Wide Angle/Prime/Macro????

[tmjjk]

Where I live, the stores that carry camera equipment generally carry the 50mm and 55-200mm lenses... I own both of these standard lenses. Anything else needs to be ordered. I am looking to upgrade to a pro canon lens, possibly tamron or sigma, but I really do not have any hands on understanding of my choices. Does anyone know of a website or area of this forum... somewhere I can possibly see the same scene taken with different lenses. Some of the lens choices sound so similar in focal length that I am having trouble understanding. Currently I shoot 95 % of everything with my 50mm 1.8 canon. I love the quickness and ability to blow out the background. I want SHARP images! I mostly photograph people and am just starting with the groups... so I am thinking a wide angle lens possibly, but I have never used a wide angle lens... what are the cons to a wide angle? Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated, or any links you may have to offer. I plan of having more than one professional lens, but I am in the process of saving for my first... and I may be there if I can figure out which I should get ... THANK SO MUCH

 

[Dao]

For lens reviews, you can take a look at


photozone.de
slrgears.com
dpreview.com
the-digital-picture.com


For group photos, you can use the standard zoom lens. (Like the kit lens) If you like to upgrade to a better one, Tamon and Sigma both have a standard zoom lens with focal range between 17mm to 50mm with constant max aperture of f/2.8 while Canon has a EF-S version of it. However, you maybe shoot the group photos around f/8, so the difference may not be too much.

 

[fasihjee]

It depends on what you're shooting - if you're planning to shoot landscapes then wide angle (i.e: Canon 10-22 or Sigma 10-20) is highly recommended. Personally I own two lens 1: Canon 18-135 IS for the purpose of walk around lens 2: Canon 85mm 1.8 specifically for Portraits.

I'm thinking to get another lens which probably would be Canon or Sigma 70-200 2.8 as I'm lacking zoom.

I would personally prefer, either go for Budget Canon 18-200 (Wide & Zoom) or bit expensive Canon/Sigma 70-200 2.8.

 

[Robin Usagani]

here you go.. have fun!

Lens Sample Photo Archive - Canon Digital Photography Forums

 

[hukim0531]

Flicker has various groups for people posting on specific lens. Pixel-Peeper is another website you can view and also allows you not only for specific lens but with camera body, iso, etc. but I don't think the website is getting a lot of use these days. Photography on the Net (POTN) is another website that has extremely high Canon user base and have various threads on specific lens.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/
http://www.pixel-peeper.com/lenses/canon/
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=33

 

[tmjjk]

You guys and gals are awesome! Thank you

 

[hukim0531]

Your Welcome!

Schwettylens, I don't mean to sound demeaning or offend you, but your user ID reminds me of Ben and Jerry's new ice cream flavor. No, I haven't tried it yet but willing to give it a shot!

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - Schweddy Balls

 

[tmjjk]

Your Welcome!

Schwettylens, I don't mean to sound demeaning or offend you, but your user ID reminds me of Ben and Jerry's new ice cream flavor. No, I haven't tried it yet but willing to give it a shot!

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - Schweddy Balls

LOL... every time I read it I think of the Saturday night live skit with Alec Baldwin and his Christmas Rum Balls... I think his name was Schweddy ... sorry Schwettylens....

 

[Overread]

One thought - once you start to leave the telephoto and enter the wide angle lens ranges (which roughly means dropping below 50mm) you'll start to encounter perspective distortion, especially at closer distances. For landscapes its generally not a problem; however for portraits it can mean that whilst you can work closer indoors, you end up with closer parts of the image being enlarged over those further away - eg bigger hands or nose. Telephoto lenses reduce and then eliminate this problem; however on crop sensor they can be a little more tricky to frame when in closer environments (eg indoors).


So if portraits are you aim I'd suggest keeping to 50mm or longer.

In general if you're going for a new lens the most important phase is to first get your criteria on teh table. New stuff is great, but if you've not a clear idea of how and why you need it and how and why to use it then you'll fast find it very easy to add lots of new paperweights.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I keep my lens in my schwetty sack

Your Welcome!

Schwettylens, I don't mean to sound demeaning or offend you, but your user ID reminds me of Ben and Jerry's new ice cream flavor. No, I haven't tried it yet but willing to give it a shot!

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - Schweddy Balls

LOL... every time I read it I think of the Saturday night live skit with Alec Baldwin and his Christmas Rum Balls... I think his name was Schweddy ... sorry Schwettylens....

 

[hukim0531]

LOL

I keep my lens in my schwetty sack

Your Welcome!

Schwettylens, I don't mean to sound demeaning or offend you, but your user ID reminds me of Ben and Jerry's new ice cream flavor. No, I haven't tried it yet but willing to give it a shot!

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream - Schweddy Balls

LOL... every time I read it I think of the Saturday night live skit with Alec Baldwin and his Christmas Rum Balls... I think his name was Schweddy ... sorry Schwettylens....

 

[tmjjk]

One thought - once you start to leave the telephoto and enter the wide angle lens ranges (which roughly means dropping below 50mm) you'll start to encounter perspective distortion, especially at closer distances. For landscapes its generally not a problem; however for portraits it can mean that whilst you can work closer indoors, you end up with closer parts of the image being enlarged over those further away - eg bigger hands or nose. Telephoto lenses reduce and then eliminate this problem; however on crop sensor they can be a little more tricky to frame when in closer environments (eg indoors).


So if portraits are you aim I'd suggest keeping to 50mm or longer.

In general if you're going for a new lens the most important phase is to first get your criteria on teh table. New stuff is great, but if you've not a clear idea of how and why you need it and how and why to use it then you'll fast find it very easy to add lots of new paperweights.

Thank you so much! I definitely aim to take more portrait oriented images. I have six children and capturing them will be the main intent of this new lens. I do NOT have the funds to guess at this and I really want to make the right decision. I have the 50mm 1.8 canon lens... do you think there is a significant difference in the 1.4 or even the 1.2... I know the cost diffence. What about the 85mm 1.2, 1.4, or 1.8... and yes I see the difference regarding the prices on these as well.... Out of these.... anyone???? Thanks so much

 

[hukim0531]

Canon 85mm 1.8 vs Sigma 85mm 1.4 - Canon Digital Photography Forums
Since you already have 50 1.8, perhaps 85mm or 100mm...

 

[TCampbell]

Nobody mentioned this yet... but if you're about to part with a sizable lump of change to buy a lens, you can use a rental as a way to test a lens that a store simply wouldn't carry.

Big box stores aren't going to carry any of the expensive glass... they pretty much just limit things to consumer-grade priced lenses. A "real" camera store will tend to carry the "most popular" pro glass, but they won't carry everything (that'll be a special order.) A lens-rental place will have practically everything.

Something else to keep in mind is that when you look at photos on the web, you're seeing web-sized images -- so you can't necessarily get an indicator of resolution & contrast. You *might* be able to get an indicator of whether the lens has distortion issues IF the person who posted the photo didn't adjust out the barrel distortion before posting (and you never know if they've done that.)

The pixel-peeper.com website sort of exists specifically for the purpose of evaluating lenses. You can pick the camera body and lens combination that you plan to use, and it'll show you samples of photos taken with that combination.