Considering a new lens purchase - but which one?

iolair · May 16, 2013

I'm considering buying a new high-quality lens - this would be used for portraiture and fashion photography, and maybe some shots at weddings.

I'm a "prime person", so stick to those for anything except events/weddings where (because they're unusual for me) I hire f/2.8 zooms as needed.

The lenses I'm seriously considering are:

Sigma 50mm 1.4 EX DG
(love the image quality and bokeh and the big size of this lens, however I'm slightly scared of the autofocus horror stories I've heard)

Canon 50mm 1.4
(looks a good lens, more predictable than the Sigma, but the Sigma just looks like more lens for the money).

Jupiter 9 85mm 2.0
(I have the Jupiter 11A (135mm 3.5) and it's absolutely stellar - but of course is manual focus only which is not so convenient through a standard APS-C ).

Canon 85mm 1.8
(fast autofocus, nice bokeh, great IQ, good value for money)

Samyang 85mm 1.4
(another manual focus only, but great reviews and appears good value for money)

For comparison, I'm shooting with Canon 40D and 50D bodies, and my current lens collection includes:
Canon 10-22mm
Canon 28mm 2.8 (the old, non-IS version. Never lets me down but occasional CA issues on high contrast areas)
Canon 50mm 1.8 (good for many things, but autofocus hunts too much in low light and the bokeh is ugly on busy backgrounds).
Canon 60mm 2.8 macro (I keep intending to use this more for portraiture and fashion work - should I be using this more rather than investing in one of the above? Autofocus seems slow on distant subjects.)
Jupiter 37A 135mm/3.5 (manual focus lens that gives amazing image quality - with a couple of caveats - and my favourite bokeh of any of my lenses. It does need a LOT of working room on APS-C though.)
(And, sat in a box, 18-55mm kit lens and prehistoric 35-80mm kit lens. Don't go there).

Have you owned any of my shortlist and can give feedback? Have you owned two or more and can compare them? Are there any other lenses you'd be looking at in my situation?

stevensondrive · May 16, 2013

I find it interesting that you only shoot with primes. I would definetely want AF and would be inclined to stick with the Canon brand. that makes your choice a little easier 50 or 85.

drewrios · May 17, 2013

Yay Primes! I'm all about primes, i use them almost exclusively (Except for a 24-105 F/4 for Videos). I have a few thoughts to put out there for ya. I've extremely fond of 50mms. So my vote will always be for a 50mm, however since you're using cropped sensor cameras 50mms will actually be an 85mm focal length. If you want a true 50mm focal length, you should check out Canon's 35mms.

But!

• I just tested the Sigma 50mm F/1.4 for a week; The depth of field is pretty great, creamy and smooth transitions for sure. However, the shear amount of glass the motor has to move really slows the responsiveness of the AF down

• I have my Canon 50mm F/1.4 permanently on my camera, It's such a simple, fantastic lens that really performs amazingly. Everything on my photoblog is shot with it if you want a reference. I know several pro photographers that use it for almost everything as well. It's seriously, THE prime lens to have. Especially comparing it to the F/1.8 version. You'll get much better bokeh than the F/1.8, much more reliable AF.

I say Canon 50mm F/1.4!

iolair · May 17, 2013

Thanks for your response.

Yes, definitely after a 50+mm because of the shortcomings of my 50mm 1.8 (busy bokeh, poor focus in low light, and it would be nice sometimes to have even shallower depth of field). When I go want to go wider, I find that other than the odd chromatic aberration (and that only when the lighting is difficult) my 28mm/2.8 serves me extremely well.

But for fashion and portraits, the perspective of a moderately long lens is a good one. (The 135mm is great, but I end up on a crop body being too far from my models/subjects to communicate as easily as I'd like).

Anyway, for now I've decided to try to use my 60mm/2.8 macro more for these types of shots - I've already got it but only ever took it on one shoot (where I ended up barely using it due to a lack of space on that particular occasion). It deserves more of a chance. Obviously though it won't be possible to achieve thin depth of field in the same way as the 1.8. And I've ordered a ultra-cheap but hopefully not nasty Opteka 85mm 1.8 to see how I get on with the focal length (manual focus only, which doesn't bother me for the types of shots I'm aiming to use it for, and only 135 pounds). I'll then decide how I want to spend the rest of my money.

TCampbell · May 17, 2013

The EF-S 60mm macro has a particularly high MTF scores... meaning it's contrast/acuity and ability to resolve fine detail are probably better (probably considerably better actually) than any other lens you own.

When I used to shoot with an APS-C body, the 60mm was my favorite lens. It's f/2.8... so it's low focal ratio but not VERY low focal ratio (it's not f/2 or f/1.4).