get some getting used to, with its strange distortion effects, but once you get the hang of it, it's addictive.

I love what it does to the human body when shot from the right angles.  

My only frustration is that I got the EF-S one and not the EF one, so I can't really use it with Canon 5D or 1D.

Some recent samples: