How to get quality wide-angle photos with a DSLR inexpensively!

Gentle reader,

As you no doubt know, I am a camera and other gear lover. However, I didn't get my first "real" camera until April, 1995. Since then I've had hundreds.

Well, one drawback to non-full-frame (same size as 35mm: 36mm by 24mm) digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLR) is they have smaller than 35mm film sensor. Most are the same size as another, now defunct, film size: APS-C. So, a 50mm lens on a DSLR has the same angle of view as a 75mm lens does on a film SLR. The multiplication factor is 1.5X.

4/3rds and micro-4/3rds, or what are sometimes called mirrorless cameras, have tiny sensors. On a typical DSLR, a "kit lens" is 18-55mm which works out to 27mm-82.5mm for a full-frame or 35mm film camera. Kit lenses for 4/3rds are 14mm-40mm. 

SO, what happens, due to the nature of digital camera sensors, they don't gather light from the side very well. Thus true wide angle lenses made for DSLR cameras are very expensive to make and buy. 

I found an inexpensive solution that will widen your angle of view from 18mm (27mm actual) to 14.4mm (21.6mm actual) for just a few dollars.

Years ago, OLYMPUS introduced a new type of 35mm cameras they dubbed ZLRs. Or Zoom-lens-reflex camera. They started out with the IS-1, IS-2 and IS-3DLX models. The former two had 35-135mm lenses and the latter had 35-180mm lenses. Here's mine:

Probably quite foreign to your eyes if you are of a generation that has only known digital cameras or the camera in your cell phone.

It is actually quite comfortable to hold and shoot with. Since the lens is built-in, to get wider or longer length views, OLYMPUS made two lenses that screwed on the front of the built-in lens as seen below:

Also shown is the optional external flash, the cameras have a pop-up flash as well, but this one works with wider and longer lenses and has much farther "reach".

This whole series of cameras were quite expensive in their days as were the optional lenses and the flash. BUT NOW, they are cheap!

This wide angle lens is called: IS/L Lens B-28, and there are plenty of them and others like them on ebay, every day! Most less than or around $20.00. It makes the 35mm lens "see" a 28mm view. Cool, huh? They also make one that lets the 180mm end of the lens "see" 300mm.

This one has 55mm threads to fit this camera. My Nikon 18-55mm lens has 52mm threads on the front, so I needed a 52-55mm "step-up" adapter. They are available for just a few dollars.

These shots show the OLYMPUS lens attached with the step-up ring to my 18-55mm lens.

Above, shows the step-up ring from the side. A step-up ring has smaller external threads and larger internal threads on the part with the numbers on the outside. A step-down ring is the opposite. They have larger threads on the part that screws into the front of your lens and smaller threads on the inside of the external smooth ring.

To take full advantage of this add-on lens, set your camera's lens to the smallest number as seen above. 

Now, look carefully on ebay or other websites that sell photo gear because there are hundreds of "Super-wide-angle" or "Fisheye" lenses that may look like this OLYMPUS one. BUT, the quality of these lenses is not good. Yes, you will get a wider view, but the edges will be fuzzy and you will be disappointed. Don't waste your money. Buy one with a recognizable name, such as OLYMPUS.

I hope that I have made the explanation clear to you. So get out there and make some images!

Thanks for looking,

Scott