35mm Primes

[Bax]

Halp!

I'm a little torn with what to do, so I'm coming to the AP knowledge base for some more opinions.

Back story:
Went to a friends 30th on the weekend, said I'd take my camera and walk around and get some photos. I knew the lighting would be low, so I took my flash and the 50mm f/1.8, I have a 40D.

Needless to say, I was annoyed most of the night, 50mm on a crop sensor is a pain. I had my ISO cranked as well, and I have to say that the noise from the 40D isn't fantastic in the higher ISO's....

Which leads me here:
Sell the 50mm, and get myself a prime at the sub 35mm mark
Perhaps get something along the lines of the 16-35?

Open to more suggestions, I don't think it's time to sell the 40D and go full frame, not yet.

[ElectricImages]

I don't really see the point of selling the 50mm f/1.8. That lens is widely regarded as one of the best value lenses around, and you aren't going to get much for it second hand, as they can be bought for about $100 new. You may as well hold on to it for portrait shooting, as it will be roughly equivalent to an 85mm prime on a crop sensor, which happens to be a very good focal length for portrait shots.

I'd personally sell something else that would actually help bring in the few/several hundred dollars required for a new lens, or else just knuckle down and save hard.

[jjphoto]

Halp!

I'm a little torn with what to do, so I'm coming to the AP knowledge base for some more opinions.

Back story:
Went to a friends 30th on the weekend, said I'd take my camera and walk around and get some photos. I knew the lighting would be low, so I took my flash and the 50mm f/1.8, I have a 40D.

Needless to say, I was annoyed most of the night, 50mm on a crop sensor is a pain. I had my ISO cranked as well, and I have to say that the noise from the 40D isn't fantastic in the higher ISO's....

Which leads me here:
Sell the 50mm, and get myself a prime at the sub 35mm mark
Perhaps get something along the lines of the 16-35?

Open to more suggestions, I don't think it's time to sell the 40D and go full frame, not yet.

When I had a 40D, I sold it a little while ago, I used to use a Leica R 35/1.4 on it. It worked a treat. Not that I'm recommending that specifically, the Leica is a bit esoteric to put it mildly, but the 40D has an excellent focusing screen/viewfinder and there is nothing stopping you using 'Alt' lenses on it, such as Contax, Olympus, Nikon etc. You are not stuck with Canon or Canon mount lenses like Sigma etc. Adapters for Olympus, Nikon, Contax, M42 etc are quite cheap and readily available on Evilbay.

JJ

[Bax]

Thanks - agreed I may as well keep the 50mm prime, it doesn't take up any room. I bought it second hand myself for 90 dollars or so a bit over a year ago, so I'm not really fussed as far as value goes.

But I'll definitely look at primes that will fit.

315 AUD + postage for a Canon 35mm f/2.0 at the moment.

John how much was the Leica lens? I'll get searching, I think even 20mm is sufficient for a generic snapshot lens.

[jjphoto]

...

John how much was the Leica lens? I'll get searching, I think even 20mm is sufficient for a generic snapshot lens.

No, don't go searching for the Leica, they are quite expensive. I think the going rate is $1.5-2K.

Like I said, I wasn't suggesting this particular lens, just pointing out that there are plenty more options than Canon, especially when you have a crop camera like the 40D which actually gives you more flexibility. The Leica lens I mentioned can't be used on my 1ds2 or 5d2 for example.

JJ

[ving]

if you are doingf landscapes then a 50 isnt gunna cut it really. the WA will do great... but! note that its aperture will be smaller than f1.8 and wont work as well in low light conditions more than likely.

[Bax]

You lost me David.

Landscapes I've got the Sigma 10-20. Really just need to get away from the 50mm because as a general lens for taking photos at a party, I had to keep walking 20m back to get everyone in frame, by which point they'd start walking towards me haha

[Bax]

Double Post.

[PH005]

Have a think , and a good look about the net, at one of the 24-70 f2.8's as a general walkabout lens. Will open wide enough for indoors, and zoom in for portraits. I have used my 40D w sigma 24-70 indoors with my 430 EXII just on bounce, and achieved good results. Will even shoot OK without the flash.

[ElectricImages]

Have a think , and a good look about the net, at one of the 24-70 f2.8's as a general walkabout lens. Will open wide enough for indoors, and zoom in for portraits. I have used my 40D w sigma 24-70 indoors with my 430 EXII just on bounce, and achieved good results. Will even shoot OK without the flash.

Wouldn't recommend this lens due to the OP's budget requirements. A 24-70 f/2.8 will be considerably more than the few hundred dollars that they sound comfortable with spending. Also, for less money, they could probably get a 17-55 f/2.8, which would give them equivalent lens speed and wider focal lengths on a crop body.

[Bennymiata]

I needed a wider lens to take groups of products in my small studio, and money was tight, so I bought the Canon 28mm F2.8 from DCW for $300.00.
While there is just a smidgen of CA, if you pixel peep, in very high contrast edges, it takes very good photos with good colour and clarity, and is quite sharp too.

I don't think you'll notice a lot of difference between the 50mm and 35mm, and this is why I went for the 28mm.

While I haven't tried it on people yet, the focal distance seems ideal to use in small rooms.

[ving]

You lost me David.

Landscapes I've got the Sigma 10-20. Really just need to get away from the 50mm because as a general lens for taking photos at a party, I had to keep walking 20m back to get everyone in frame, by which point they'd start walking towards me hahaif the 50 mm is too long you'll want something shorter right? mabe walk around with your siggy? :p

[arubaato]

Crop sensor, bad ISO and slow lens and dim interiors are not good combos. I have a 5D2 and I can tell you that using a 50 1.4 on that in a dim room with a bit of natural light was a struggle! at ISO 3200 I could hardly get 1/50 shutter speed.

If you get the 35 2.0, you can probably get away with shooting at 1/30 handheld. f2 is only slightly slower than f1.8. Compared to shoot the 50 1.8, you can shoot at a slower shutter speed and reduce the ISO, which will help with the grain.

However, the 35 (50 equiv) may not be wide enough to work the room, so you might want to investigate a 28 f1.8, which is slightly more expensive than the 35 f2, but will allow you to shoot wider, and slightly slower shutter speed again to reduce the ISO.

hope that helps.

[arubaato]

sorry I should have taken out "slow lens" because none of these lens referred to above can be called slow.

[Bax]

Thanks everyone.

PH005, thanks for the suggestion - I used to own a 28-75 Tamron, wasn't entirely happy with that focal range - but I am lacking a lot of range since selling it.

Really I've only got 10-20, 50mm, 70-200. So from 20-70 I'm lacking.

At this stage I'm happy with a prime, but the mind boggles. The 35 f/2.0 doesn't seem to have that great reviews - I'm guessing I could drop down to a 28 f/2.8, especially if I'm combining it with a flash. Tough....

Maybe I could save my money for a 24-105 f/4 IS

[Bax]

if the 50 mm is too long you'll want something shorter right? mabe walk around with your siggy? :p

In hindsight it probably would have been better, I could have made it work, I just wanted the 50 to help with some background blur.



...........hope that helps.

Indeed it does, some thinking to do.

[tmd77]

tamron 17-50 f2.8

if you "took your flash" i'm assuming you have either a 430 or 530 external flash?

i use my 450d, tammy 17-50 2.8 and 430ex whenever i go to parties. I find it does the trick at 2.8 and the flash eliminates the need for the fast speed. and for sub $400 who can complain?

[mitgonk]

i have the 28mm 1.8 and i like it on my crop sensor. gives almost a normal 50mm FF FOV.

[Bax]

Thanks guys, food for thought. Australian dollar is good, but it still might be worth looking for second hands.

[mistletoe]

Hi.

I have the 35mm f2.0 and use it on my 450d as a 50mm equivolent. Its a noisy little bugger when it focuses, but it is very sharp. Its small and lite too which is great. I have to say I like the combination for that reason alone. Its a good lens, not brilliant, not world class, but good.

But, if you are having to use high ISOs and are not that happy about the noise your getting then you'ld probably want to go bigger than f2.0 wouldn't you?

plus, if you're into your background blur (bokeh?) then the 35mm is ok, but it doesn't have the creamy blur the sigma 50 1.4 has; but it betters the 50mm 1.8 I think. Theres the 35mm 1.4 L series lens too, but its a little pricey.

[andylo]

Sigma 30mm f/1.4. Pretty good lens!

[Rosh]

Agree with andylo. I have the sigma 30mm f1.4. Fantastic lens. Suits my style of photography. I found my 50mm to hard to shoot with at parties or functions. But the 30mm is great.

[nhutty]

from all the reading and reviews it seems the sigma 30mm 1.4 is a great lens. I've read some have focusing issues but it doesn't seem that common.

might go out and grab one!

[andylo]

from all the reading and reviews it seems the sigma 30mm 1.4 is a great lens. I've read some have focusing issues but it doesn't seem that common.

might go out and grab one!


Mate, between myself and my friends who use Canon - we gone thru about 6 copies of 30 1.4 and 50 1.4 from the shop (which they almost hate us now)

I picked the 50mm and the other 2 picked 30mm.... we got the sharpest copy (focus manually) we could get, but both of these copy needed to send to CR Kennedy to re-chip to get the AF spot on.

So make sure you buy from a shop that help.

Other than that, it's a great lens!

[pollen]

I'm going to go against the grain and say that getting a fast prime is often a waste of money

That said, corporate and family events were my specialty when I used to do a lot of paid work and my primary lenses were the 35L and 85LII

Even more important than the lens is the way you use your flash

I would happily take indoor photos with a 18-55 IS kit lens on a 40D, with an external flash unit, over using one of my 5D's and a 35 f/1.4L without the flash

Proper flash technique, to get natural looking lighting is essential

Bounce flash all the way!

[nhutty]

So make sure you buy from a shop that help.

Other than that, it's a great lens!

Thanks for the tip, i definitely will be buying the sigma 30mm 1.4 from a local seller just so i can have the peace of mind of getting it adjusted if i needed too. I didn't want to have the hassle of sending it back overseas if i got a dud thats for sure!

[sixfootfour]

Op is talking about framing not lighting technique. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest the 24mm length to use on a crop 40D. I use my 35L on a 5d2 almost exclusively for party/crowd shots and it is perfect. I stand about 1-2 meters from subject. 24 on a 1.6crop = 38mm. Not sure on pricing though.

[pollen]

OP complained about high ISO - with flash ISO noise only becomes an issue for backgrounds as the foreground subjects are generally well exposed to negate the impact of noise right up to ISO 3200 on most cameras including 40D. The 30 f/1.4 siggy will enable higher shutter speeds, but let's not pretend it's fast enough to avoid using high ISO. At typical indoor events ISO 1600 will still be a must so no problem has really been solved

Recently I have been going longer and longer for people shots, and my favourite focal length is 85mm now for groups of 3-4 people at parties. It can be a bit too tight at times, but longer focal lengths give much better background blur and less feature distortion

[Bax]

Sorry Pollen, even though the noise on the 40D is pretty ordinary, my main issue was with framing.

The 50mm was far too close for me. It was for a costume party and if I got in close, the first thing people would ask was, can I get another with the whole costume in please. I was more than happy to oblige, but it just meant walking 10m back to get them in. I'm sure some people thought I'd forgotten about them. Or they'd naturally walk closer as I got further away.

I didn't/ couldn't quite achieve the effect I was going for with the flash, with an extremely dull background and lit people - but didn't play around enough because I didn't have time, essentially set it on ETTL and bounced. I think what I needed was the power turned right down and the shutter dragged out a little more? Either way, I'm still looking for alternatives, even considering selling the 40D. At this time though, the 24-35mm range is definitely winning. Perhaps next time I could just use my 10-20mm at 20mm.

[cadadblog]

+1 for the sigma 30mm f1.4. i reckon most copies out there are not exactly sharp, but a little calibration over at CR kennedy will do you heaps of good :) well, that's provided if you buy one with a local warranty! i'm on my second copy of 30mm. as long as you've got the warranty, i don't think it's gonna be a problem at all :)

[Tannin]

A few random thoughts. 35mm is a sweet length on a crop camera. I use my 35mm Tokina f/2.8 macro quite a bit and it is a lot of fun. (Even better on the 1D III, where it acts like a 30mm lens on crop.) But don't buy that one for what you want. Not thee right answer. F/2.8 is OK - you don't really need faster - but the slow non-USM focus is sub-optimal for that job.

The 40D will do what you need. Not perfect, but not half bad.

You need flash. Really. No, not the dreadful built-in flash, a proper stand-alone unit. There is absolutely no need to have your pictures look "flashed" just because you are using flash. Some very simply bounce techniques will soon have you producing very nice indoor shots with a very natural look.

[jdreamer]

I used to have a 35mm and it was on my 40D all of the time until I sold it to cash some fund for some personal stuff. It was one of my favourite lenses as well!! :th3:

[Arg]

EF 17-55 2.8 IS. Faultless IQ, decent width of angle, and IS a boon in the party atmosphere, I can shoot 1/4s hand held at 17mm, which gathers a fair bit of light at f2.8.