Kit guide
A wide-angle kit for rooms and landscapes
When a wall stops you stepping back, only a wider lens fits more in. Here is the lightest wide zoom for each system, what it takes in at three metres, and the filter it needs.
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Canon RF
525 g ready to shoot
Canon EOS R50 + Canon RF-S10-18mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM
starts at 16 mm equivalent · 525 g with the camera · 49 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the RF-S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM, 130 g more; the bag then weighs 655 g.
Sony E
581 g ready to shoot
Sony a6400 + Sony E PZ 10-20mm F4 G
starts at 15 mm equivalent · 581 g with the camera · 62 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS II, 107 g more; the bag then weighs 688 g.
Nikon Z
755 g ready to shoot
Nikon Z50II + Nikon NIKKOR Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR
starts at 18 mm equivalent · 755 g with the camera · 67 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR, 135 g more; the bag then weighs 890 g.
Fujifilm X
698 g ready to shoot
Fujifilm X-T50 + Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN Contemporary
starts at 15 mm equivalent · 698 g with the camera · 67 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the XF16-50mmF2.8-4.8 R LM WR, 240 g more; the bag then weighs 938 g.
Wider means more of the room
A lens's view widens as its equivalent focal length falls: at 15 mm equivalent you take in about twice the width of a 30 mm view from the same spot. In a small room that is the difference between one wall and the corner that shows the room's shape. From three metres, the widest setting of each pick covers:
- Canon EOS R50 with the RF-S10-18mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM: 6.7 × 4.5 m at 3 m
- Sony a6400 with the E PZ 10-20mm F4 G: 7.1 × 4.7 m at 3 m
- Nikon Z50II with the NIKKOR Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR: 5.9 × 3.9 m at 3 m
- Fujifilm X-T50 with the 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN Contemporary: 7.1 × 4.7 m at 3 m
Straight lines and stretched corners
Very wide lenses stretch things near the edges and make lines lean when the camera tips up or down. Hold the camera level, keep important objects away from the corners, and use the camera's own correction for these lenses; several wide zooms rely on it, and Sony lists it as always on for some.
Filters on a wide lens
Use a thin filter in the lens's own size, or a step-up ring to a larger one: a smaller filter fits only through a step-down ring, which darkens the corners. A polariser darkens the sky unevenly across a very wide view; many photographers leave it off below about 24 mm equivalent.
Build your own kit · Lenses by subject
Facts from the makers' specification pages. How we check