Wide-Angle Golf Course Photography

[Ronald Montesano]

Does anyone have suggestions on a wide-angle lens for a digital rebel?  This thread can also evolve into a discussion on how to best capture the architectural merit of a course through wide-angle photography.

--Ron M.

[Cliff Hamm]

Ron...I love my Sigma 18 - 200 lens.  One lens does it all.

[Mike Dasher]

A wide angle shot from behind the green that shows green detaiils as well as the balance of the hole can be used to indicate strategy effectively.

[Ryan Farrow]

http://www.amazon.com/Sigma-10-20mm-4-5-6-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0007U00X0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265088709&sr=8-2

This is the super Wide Angle I picked up. Not very fast but pretty solid, I think I found mine for about 400. I just piked up the 70-200 Telephoto Sigma. Really no need to spend the extra money for a Cannon Lens. Anyways, I don't really see myself using the wide angle for anything but green surrounds and clubhouses.


Enjoy your Rebel. Its a bloody expensive hobby.

[Wayne_Freedman]

Every lens I own is a NIkon, except one...

It's a Tokina 11-16 mm---wide, sharp, crisp, fast, and very clean. 

Click this link to see how I used it to capture all of a 400+ yard, par-4, 4th at Richmond Country Club from the side.

http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/RichmondWebPhotos#slideshow/5409029148595593282

Here is another from Mississippi...

http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/FavoriteGolfPhotos#slideshow/5357641802954923346

Now. for a more usable, walk-around lens, try the Nikon 18-200, even on a camera as inexpensive as a D-40. My daughter has one of those. I use a D-200. Here are links to shots taken with that lens.

http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/FavoriteGolfPhotos#slideshow/5357647357114031026

http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/FavoriteGolfPhotos#slideshow/5222195776252053986

http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/FavoriteGolfPhotos#slideshow/5222196509077934594


Finally, if you want to walk around with an inexpensive pocket camera, try the Sony DSC w-150, with its 24 mm lens equivalent.
You can't shoot raw, but I bought it for the wide qualities, and have not been disappointed. Here are a couple with that:

http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/FavoriteGolfPhotos#slideshow/5359685045450368962
http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/FavoriteGolfPhotos#slideshow/5359678320632736370
http://picasaweb.google.com/wayne.freedman/FavoriteGolfPhotos#slideshow/5357664184255418066

Good luck.

[Mike Erdmann]

Canon's EF-S 10-22 is a fantastic wide-angle lens.  It's relatively light-weight, and while the build quality isn't as solid as L series lenses, I think the optics are absolutely on par with L series glass.  Sells for about $750.  

[Mark Alexander]

Ron,

Another option, I would suggest, is going down the full-frame route. Your Rebel is a crop-sensor camera which means its view of the world is constrained by its sensor. The result is cropped images where a potential panorama is limited by a factor of 1.6 (a 10-20mm lens therefore becomes a 16-32mm, if my sums are correct).

Full-frame cameras not only offer a wider field of view, but because their sensors are bigger and made up of larger sensory receptors they produce much better images. The downside is they’re a lot more expensive than entry models like the Rebel. That said, camera technology is developing at such a pace that many pros are being forced to ditch their perfectly adequate full-frame cameras to keep up in the megapixel race. This means there’s a healthy second-hand market at the moment where you can pick up a Canon 5D for about £700.

Hope this helps.