Any wide angle tips?

kevc2 · 17-01-2013 9:55am #1

Hi,
I recently bought a sigma 10-20mm. Just looking for any tips to get the most out of it as I've never used one before.

DaireQuinlan · 17-01-2013 10:24am

kevc2 wrote: »

Hi,
I recently bought a sigma 10-20mm. Just looking for any tips to get the most out of it as I've never used one before.

Jam it right into peoples faces for portraits

5uspect · 17-01-2013 10:37am

Don't forget to fire your flash and spin the camera while you're at it.

DaireQuinlan · 17-01-2013 10:45am

5uspect wrote: »

Don't forget to fire your flash and spin the camera while you're at it.

Hey, I'm serious

Conventional wisdom is always not to do it, I've gotten great shots of people by sticking a wide angle practically up their noses

pete4130 · 17-01-2013 11:17am

There are many ways to use wide angle effectively.

The most common thing that happens is people are in awe of how much it can get in and tend to shoot wide photos that are too far away from anything for it to be interesting.

Don't be afraid to get up close.

Dont be afraid to step back.

Try not to get your feet in the shot (maybe).

If you tilt the camera off level your vertical and horizontal lines may look more distorted (for landscapes, interiors etc).

Tilt the camera to get crazy distorted lines.

Use it in excess but don't ever use it. Not every shot has to be wide angle (you soon appreciate normal focal lengths after being on the ultra wide end of things for a while).

You should be able to hand hold longer exposures and get away with it. If its on a full frame camera you should be able to hand hold for about 1 second if your steady, hunched down into a ball and not breathing.

Use the increased perspective by getting something at the edges of the frame really close to the lens to make it look out of proportion.

Shoot from the hip.

Wide angles can fool the cameras light meter. The see so much sky/bright areas they can tend to underexpose the ground. So take a test shot for exposure first and adjust your settings to balance the exposure.

Shoot some panoramic shots but hold the camera in portrait position to maximise your pixel count from top to bottom.

The more you shoot with it, the more you'll see its uses.

dinneenp · 17-01-2013 1:15pm

will you let me know how you get on with it?
It's next on my camera wish list, after I upgrade my Pentax K-7 to K-5

kevc2 · 17-01-2013 1:20pm

dinneenp wrote: »

will you let me know how you get on with it?
It's next on my camera wish list, after I upgrade my Pentax K-7 to K-5

I will do indeed, I'm just waiting for some good weather to get out with it. I should be going to Glendalough on Saturday so hoping the weather will be a bit better by then.

5uspect · 17-01-2013 1:43pm

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Hey, I'm serious Conventional wisdom is always not to do it, I've gotten great shots of people by sticking a wide angle practically up their noses

Me too! It's a great effect, especially at weddings.

greeneyedspirit · 17-01-2013 2:48pm

oh, wide-angle fun

I love mine, surprisingly versatile lens!

Use the rule of thirds, and go down low - include lots of foreground, if it's interesting, but do mind those tripod legs if you're shooting on a tripod. VERY easy to have legs in the shot when you don't want them.
Might also be worth investing in a set of nd grad filters, if you're gonna use it for landscapes.
Shooting people with it is fun too, as mentioned above already.

Leftyflip · 17-01-2013 3:04pm

Shoot gigs, and get up close and personal!

kevc2 · 17-01-2013 3:05pm

greeneyedspirit wrote: »

oh, wide-angle fun
I love mine, surprisingly versatile lens!

Use the rule of thirds, and go down low - include lots of foreground, if it's interesting, but do mind those tripod legs if you're shooting on a tripod. VERY easy to have legs in the shot when you don't want them.
Might also be worth investing in a set of nd grad filters, if you're gonna use it for landscapes.
Shooting people with it is fun too, as mentioned above already.

I heard that filters are a bit messed up at 10mm, do you have to watch out for that?

Leftyflip · 17-01-2013 3:08pm

kevc2 wrote: »

I heard that filters are a bit messed up at 10mm, do you have to watch out for that?

Depends on what ones you use I've found. Cokin and Lee style filters should be alright, or the ultra slim style ones.

greeneyedspirit · 17-01-2013 9:08pm

Leftyflip wrote: »

Depends on what ones you use I've found. Cokin and Lee style filters should be alright, or the ultra slim style ones.

I use both Lee (rather pricey) and Cokin (less so) on mine, and had no problems - only if you stack, say, polarizer + filter holder with filters, then you might get some vignetting at 10mm. Fine though at 12mm, which is still very wide

kevc2 · 05-03-2013 4:38pm

dinneenp wrote: »

will you let me know how you get on with it?
It's next on my camera wish list, after I upgrade my Pentax K-7 to K-5

Just getting back to you on the lense. I think it's great for landscapes but not so much for close up. Close up shots look great but the auto focus is a tiny but off. You look at the camera, think it's fine but you notice it when you go back to the PC. I would recommend buying it though, I use it a lot.