Upgrading my arsenal...

Hi all,

So I'm looking to buying a new lens sometime near in the future..because I'm going to visit HongKong soon and the lenses there are way cheaper than they are in N.America, especially with no tax at all! Which lens would you recommend that's good at around 500USD price range? I'd prefer a fast prime (f/2.8 or lower) for portraits/street photography/general.

If you could take a glance at my signature, you could see all my lenses..the 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8 are great, but they are 'stolen' from my uncle :P so I'm looking to buy my own portrait lens so I could return them to my uncle ASAP.

-Franco

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by francongphotography

I'd prefer a fast prime (f/2.8 or lower) for portraits/street photography/general.

If you could take a glance at my signature, you could see all my lenses..the 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8 are great, but they are 'stolen' from my uncle :P so I'm looking to buy my own portrait lens so I could return them to my uncle ASAP.

---

Hi Franco,

I believe you can find the answer in your own words. If you like the 85mm view, buy that one. If you like the 50mm view, buy that one or perhaps the f1.4 version? We cannot decide what lens you like the most or what you need for your type of photos. Buying either one of these or perhaps a macro lens are pretty much the only choices for your preferences.
Have fun in Hong Kong,

Jan

Jan,

Yeah, I actually like the 50mm better than the 85mm cuz 85mm on my APSC T2i is way too long for me when doing portraits. I've looked at the 50mm 1.4, but I'd like to see if there are better options. As for macro lens..I'm not too sure about that. but thanks for your opinion!

Franco

Since you're shooting an APC sensor what about the always-highly-recommended 17-55 EF-S lens? It's nearly L-quality IQ (not build), light, and still reasonably fast. It duplicates your 17-40 but it's faster and a bit longer. Perhaps you sell that one if you get a good deal on the 17-55?

To Chad,

Thanks for the suggestion but I think I'm set with my 17-40mm :P I'm looking to upgrading to a new FF body in a near future..so I'll stick with my 17-40mm and the 17-55 is just wayyyyy too expensive for me, even if i sold my 17-40mm!

@Franco I disagree with portraits of women with the 85 vs. 50 mm. In fact, some of my best shots are at 200 mm head-and-shoulders on my T2i. The compression of the facial features is quite noticeable that far away and most women tend to find the results quite flattering. Most guys? ... probably don't care. If you're shooting out-of-doors the narrower field of view of the telephoto also tends to help make the background disappear so the subject pops out of the picture.

Obviously, 200mm is really too long for candid street photography.

Also, I have the 50mm f/1.4 lens and I like it. It doesn't have the sharpness of an 'L' so don't expect to blow up details to 100 pixels on a side. But if you're framing full-sensor shots I highly recommend that lens.

You seem to have answered your own thread Franco, I see your choice as either the Sigma 50/1.4 or the Canon 50/1.4 for the dollars you want to spend.
You could be very adventurous and go for the Zeiss 50/1.4, but you will have to focus manually and save a bit more, but people do that for Zeiss.
Sean loves his Sigma 30/1.4, that would give you a wider perspective, but than you would have a hole in your lens line up, if and when you do the "right thing" by your uncle.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChadS

Obviously, 200mm is really too long for candid street photography.

---

:confused:
I like my 300 for candid street photography.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Steve U

Sean loves his Sigma 30/1.4, that would give you a wider perspective, but than you would have a hole in your lens line up, if and when you do the "right thing" by your uncle.

---

If I could only keep one prime with my crop sensor body, the Sigma would be it. However, as he's migrating to a full-frame body soon, the Sigma would not be a wise choice.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
@Chad: I usually shoot portrait in the really tight spaces and so when i have my 85mm on, I always find myself backing up against the wall...as IQ wise, I'd prefer the 85mm 1.8 for sure! Really sharp lens. So I guess I'm looking at the 30-50mm range on my 550D

@Steve: Yeah probably I should get the 50mm f/1.4, but I always want to look at the 28mm, 30mm, and 35mm..right now I think I'm gonna stick with FF compatible lenses.

@Clemmb: Doesn't using those bazookas make you look creepy? :P

@ Sean: Nice website! And yup, I'd probably go for the 28mm f/1.8, 35mm f/2.0 or 50mm f/1.4 for their FF compatibility.

-Franco

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by francongphotography

@Clemmb: Doesn't using those bazookas make you look creepy? :P

---

Probably, but also a good conversational piece as well:cool:

Dang, if I were to get one of those bazookas, I'm gonna get so attractive and get so many girls! (the glass does everything :D)

Was wondering if you are happy with manual focus lenses? Samyang 35 test results (Photozone) show the resolution across the image to be better than the other offerings at wide open apertures. They also sell for a lot less money. My biggest beef with big aperture primes is the decreasing image quality as you open them up.

@jrw: I'm not too sure about MF lenses... I think I'm too dependent on my Auto focusing right now..I trust the auto focus system more than i trust my MF skills and focusing speed is one thing that I concern about too.

I sold my Zeiss 35 f2 because the MF didn't suit my style, and I wasn't good enough at it. If your subjects are generally static and you have time to use live view, go for it. Otherwise I'd stick to AF lenses.

Yeah that's exactly what i thought too, thekingb.

But here's now a big question...should I get the 28mm f/1.8, 35mm f/2.0, or the 50mm f/1.4? I've heard good things and bad things about them..
For the 28mm, the IQ,sharpness isn't that great
For the 35mm, the sound of focusing is annoying
and for the 50mm, a number of people say the micro motor tends to break really easily and the sharpness isn't quite impressive..

Hopefully someone can confirm with me on these problems of the lenses?
-Franco

My 50 f/1.4 isn't nearly as sharp as my L's but the fast aperture is damned nice. the AF is fast and quiet.