Professional Lenses for High Fashion

[MadFlair]

Hello all!

I'm new here and just made my account. I'm a fashion photographer who is now moving into serious professional photography and I really need some advice. I looked through the forum but I can't find the exact answers I'm looking for, hopefully someone here can help Firstly let me apologise for any bad english I have, it is not my first language.

Some information on my current situation:
Currently I shoot on an old (now semi-broken) Canon 50D with a few very basic (manual) focus lenses (sub $300 lenses). Everything I do is manual; my camera is a bit broken and focusing is almost non-existent. I spend hours trying to get a photo to look ok, it's hard work. I also shoot on a SONY DSC-W30 (yes I know...bad bad). So now you know where I'm coming from.

I'm about to upgrade to a Canon 5D Mark III (if the Mark IV doesn't come out in the first half of the new year, if it does then I guess Mark IV). I need good recommendations on what lenses I should be looking at to get high quality results like those seen in high fashion magazines. So please keep this camera body in mind.

This is the kind of style I want to be shooting: Lina Tesch Photography
I really like her colours and the quality of her images. Before anyone says things on photoshop and lighting, I'm sure they all play a big part too, not only the lenses. I currently use CS6 but I don't have any flashes in my gear (I've been using the on-camera flash on the 50D).

So, what kind of lenses do I need to upgrade to so I can achieve this kind of style? I shoot fashion (editorial style and campaigns). I sometimes shoot indoors in studio and sometimes I shoot outside in most environments (cold, hot, wind, sunny, low light). I believe I have some skill already, but this is not my place to decide, so I'm hopefully looking for people to recommend professional gear for me to be using.

To give you an example of my work, this is what I'm currently able to do:
On my 50D:
skate park by LittleFlair on DeviantArt

On my Sony backup (June 2008):
again sexy strawberries by LittleFlair on DeviantArt

I hope for any advice I can get. If this is the wrong section to post this, I'm sorry!

Thanks in advanced! )

 

[Overread]

This is a question that you can really answer for yourself to some extent and one which you have to; there is a wide range of options for this kind of work and what you end up with will likely differ to others.

First up though an idea of budget would help - you're already aiming to splash out on a 5DMIII or even MIV which suggests you've got some fairly serious money to play with. However an idea of your total overall budget would be a great help. Might be that investing more of your budget into flash/lens/lighting modifiers and then maybe a 5DMII might get you closer to what you want than just hte camera alone.

Secondly due to the personal preference aspect it would help if you could give an idea of what lens focal lengths you like to shoot with already. Whilst moving from the 50D to the 5D series means you're shifting into fullframe (wider angle of view); it might still give an idea to us of what kind of focal lengths that you like to use and thus what might suit you.


If you want an easy option then a 24-70mm f2.8 is a good catch-all zoom in this focal range for fullframe. It will do lots of what you'll need and really its only downside is that its heavier than some primes and can't open up as wide (though once you start getting smaller than f2.8 the plane of focus becomes much more tricky to work with).
Canon has a MK1 which is second hand only now (still pro quality just out of production now) and a MKII (best of the best but expensive). Sigma and others also have some very high quality options on the market for a bit less.

 

[curtyoungblood]

If I were only shooting high-end fashion, I would look at the 24-105 f4 or a 70-200 f4. I know it is a slower lens, but fashion work is usually shot with a narrower aperture anyway.

You haven't mentioned what lenses you already own, which would give us a better understanding of your current situation. Also, if you're planning on focusing on portraiture, then the 5d iii may be more camera than you need. Have you given any consideration to the 6d? (I only ask, because it would free up some serious money to put towards lenses.)

 

[MadFlair]

Hi everyone thank you for your quick replies to my thread )

Ok first to answer is what lenses I have now; I have canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II and a Samyang 85mm f/1.4 manual focus lens.

My budget is $3,000 for a good lens or if I can find two good lenses, I might go $3,500/$4,000 if it really is worth. The camera body is not part of this and it is something I would like because from what I see the 5D is the best camera I can afford which will let me do what I want with video and fashion photography. I want to use it for my personal photography (play time) too

In regards to portraiture works for fashion; sometimes I do portraits but sometimes it is wider images too (full body, interesting scene/background).

Thank you for the lens recommendations too! I will look at these lenses recommended so far. I know that it is also wise to consider how I personally will use the equipment to take photos but I still want to know that my gear is going to let me experiment how I want and not be too limiting, like I have now

 

[MadFlair]

Also, I might have misunderstood - but what lens is the "MKII (best of the best but expensive)." I can't find this lens called Canon MKII, but I might be looking at it wrong thank you!

 

[MadFlair]

Also, I have another question again! (sorry!)

I've visited my example photographer (above) website and she has a picture of her camera and lens that she uses, does anyone know what gear she is using? I just saw and was curious )

http://www11.pic-upload.de/23.12.14/n1prraw2goj.png

 

[Overread]

I'm not sure of the model but that looks like a medium format camera body - which basically means bigger sensor than even the 5DMKIII with its 35m sensor. The medium format is widely used in fashion and studio work, but is a very expensive thing to approach for digital (I seem to recall bodes in the £10K price bracket). Film medium format is still out there and used and can be more affordable to get into.


By the MKII I meant the 5DMKII or 5Dmark2 (ergo the second one).

 

[MadFlair]

I'm not sure of the model but that looks like a medium format camera body - which basically means bigger sensor than even the 5DMKIII with its 35m sensor. The medium format is widely used in fashion and studio work, but is a very expensive thing to approach for digital (I seem to recall bodes in the £10K price bracket). Film medium format is still out there and used and can be more affordable to get into.


By the MKII I meant the 5DMKII or 5Dmark2 (ergo the second one).

Oh thank you so much for the confirmation - that makes things easier!

Yes I thought it was a medium format camera, but I wanted just to see. They are very expensive and probably not in my budget right now!

 

[tirediron]

Also, I have another question again! (sorry!)

I've visited my example photographer (above) website and she has a picture of her camera and lens that she uses, does anyone know what gear she is using? I just saw and was curious )

http://www11.pic-upload.de/23.12.14/n1prraw2goj.png

Hasselblad; I think an H4D and 80mm 2.8, but I'm not 100% sure. In other words about $10-12,000 in gear.

 

[MadFlair]

Hasselblad; I think an H4D and 80mm 2.8, but I'm not 100% sure. In other words about $10-12,000 in gear.

Thank you for this!



I did consider if it would be worth to save a bit more and move into this kind of cameras because long term (in two-ish years) the plan was to purchase a medium format camera as this is the way my work is progressing. The only thing that concerned me about MF is how many shots you can take? I know this can be an immature concern but with DSLR there is a certain amount of shots you can take before it might be time to replace the body as I know. For the money, it would be nice to know that even after 10 years the camera will still take shots as good as when new..,now getting off topic in my own thread! :/

 

[curtyoungblood]

By the MKII I meant the 5DMKII or 5Dmark2 (ergo the second one).

Are you sure this is what you meant, because it sounds like you're talking about the 24-70 mark ii in your first post. OP, if this is true, the way to find the lens is to look for a Canon 24-70 2.8 and if it is new, it will be the mark ii.

I'm also not sure we know enough about your shooting style to really recommend a lens for you. After looking at your work and the lenses you have, I'm not sure a 24-70 is the best route for you. If you're used to a 50 and an 85 on your 50D, then to get a similar field of view on a 5D, you'll need a lens in the 80ish and 127ish range. Those both fall outside of the range of the 24-70. We've also recommended a zoom lens, but all you have are primes. Are you in the market for a zoom or a prime?

 

[Overread]

Curt ack you're right I meant the lens not the camera!

 

[MadFlair]

By the MKII I meant the 5DMKII or 5Dmark2 (ergo the second one).

Are you sure this is what you meant, because it sounds like you're talking about the 24-70 mark ii in your first post. OP, if this is true, the way to find the lens is to look for a Canon 24-70 2.8 and if it is new, it will be the mark ii.

I'm also not sure we know enough about your shooting style to really recommend a lens for you. After looking at your work and the lenses you have, I'm not sure a 24-70 is the best route for you. If you're used to a 50 and an 85 on your 50D, then to get a similar field of view on a 5D, you'll need a lens in the 80ish and 127ish range. Those both fall outside of the range of the 24-70. We've also recommended a zoom lens, but all you have are primes. Are you in the market for a zoom or a prime?

Oh ok thank you for the clarification

I'm happy to change my field of view and I was thinking that the 85 (or an 80ish) range is maybe too high. It would be nice to have one lens this option but a 24-70 or something like this will let me be closer to the person I'm shooting and might be helpful too

thank you for your advice!

 

[curtyoungblood]

What aperture do you shoot at most frequently? Do you really need 2.8?

Don't forget that there's more to focal length than just the field of view. Once you get shorter than 50, you start getting distortion effects that will make your models look larger than they are. Fashion photography generally loks a lot better with longer focal lengths. That being said, the best solution for you may be to get the 5d kit with the 24-105 and a couple of fast primes. The canom 85 1.8 is an excellent, inexpensive lens, and that would probably also leave room in your budget for a 35 1.4 (if not, the 35 f2 IS or sigma 34 ART would do). That would make a really nice set of lenses that will give you professional level results. Down the road you may want to add a 70-200 and 24-70 2.8, but those other lenses would still play a role in your kit.

 

[TCampbell]

Also, I have another question again! (sorry!)

I've visited my example photographer (above) website and she has a picture of her camera and lens that she uses, does anyone know what gear she is using? I just saw and was curious )

http://www11.pic-upload.de/23.12.14/n1prraw2goj.png

Hasselblad; I think an H4D and 80mm 2.8, but I'm not 100% sure. In other words about $10-12,000 in gear.

I'm fairly confident it's a Hasselblad. I can't see it well enough to determine which model. But to Tirediron's point... these are _very_ expensive cameras.