22 replies to this topic

[Captain Terrific]

'Sup Punks?

With many a fine photograph taker gracing this site, and with my newfound love for snapping a few pics here and there, I've come to ask for some advice on choosing a good beginner lens...


I'm looking at getting a Canon 50D - thought long and hard about saving up for a full frame (7d/5d) and decided that i'm happy with the results i'm currently getting using a mates 40D, but the lens choice is getting a bit harder

I plan on doing a lot of landscape, cityscape, lowlight and loooong exposures - now here's the tricky part

along with the standard 'get in the right place to take a photo rather than relying on zoom' practice, for me there's a lot of 'damn, i can't move back any further and therefore can't take the shot I want to' business

So, I'm thinking a lens that has the ability to be pretty wide and/or see around corners...

Can someone point me in the right direction? I'm only just starting to work out what all the letters mean (f, IS, TS, etc) but the numbers are doing my head in. I've been using a 50mm, and I know that has denied me some of the shots i've wanted to get (i get into some pretty tight places sometimes) so maybe a 24mm? what are we measuring here??

Your help and guidance will be greatly appreciated

PS - my flickr addy if anyone wants to give me any hints! - http://www.flickr.co...ptain-terrific/

[Spectrum]

PhotoPunk.com, look out!!!

Mate, you know that's a hook line and sinker for me.

Will be sure to chime in with my 2cents+carbontax at some point across the weekend.

Quick note, 7D ain't full-frame, it's simply got the build quality and focus capability that the 5D MkII should have (and that the 5D MkIII no doubt will have).

Catcha shortly....

[Spectrum]

On the topic of focal lengths....



(Note that Focal Length is the distance marked 'f')


http://www.dpreview....ey=focal+length

...which might make far more universal sense if referred to as 'picture angle':

http://www.dpreview....y=picture+angle

But no, the camera manufacturers make things confusing by persisting with this millimetre thing, and then people invariably use the same lenses on different sized sensor cameras, effectively changing the picture angle (so a 'normal' 50mm lens on a full-sized sensor camera such as the 5D MkII appears as a 'telephoto' lens on the smaller crop-sized cameras, such as your 40D as the edges of the picture produced by the lens sits outside the physical border dimensions of the sensor).

Or the flipside, where lens focal lengths are sometimes labeled the '35mm film' or ''full frame' equivalent, typical of point'n'shoot style digital cameras.

Makin much sense?!!

[Spectrum]

And to cut to the chase...

While a fast (ie. large aperture) 50mm on full-frame (or 28mm/30mm/35mm on the APS-C crop bodies) is my favourite single-lens choice (though said to be 'boring' by many), I'd seriously be suggesting you pick up the 15-85mm zoom.




Quality glass in a prosumer form, terrific focal length range (equating to 24mm on the wide end for those full frame folk), and for landscapes and long exposures, the lens is generally stopped down anyway (ie. small aperture) and therefore performing at its best.

Also check out...

The group:
http://www.flickr.co...oups/canon1585/

The review:
http://www.the-digit...ens-Review.aspx

The price:
http://www.shopbot.c...m=canon+15-85mm

What do ya think?

I know I tend to bang on about prime prime prime (ie. non-zoom) lenses (and for sure, moving around to fill a frame will encourage greater compositional creativity over simply placing a frame around an existing scene from a static position with a zoom), but I too agree they can be a pain in the butt getting stuff into the frame quickly, and also necessitate carrying a range of kit just to snap a few shots.

Though in saying that, if you're doing much low light, hand held, aperture wide open stuff, the 15-85mm struggles a bit, making its way to f/5.6 pretty quickly along the zoom range.

There's also the pretty damn good 10-22mm, but that's stupidly wide if you're still making pretty good with a 50mm on your 40D.

Lastly, if you do go down the prime route, I'd recommend to try not to fill in all the focal range gaps as the time taken to switch a lens could so easily be nailed by moving inwards / outwards a few steps. These days I'm tending to stick to the 24mm + 50mm + 135mm, while the 28mm and 85mm rarely come out (and I'd probably should sell them except I'd not make the money back and they're reasonable small and less likely to scream P-H-O-T-O-G-R-A-P-H-E-R, if that matters?).

Anyway, what are you up to tonight in music land? I'm presently smashing out notes in MIDI of old school dance tunes for a mate to remix. Creativity-numbing yet satisfying none-the-less, and (almost) pays the bills.

[Captain Terrific]

Nice one Spec - Cheers for the info on Focal length, certainly clears things up a bit

And I'm liking the look of the 15-85 zoom - while I work it all out, it's nice to have someone say "look at this sorta thing" and point me in the right direction

Those links are much appreciated - it's shots like this that i'm gettin into

And what am I up to tonite in musicland? Shall upload the remix of Lustral's Everytime (the song that got me first interested in digital/electronic music) I did yesterday to the 'cloud and then process some of the shots I took this afternoon!

[Spectrum]

Yeah, it's a bit of a minefield of options, and everyone's photographic pursuit / journey will be personal / unique, so it's always tricky to nail down a one-lens-for-all solution.

In saying that, a zoom with a reasonable range (ala 15-85mm) will give you a taste of what each focal length is capable of, and then you can decide, 'do I really need to open the aperture up a little more?' for freezing subject movement in low light or a shallower depth of field effect - which are the two main reasons for looking at primes (aside from generally better performing optics in a more compact package). But which prime? Wait and see what you think might work better for you...

When I got serious about photography around 10 years ago, my main lens was a 28-135mm, which is the kinda the full-frame equivalent of the 15-85mm, except the 15-85mm is better: wider on the wide end, superior optics, improved image stabilization, less likely to creep (zoom by itself) when pointed upwards / downwards. Some reports argue it even performs better for the crop crowd than the 24-105mm does for the full-framers.

And expect your needs and wishes to evolve over time, mine certainly have.


EDIT1: re HDR... I do struggle to get past the halos and skies-darker-than-ground but can appreciate its merits, especially the opportunity for far better results than resorting to graduated neutral density filters to hold back the more intense skies.

EDIT2: And I write this under a at 5pm on Monday afternoon sipping back a couple of Hahn White (Belgian style white beer with a hint of orange) in the icy wind and hail while testing the portable gazebo and gas heater rig for the daughter's 3rd birthday this coming weekend. Fark this winter weather!!!

[Captain Terrific]

and now you know why I'm still living in Brisbane and haven't made the trek south!

21 here today, blue skies... good times

re: HDR - yeah, the dreaded halo is something I'm learning to avoid - I'm not too keen on the over-processing you see on shots (heaven knows it's easy to go overboard) however I am liking the realism that can be achieved when using the effect sparingly

Having said that, I was reading a site the other day that had a test - Pick the HDR shot and it had some interesting results

In my opinion, it's the best way of achieving a 'this-is-exactly-what-I-just-saw-and-wanted-to-capture' result

[ryanedward85]

Spectrum, on 17 July 2011 - 01:57 AM, said:

And to cut to the chase...

While a fast (ie. large aperture) 50mm on full-frame (or 28mm/30mm/35mm on the APS-C crop bodies) is my favourite single-lens choice (though said to be 'boring' by many), I'd seriously be suggesting you pick up the 15-85mm zoom.




Quality glass in a prosumer form, terrific focal length range (equating to 24mm on the wide end for those full frame folk), and for landscapes and long exposures, the lens is generally stopped down anyway (ie. small aperture) and therefore performing at its best.

Also check out...

The group:
http://www.flickr.co...oups/canon1585/

The review:
http://www.the-digit...ens-Review.aspx

The price:
http://www.shopbot.c...m=canon+15-85mm

What do ya think?

I know I tend to bang on about prime prime prime (ie. non-zoom) lenses (and for sure, moving around to fill a frame will encourage greater compositional creativity over simply placing a frame around an existing scene from a static position with a zoom), but I too agree they can be a pain in the butt getting stuff into the frame quickly, and also necessitate carrying a range of kit just to snap a few shots.

Though in saying that, if you're doing much low light, hand held, aperture wide open stuff, the 15-85mm struggles a bit, making its way to f/5.6 pretty quickly along the zoom range.

My girlfriend has a Nikkor 18-55mmand she loves it. She also has a 55-200mm so it matches perfectly.

[Mark Shaw]

There's a lot to be said about the basic "boring" prime lens. It's remarkably fast, bright and compact.

[M.jerrick]

I was messing with my GF's Nikon over the weekend and now I have the DSLR bug. I love the idea of interchangeable lenses, tele-converters and the like. So much more interesting than shooting with a hybrid, even a very good hybrid.

[Cheyne]

Cant go wrong with a 50mm prime. Makes you work for your photos, but opens up a whole different way of shooting.

[ryanedward85]

No argument there Cheyne. 50mm Primes went out of fashion due to all these fancy 14-80mm lenses but they are crap compared to a decent 50mm prime.

[ryanedward85]

I never had much use for a lens wider than 35mm anyway. So a 50mm would be a good first lens.

[Spectrum]

Bear in mind that the field of view of a 50mm lens on most camera bodies that utilise the smaller APS-C sized sensor is cropped, meaning only the centre portion of the lens image is used in the picture (the perimeter of the image is cropped out), essentially turning the 'classic' 50mm prime into a medium 75 to 80mm telephoto lens.



What does this mean in practice? Standing back to fit everything in, thereby changing the perspective from the classic 50mm 'look'. But then it also has its advantages, compressing the perspective slightly by standing back and 'zooming in', portraits are typically more appealing.

Not that I'm not dismissing the idea of sticking a 50mm lens on a crop body (and it's equivalent field of view on full frame, the 85mm f/1.8, is still one of the best lenses available, and reasonably priced too), I'm just highlighting that it's not the same view as a 50mm on the film SLR cameras of the past 50 odd years. For this, one would need to look at a 28mm or 30mm or 35mm for their crop bodies.

[ryanedward85]

I remember that lens from my old EOS 10QD from many moons ago.

[steve.childs]

As far as Nikon DSLR's are concerned, what are the full sized sensor and what are the what are the smaller sensor models?

[ryanedward85]

Being an old school photographer I have absolutely no idea about all these differing sensor sizes on DSLR's. I understood that DSLR's had larger sensors than compacts, but not between various DSLR's.

[Spectrum]

steve.childs, on 23 November 2011 - 12:24 AM, said:

As far as Nikon DSLR's are concerned, what are the full sized sensor and what are the what are the smaller sensor models?

Not a Nikon user, but thinking it's the D700 and D300 for the full frame, yeah? And everything else Nikon is cropped (1.5x compared to Canon's 1.6x).

[ryanedward85]

Spectrum, on 29 November 2011 - 08:31 PM, said:

Not a Nikon user, but thinking it's the D700 and D300 for the full frame, yeah? And everything else Nikon is cropped (1.5x compared to Canon's 1.6x).

I see. Thanks.

[TonyG]

I plan to visit the Andes in Peru, hopefully next year. What lens would you recommend I use for landscape shots. I have a Nikon D3000.