Do I need a wide angle lens

[karenoliver]

I sold my wide angle lens last year as I hardly ever used it and then can you believe it, once I sold it I needed it! I bought a similar model back and use it regularly now. I suppose even if you don't use it much at least its there for when you need to go wider. Occasions will arise and you will be glad you have it in your bag.

Karen

[amk1977]

I was out at a local country park and nearby church a couple of days ago and really wish I had a super wide angle lens. The most I currently have is 18mm on my D90 kit lens. There were a great number of shots that went begging because I couldn't fit what I wanted into the frame.

As others have said, if you aren't going to use it, then you won't miss it. If you do landscapes or architecture, then a super wide angle lens is a very welcome addition to a kit bag, especially on an APS-C camera.

[Markulous]

If you need to ask the question I reckon you probably don't need one!

Personally, I use my Sigma 10-20mm a fair bit (mainly to achieve close shots of things like cars/waterfalls) but it'll happily remain in my bag when I'm out shooting wildlife or macros!

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by Markulous

If you need to ask the question I reckon you probably don't need one!

Thats the answer...

Originally Posted by amk1977

I was out at a local country park and nearby church a couple of days ago and really wish I had a super wide angle lens. The most I currently have is 18mm on my D90 kit lens. There were a great number of shots that went begging because I couldn't fit what I wanted into the frame.

They didn't have to - you could have shot a panorama.

Personally, I like my Sigma 10-20mm but it doesn't get a load of use. I bought it second hand off an old forum member and I've always been impressed with it. I don't use it all the time but sometimes it lives on my camera. It just depends where I am.

However, never let the lack of a wide angle lens hamper you! Shoot a panorama, step backwards fruther, recompose, try a different view, go for a different style. There is loads you can do.

[amk1977]

Originally Posted by chris-p

They didn't have to - you could have shot a panorama.

Unfortunately on this occasion they did have to go begging. I was attempting to get some canopy shots similar to the one Oldboy posted earlier. I didn't have my tripod with me, the sky was heavily overcast with grey clouds and the light wasn't the greatest in the woods (shutter below 1/15 sec despite bumping the ISO up). Trying to get multiple shots off to later stitch together in photoshop, without having camera shake was near impossible.

The only other option was to lie on the ground to fit more into the frame for a single shot and stabilize the camera. I didn't fancy lying doing that as it was soggy mud and foliage, littered with sweet chestnuts in their needle covered casings. If I'd had a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 stuck on my camera, it might have been a different story.

On the plus side though, those same chestnuts were rather tasty after I cooked them back home