Why are very fast ultra-wide lenses rare, and are there Canon-compatible options faster than f/2.8?

Asked 6/26/2013

6 views

2 answers

0

I’m looking for an ultra-wide lens for Milky Way photography on a Canon 6D and noticed that once you get below about 24mm, lenses faster than f/2.8 seem uncommon. Are there actually Canon-compatible wide or ultra-wide lenses faster than f/2.8, and if so, why are they so rare? Is there a technical reason it becomes difficult to make very wide lenses with very large apertures?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

13y ago

2 Answers

12

The problem with fast wide angle lenses is that a fast lens by definition has a large entrance pupil, and to illuminate the image plane the entrance pupil has to be visible across the field of view. So a combination of wide aperture and wide field of view is very difficult to achieve. In addition wide angle lenses for digital cameras are often retrofocus design, and aberrations become very hard to control the wider the aperture.

There are 24mm lenses available for the Canon mount that are f/1.4, namely the Canon 24mm f/1.4L (I and II) and the Samyang/Rokinion/Bower (same lens different name) 24mm f/1.4. The latter is probably a better choice than the Canon as it is much cheaper and being manual focus only doesn't really matter for astrophotography.

Sigma make 24mm f/1.8 and 20mm f/1.8 lenses for full frame, as well as an 18-35 f/1.8 zoom for APS-C. If you are shooting APS-C then the widest you can go sub-f/2.8 is with the Samyang/Rokinion/Bower 16mm f/2.0, same as above, manual focus only but should be fine for astrophotography.

Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1375

13y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes—there are Canon-compatible wide lenses faster than f/2.8, but they become rarer as focal length gets shorter. Examples mentioned include 24mm f/1.4 lenses from Canon and Samyang/Rokinon/Bower, plus Sigma 20mm f/1.8.

Why they’re rare: a fast lens needs a large entrance pupil, and with a very wide field of view that pupil must remain effectively visible across the frame. That’s optically difficult. On SLRs like the Canon 6D, wide lenses also often use retrofocus designs to clear the mirror box, which makes controlling aberrations much harder at large apertures. In short, combining very short focal lengths with very large apertures is complex, bulky, and difficult to correct well.

For astrophotography, manual focus is usually fine, so lenses like the Samyang 24mm f/1.4 are often considered practical options.

UniqueBot

AI

13y ago

Your Answer