p.1 #1 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
I'm looking for the first wide zoom lens to add while I already have 24-70 and 70-200. I never used a wide lens wider than 24mm but since I want to shoot interior photos as a side job, I would need to buy one. I dont think I can afford GM series from the beginning especially since I'm not that familiar with it.
So far, I found Sony 16-35mm F/4 PZ G, 16-25mm G, Samyang 14-24mm, and Sigma 14-24mm. Personally, Samyang seems to be the best option with wider angle and can use 77mm filter unlike Sigma. The only concern is I dont really use 3rd party lenses as I tend to keep 1st party lenses. But finding informations about those lenses all together is quite rare as I can not find it on Google.
Let's say I pick Samyang 14-24mm F/2.8, how is it compared to Sony 16-25mm or 16-35mm in terms of sharpness, distortion, filter limit, and flare? Is it fine or is there anything that I need to be aware of?
A couple thoughts. I shoot architectural photography and value lack of distortion and full frame sharpness most of all. Zooms aren’t necessarily the best choices here. I would suggest you consider purchasing two primes instead of a zoom. I would go for a 12mm and a 16mm/18mm. The Laowa 12mm AF seems like it might be an option. The 14mm GM would work as well, but be more costly. I personally have a full set of Voigtländer wide lenses that I use for interiors. They are getting a little dated and I’m considering some upgrades, but haven’t settled on next purchases. I also recently purchased the TTArtisans 17mm T/S which optically is quite capable but mechanically could be better.
p.1 #3 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
Do you have a budget? Depending on how much you have to spend, I’d recommend either the Sony 12-24/4G or the 12-24/2.8GM. I know you said you might not be able to afford GM right now, but the 12-24GM can be had used for around $1,800-1900. It’s the sharpest, most advanced lens of its kind and would be perfect for interiors. If that’s too much, look at the G version which can be had used for around $1,200. Ballpark.
p.1 #4 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
12-24 f4 gives you a lot of focal lengths, it's brilliant, especially from 16-20 where you'll use it most and where it has very little distortion and high resolution, whilst it suffers from flare shooting into the sun, you won't have that issue indoors.
If that's too expensive, I have a Nisi 15mm f4 that is also very nice with nice character. It has some (very little and simple) distortion but it's easily corrected, it makes fantastic subtle stars on light point sources such as light sources, it's light, compact, affordable etc.
Both have been available for years so are available used for a fraction of their original pricing.
Mudlake makes a good suggestion about checking for used prices, however, I think the Sony 12-24 has gone up significantly in value and it will be difficult to find something good at the price he states.
I am curious about the subject matter you intend to shoot for commission. Residential? Commercial? The scale of the spaces you are thinking about will affect what lens you will actually need. For instance, I recently shot this image with a 12mm lens, which is useful for this scale of space:
The same day, however, I also did a scouting walk for one of my projects that is nearing completion and the 12mm can be too wide for smaller spaces such as these:
You can see how you get a stretched perspective that really throws off your sense of space. If I were shooting those as finals, I would end up using something in the 17mm or 21mm range. Those are larger than residential spaces.
p.1 #9 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
GraysonLake1987 wrote:
Both Sigma and Sony 12-24mm cant accept a CPL filter. Will it be a big deal? My budget is less than $1000 for used one so far.
I don't do a ton of indoor photography, but for what I have done, I haven't used a CPL filter. You can get a CPL for the Sigma, but it's huge and somewhat painful to use.
I've not had much luck QA wise with Samyang. But like you note, you can get screw-in filters for it. Both Sony 12-24's have the same knock against them as the Sigma 14-24 from a filter perspective.
p.1 #10 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
Here's a sample image, using pixelshift. If you click on the link I provided, you can see half the image at 100% (note it's a much larger file via the nature of pixelshift images.)
p.1 #11 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
So given the interior photography angle, I suspect you'll want to have the option of polarizers. So if you want screw-in filters, that knocks a bunch of lenses out of the mix. (Unless you are willing to deal with large adapters and large filters.)
p.1 #12 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
I’m not sure why you really need a CPL if you are doing interior architectural photography. Contrast range will be your biggest challenge especially when working in rooms with unbalanced natural lighting/windows. (Assuming you aren’t bringing your own lighting). The best approach is to shoot 2-3 images that capture the different contrast levels and then composite in post.
Given your stated budget, I’m going to reassert that you should buy a prime rather than a zoom unless you can find a used sigma.
p.1 #15 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
Tamron 16-30 2.8 has replaced the 17-28 2.8, takes filters, is within budget, and seems to test pretty well. High distortion at the wide end, of course.
p.1 #16 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
Kevner wrote:
I’m not sure why you really need a CPL if you are doing interior architectural photography. Contrast range will be your biggest challenge especially when working in rooms with unbalanced natural lighting/windows. (Assuming you aren’t bringing your own lighting). The best approach is to shoot 2-3 images that capture the different contrast levels and then composite in post.
Given your stated budget, I’m going to reassert that you should buy a prime rather than a zoom unless you can find a used sigma.
I worked with many professional interior photographers in NYC and a lot of them used CPL filters. That's why.
p.1 #17 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
Hmm, in this case you might try the samyang/rokinon 14-24.
I just think it has a bit funky field curvature due to its small size, at least compared to the sigma.
If focused correctly, it's very close to the sigma, maybe even matching it on the wide end.
p.1 #18 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
Conversely, over the past 30 years I’ve assisted almost every photographer we’ve hired to photograph our projects and I rarely recall any of them using a CPL and none used zoom lens for exterior or interiors.
To be fair, none of that is residential or small commercial. Quite a bit of it was published. We work with photographers who work with architects around the nation.
Experiences differ.
GraysonLake1987 wrote:
I worked with many professional interior photographers in NYC and a lot of them used CPL filters. That's why.
p.1 #19 · A wide zoom lens for interior photography?
Kevner wrote:
Conversely, over the past 30 years I’ve assisted almost every photographer we’ve hired to photograph our projects and I rarely recall any of them using a CPL and none used zoom lens for exterior or interiors.
Probably depends on the subject. When I was photographing my place for sale, I had to use a polarizer to mute reflections on hardwood floors and make them appear richer. Maybe it's different with commercial properties, but with residential interiors you're often shooting against the (natural) light, it's coming at you not only from the windows but also deflected from the floors, countertops, etc. A CPL helps.
