Lens Suggestions: Canon 5D mark 1 + Food Photography

Kianna Garcia · May 9, 2020

Hello! I have been posting on here a lot recently and would like some suggestions. I have a Canon 5D Mark 1 and I am interested in food photography (Not Professionally). I am not wishing to make a commission from these photos but I would like them to be high quality. I want a lens that can create a nice blurred background and is great with close-ups. Budget: I would say anything under 120. I want a lens that is great all-around and isn't too expensive. I will consider lenses over 120 but not over 200. Thank you all so much hope to receive some replies soon!

Original katomi · May 9, 2020

Have you looked at the canon nifty fifty. A 50 mm prime F1.8
Also if you are going to do food imaging you will want to look up some of the tricks of the trade.
It’s not just a case of kit.
If I asked you to shoot a bowl of steaming green garden peas, how would you show that it was hot and still have the fresh look.

dxqcanada · May 9, 2020

Used Canon EF Used Camera Lenses - Buy & Sell Online at KEH Camera

Soocom1 · May 9, 2020

The other aspect is lighting and BACKGROUND!

Food photography can be very touchy when your trying to appeal to the observer something they should put into thier mouth and enjoy unabound.
If you have the wrong color lights or too harsh, things get nasty looking and unappealing.

Lens wise as before mentoned, the 50mmm, or even the 40mm pancake (I have both).

dont be tempted to buy any simple lens, and DO NOT GET ANY older Sigma lenses AT ALL for the 5D. They simply will not work.

Tamron or even an older Canon L lens around 50mm, or even the 60mm Macro will do the trick rather nicely.

Any L series will however put you back a few pesos.

Designer · May 9, 2020

Original katomi said:
Have you looked at the canon nifty fifty.

She already got some feedback from Derrel. But thanks!

Designer · May 9, 2020

Kianna Garcia said:
Hello! I have been posting on here a lot recently and would like some suggestions. I have a Canon 5D Mark 1 and I am interested in food photography (Not Professionally). I am not wishing to make a commission from these photos but I would like them to be high quality. I want a lens that can create a nice blurred background and is great with close-ups. Budget: I would say anything under 120. I want a lens that is great all-around and isn't too expensive. I will consider lenses over 120 but not over 200. Thank you all so much hope to receive some replies soon!

I'm not up on Canon lenses, but I will comment on a portion of your post.

We have had quite a few threads here about food photography, so I suggest you search the forums and read some of those threads.

What I gathered from most of that was that the lighting was at least as critical as the choice of lens. I remember we went all over the lighting issues as they came up.

The concept of having a blurry background might be totally lost on a plate of food on a table. There are some specific attributes of lens and settings that affect out-of-focus (OOF) blur. The lens focal length, aperture, distance to subject and distance to the background all have something to do with the blur. (both behind and in front of the subject)

$120 to $200 will kind of limit you to less expensive lenses, but some inexpensive lenses can be quite nice. Hopefully someone who is knowledgeable about Canon lenses will hop on board.

Derrel · May 10, 2020

Used Nikon 55mm f/3.5 micro nikkor from KEH.COM, Nikon F to Canon Ef adapter from Fotodiox. Total cost around 89 bucks. Tripod, photo umbrella, light stand, Neewer flash...another $129...

Geenphoto · May 10, 2020

I am a Nikon guy so I don’t know which species lens. For close ip, but not macro, I might suggest something in 35mm, 40mm, or 50mm. You might even consider a 60 or 65mm.

There are times where you will want to go macro on your food photos. A 65mm 105 mm macro might be in order.

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Raw photographer · May 10, 2020

50mm 1.8 for me, like others have said lighting and composition is even more important that the gear.

TCampbell · May 10, 2020

Lighting is a big deal. You'll likely need more than one lens. But for featuring a plate, my preference is for focal lengths slightly on the long side. Here's a sample shot (quite a few years ago) using my 100mm f/2.8L macro on a 5D 2.

Sauteed Lake Perch by Tim Campbell, on Flickr

I'm shooting this at f/4. I did run through a range of focal ratios and this was selected because I wanted just enough blur to pull attention to the food, but not so much that you wouldn't be able to tell what the objects are in the background. You can see the flowers, the wine, the bread, etc. but at lower focal ratios the blur was just a bit too much. The other issue with shooting at lower f-stops was that the food was no longer acceptably sharp front-to-back. You can see the asparagus just behind the hero is just starting to go soft on focus. Imagine if I shot this at f/2.8 (and I did as a test) -- the front and back accents (tomatoes and asparagus) would be showing even stronger blur than I'd want.

The camera is probably a bit farther from the plate of food than you might guess.... but frankly this gives me room to work and move the lighting around since the camera doesn't have to be as close. And yet it looks like it is close.

And this maybe brings up a trade-off. This shot (and many others) were taken at the restaurant when it was closed. I could move tables around in the dining room, move lights wherever I needed them. I had to control the lighting coming through a huge south-facing window (I brought a very large black table cloth and some spring clips), etc. In other words, I had the run of the place to control the circumstances to do the photography. If you do *not* have the ability to shoot from farther away (as I did) then you might want a shorter lens.

Designer · May 10, 2020

100mm or 105mm seems like a good choice. The "L" series Canon lenses are known for superior performance, although they do cost more than non-L lenses.

Get a good lens, learn lighting, and you will get good results.

Derrel · May 10, 2020

Lighting is more-critical than many people think.

JBPhotog · May 10, 2020

FWIW, I shoot food for a good portion of my commercial work. Short lenses or “normal” focal length will not achieve the result you are looking for. As @TCampbell stated, longer focal lengths are the preferred workhorse lenses for food shoots. Narrowing the field of view is key to keep the background distractions to a minimum, let you blur the background and at the same time giving you working distance.

For a full frame camera start with an 85mm and go up from there for ideal lens selection.

Congrats BTW for taking on food, it is extremely challenging and satisfying at the same time, the learning curve is well. . . . some what vertical. LOL.