need new lens and flash!

delizo23 · Apr 21, 2008

hey,

i have a question about a photoshoot im about to do..

im taking portrait pictures of a couple at a park.
and i have a rebel xti, but just the kit lens and no flash (noob). i have reflector, lens hood.

i want to know what would be a good lens and flash for this type of photography?

theres a catch tho: i also want to have a macro lens for the future.
what is a good versatile lens that can be used for macro and portrait pictures. i want to take picture of little bugs eyeballs and stuff, haha.

i know the flash depends on the lighting, sunny or cloudy, but i just want a good fast flash.

maybe a picture of both a macro and portrait shot with the same lens would be cool...

no price limit, im ballin right now, haha. thanks in advanced.

Sw1tchFX · Apr 21, 2008

Macro lenses can be great for portraits, so long as you're within the limits of the lens. I know some macro lenses have a hard time focusing to infinity, but with portraits, that's probably not goign to be a problem.

The EF-S 60mm i would think would be a good choice.

as for a flash, I suggest getting some sort of trigger for off camera use, otherwise if it's on camera, just use the pop up.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Read Lighting 101

Village Idiot · Apr 21, 2008

Even on camera, a 430ex would yield much better results than the pop up. The pop up doesn't have the power output to work very effectively and there's a ton of modifiers made for speed lights.

delizo23 · Apr 22, 2008

thanks guys

onedayillknowbetter · Apr 22, 2008

I think a "Nifty Fifty" would be an excellent purchase to make. A 50mm lens is (supposedly) the view closest to the view the human eye has, and a prime lens is great for portrait work. Canon makes three different versions (I believe) of this lens, and they all seem great. I bought the cheapest version, the 1.8 locally on craigslist for $50, and I've gotten some really really great images with that lens. It will not, however, do macro very well. I have found that my 1.8 focuses only about 1.5ft from the camera, max, so macro, no; portraits, yes.

http://www.pbase.com/dixeychik7/40dtest
This is what I got when I took my 40D out for the first time with the 50mm 1.8

This lens is cheap enough for you to get it for the portrait session, and then get another lens that would be good for macro work. (which one, I don't know).