Canon 400D, which lens should I use for portaiture?

Sheepdisease · Dec 11, 2011

I am looking for a lens to use for taking photos of people and animals inside and out who wont necessarily remain still for more than a second for under £50 either new or used. Can anyone please make some recommendations? I've tried using my 50mm 1.8f prime but it focuses too much on one area and not on the entire subject due to uber bokeh. As soon as I start increasing the f number this naturally effects the amount of time it takes to get the shot, in which time the subject will probably move! The 18-55mm (non-IS) was slightly better.

I want something which will work nicely on a tripod and cope being held freehand in different lighting conditions.

NeoPho · Dec 11, 2011

Nvm I didn't read it all lol I was windering the same thing.

MLeeK · Dec 11, 2011

The 50mm is the only lens you will even find in that budget area, let alone a GOOD portrait lens. You are looking at about 200 pounds for starters. Sorry!

Crollo · Dec 12, 2011

You want a super extremely cheap lens that will perform better then the 18-55 kit lens, AND the 50mm 1.8, and also have IS...

Man, that's a bummer.

Sheepdisease · Dec 12, 2011

Right, so am I using the 50mm wrong then? Does anyone use that lens for portraiture?

What kind of lenses would you be thinking of which are slightly more expensive for this purpose (new or second hand)?

Crollo · Dec 12, 2011

The only thing you're doing wrong is failing to set the aperture in time.
Your complaint about the shallow DOF means you either have to get accustomed to changing the aperture quickly, or buying a low-end zoom which would have a terrible F\stop, but your 50mm will be much sharper at the zoom's equivelant f/stop [Generally 4-5.6], so buying a low-end zoom would be a pretty bad investment.

Sheepdisease · Dec 12, 2011

Crollo said:
The only thing you're doing wrong is failing to set the aperture in time.
Your complaint about the shallow DOF means you either have to get accustomed to changing the aperture quickly, or buying a low-end zoom which would have a terrible F\stop, but your 50mm will be much sharper at the zoom's equivelant f/stop [Generally 4-5.6], so buying a low-end zoom would be a pretty bad investment.

Thank you for your help. I would have expected AV mode to prevent me from having to worry about DOF. I suppose I should be telling the camera exactly how much I want to be in focus.. What f-stop should I use to get the right amount of detail for portraiture with the 50mm 1.8?

Crollo · Dec 12, 2011

It depends a lot on how far away you are and how big your subject is, generally speaking the farther you're focusing the more DOF you get [More in focus], so it might help you to just simply stand back a little farther if possible, otherwise f/4 or 5.6 should give you more then enough DOF for most purposes.

Sheepdisease · Dec 12, 2011

Okay, thank you very much! I will see how that works out.

Tiberius47 · Dec 13, 2011

Sheepdisease said:
I am looking for a lens to use for taking photos of people and animals inside and out who wont necessarily remain still for more than a second for under £50 either new or used. Can anyone please make some recommendations? I've tried using my 50mm 1.8f prime but it focuses too much on one area and not on the entire subject due to uber bokeh. As soon as I start increasing the f number this naturally effects the amount of time it takes to get the shot, in which time the subject will probably move! The 18-55mm (non-IS) was slightly better.

I want something which will work nicely on a tripod and cope being held freehand in different lighting conditions.

50mm is generally a good focal length for portraits, especially with a crop camera. Set your aperture to f5.6 or f8, and if your shutter speed is getting too slow, then increase your ISO. But if you are getting slow shutter speeds at f5.6, then you are in a pretty dark environment. Turn on a light or invest in a flash.