Upgrading from 18-55mm to a Better Portrait Lens?

mrs.hankIII

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Beginner, here. And ready to upgrade from my kit 18-55mm lens. I've had some suggestions for the 35mm f/1.8 (read reviews that distortion is an issue?) and as usual, the 50mm f1/1.8. I'm using a Canon t3i. Beginner, so obviously beginner budget body and lens.

Budget: Preferably under $200 USED. I don't need a brand new lens, it's not a requirement or important to me. I can pick up the 50mm f/1.8 for $125 new and have one saved on Amazon right now. But I'm not positive on that one. If I can get an even better lens but used for under $200, I'll be all over that.

What I do: Outdoor portraits. I'll also photograph other random things but I've grown fond of portraits so that'll be the main use.

I would like something a lot sharper than the 18-55mm kit lens. I'm not terribly fond of the quality it gives me. Right now I just want to step up to something a little bit better, and once I'm pretty comfortable with my photography skills I'll step up to a better, more expensive lens.

Is the 50mm f/1.8 as good as people say it is? The harsh bokeh is a con on most reviews I've read but I'm not sure if that will bother me. The reviews seem to be hit or miss and it scares me. So any thoughts on this?
 
50mm is a bit short for portrait work (35mm is RIGHT OUT). I would suggest saving just a bit more and hunting for a good used 85mm f1.8; they seem to run right around $300, and it's a MUCH better FL for portraiture work. You can definitely make do with the 50, but it's not ideal. I can't comment on the bokeh aspect as I'm a Nikonian and unfamiliar with the characteristics.
 
So what IS a 50mm good for? Anything?
 
this is 50mm f1.4 on canon 60d.
this was just a snapshot I took while she was talking to her father and I just happened to stand there with the camera. I would have processed it differently now, but this should just give you an idea.

Yuliya
 

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From what I read the 50mm feels more like an 80mm on a crop sensor, which is what my t3i is. This is why I'm asking here. I don't want to buy something and be upset with it. My kit lens can do a "decent" job at portraits when I have it set at 50mm, but it lacks that sharpness that I crave.
 
I'm curious about your last statement "lacks that sharpness that I crave". What settings are you using when doing portraits (ISO, shutter speed, aperture), also are you using single point auto focus or multi point? I would recommend posting a picture up with the settings you used so we can see if it's a sharpness issue or possibly something else.

A lot of people jump to a 50mm fast aperture lens thinking that it will miraculously start giving them razor sharp photo's, and that's not always the case. Shooting a fast aperture 1.8 lens results in a very shallow depth of field, and can actually result in softer photo's than what your current lens can produce if not done correctly.
 
Oh dear lord that is going to be scary. I'll dig through and find one to post.
 
From what I read the 50mm feels more like an 80mm on a crop sensor, which is what my t3i is. This is why I'm asking here. I don't want to buy something and be upset with it. My kit lens can do a "decent" job at portraits when I have it set at 50mm, but it lacks that sharpness that I crave.
A 50mm lens on your APS-C body will give you a field of view similar to that of an 80mm lens. THAT IS ALL. There is no magic magnifcation, compression, or anything else. This is something that was widely mis-understood early in the digital SLR age, and misunderstanding and misinformation persists today. Focal length is focal length. Period. A 50mm lens is a 50mm is a 50mm lens, regardless of what body it is used on. Depending on the sesor size your field of view will change, but that's it. The longer the lens, the less disortion it imparts; this is especially apparent when using short focal lengths (<50mm) for portraits; people often wind up with large noses, etc.

The 50mm focal length isn't, IMO, all that useful. It's really a hold-over from the film days when it was the 'normal' lens that came with your SLR. "Normal" because it renders a scene in a way that most closesly approximate what the human eye sees.

I'm curious about your last statement "lacks that sharpness that I crave". What settings are you using when doing portraits (ISO, shutter speed, aperture), also are you using single point auto focus or multi point? I would recommend posting a picture up with the settings you used so we can see if it's a sharpness issue or possibly something else.
The kit lens, when used to advantage produces tack-sharp results (between 22 & 50mm, and shooting at at least two stops below maximum). If your images are soft, it may well be a case of user error.

A lot of people jump to a 50mm fast aperture lens thinking that it will miraculously start giving them razor sharp photo's, and that's not always the case. Shooting a fast aperture 1.8 lens results in a very shallow depth of field, and can actually result in softer photo's than what your current lens can produce if not done correctly.
Very true... you've already got the 50mm FL covered, and unless you're going after a specific look and deliberately shooting at large apertures (which induces a whole new crop of difficulties), you're really not going to realize any benefit from the purchase. That said the "nifty fifty" is cheap enough that there's really no reason NOT to buy it, but don't expect mircales from it.
 
I'm not doing paid shoots by any means, let's just get that out of the way. I have a WHOLE LOT more to improve on before I ever get around to doing that, if I ever DO get around to doing that.

This is one of the few I'm somewhat pleased with. Shooting indoors, had to shoot at a high ISO of 800 due to lack of light. No pop up flash. f/5.6 at 40mm. The post editing needs some work, something I'm definitely striving to improve on.
 

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There's no doubt there's user error. I'm still learning. There's going to be some of that, if not a bit. I'm not expecting this lens to make me brilliant pro photographer. Not hardly. I'm not expecting it to give me miraculous results. I'm just looking for something to upgrade from the kit 18-55mm that won't break my bank but may be useful to me.
 
The best advice I can give you then is, "Do nothing!" 99 times out of a hundred, gear bought for the sake of buying gear results in disapointment. You want to upgrade, but do you need to upgrade? Have you really maxed out the limit of your kit lens? How about taking that $200 and putting into a Yongnuo speedlight, stand and trigger so that you could get some light off of your camera? That will do more to improve your portraiture than any ten lenses!
 
And actually, going through my photos and looking at what I used during shooting, yeah. I need to go back and review what I'm doing because most of them are actually shot between 30-40mm. Which could be some of my issue. I get caught up and quit paying attention and that's not a good thing to do.

Something that is better in low light would be nice as well.
 
What he should have asked for is one that is NOT sharp. Be sure to include the EXIF.
 

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