Do any of you have an f/2.8 lens?

[Laura]

I'm just wondering how well they perform indoors with normal indoor light (no flash), and if I could see some indoor/no flash pictures that were taken with a 2.8. I know my f/1.8 did great at those kind of shots, but I'm wondering if stepping up to 2.8 would make much of a difference. I've been really wanting a wide angle zoom that can take indoor photos (to use for weddings, recitals, Disney, and pics of my kids, etc), and it looks like the widest aperture you can get that isn't a fixed focal length is 2.8.

I spent all day yesterday reading reviews on different lenses and this seems to be the pick of the litter: http://www.adorama.com/CA2470AF.html?searchinfo= Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L&item_no=4

Dave, I think that's the same one you suggested to me the other night, isn't it? I couldn't remember for sure. I don't want to shell out so much money for something though if it won't take the indoor/no flash photos that I like. Is the difference between f/1.8 and f/2.8 a big difference?

 

[FrumiousBoojum]

There will be a difference, but shouldn't be too big of a difference, especially if you do some compensation with the ISO of the film and/or the digital camera settings. Just don't expect it to be able to get quite as dark of situations as an f/1.4 lens...

 

[pisco]

If you are looking for a pretty good 2.8 lens without the steep price tag of the 24-70 L you might want to look at the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8. It's less than half the price of the 24-70 and pretty well rated in image quality. Plus it gets you a lot more on the wide end.

Also, I have heard stories of bad copies of the 24-70 floating around out there. I work with a guy who got one that front focused horribly on his 20D. He was pretty dissappointed after having spent so much on the lens.

Edited to add:

www.Sigma4Less.com has the lens for $405. Almost $100 lass the B&H.

 

[Laura]

Derald,

How do you know so darn much?? I feel like you're my own personal photography Jiminy Cricket. You always have the best answers whenever I need advice on a photography purchase. That alternative lens looks great, and definitely more affordable. By cutting the price in half to get that other lens you just shared I might as well buy the f/1.8 50 mm again with the money saved.

So Derald, what do you know about studio/portrait photography?

I'm looking to buy some stuff in that area too (just for my own use for now, not looking to go pro just yet) and am trying to compile of list of necessary equipment.

 

[pisco]

Derald,

How do you know so darn much?? I feel like you're my own personal photography Jiminy Cricket. You always have the best answers whenever I need advice on a photography purchase. That alternative lens looks great, and definitely more affordable. By cutting the price in half to get that other lens you just shared I might as well buy the f/1.8 50 mm again with the money saved.

So Derald, what do you know about studio/portrait photography?

I'm looking to buy some stuff in that area too (just for my own use for now, not looking to go pro just yet) and am trying to compile of list of necessary equipment.

I just seem to be eternally lens shopping so I guess that's how I know so much about what's out there. I'm gald my indecision is helping you out. :hammer:

I am (impatiently) waiting for my new Canon 70-300 IS to show up. Hopefully tomorrow. I was split between getting that and the Sigma I pointed out to you but decided to go with the Canon lens while the rebates are still in effect. Maybe I can grab the Sigma to replace my kit lens after Xmas.

I don't really know too much about portrait/studio photography. I think the best place I have seen to talk to some really talented folks is the forums over at www.fredmiranda.com. Christina and DaschundWoof are particularly talanted and seem very willing to help out beginners.

You might also want to check out http://www.webphotoschool.com. It's is owned by Photoflex so it is basically viral marketing for their studio lighting products. But the lessons seem pretty good and Photoflex does have some decently priced kits for doing portraits.

Are you planning on expanding your business to include portrait photography?

 

[Laura]

Ok well I'll give you a rundown of the "5 year plan". This is not set in stone or anything, but just an overall vision of what I'd like to do in the future.

Right now I make photo greeting cards for a living. I'm good at it, and make enough money doing it to go to Disney often which is all that matters LOL. (Husband's income pays the bills).

I have currently photographed 1 wedding using just that f/1.8 50mm lens and I think it turned out well and the bride (my husband's sister) and groom and everyone else loved the photos and still go on and on about it. My own sister is getting married in June and I'll be photographing her wedding as well. I also have a friend of a friend who is getting married around the same time and I offered to shoot their wedding for practically free if they'll have me. So by then I'd have a portfolio of 3 weddings under my belt, so I could essentially start up a "wedding photography" business if I wanted to. Well, one area I'm lacking experience in is posing and portrait lighting for formal photos, which is something that I think every wedding photographer should have some knowledge in. So I'd like to buy a basic studio kit and get some practice with it. So that by mid 2007 I could start up a wedding photography business. With the profit from that I could convert one of the rooms in my house into a small home portrait studio. It's the ideal room - very narrow and long with super high ceilings. It's basically a bonus room (which used to be a garage back in the day long before we bought the house), and we are just using it as a second living room right now. I have web design experience as well as search engine optimization experience so I already have that aspect of starting a business going for me. Then you throw in the fact that I make photo greeting cards and do photo retouching for a living right now - that just tops it off.

So essentially 3-5 years from now I'd like to have my own studio in that extra room downstairs and do that all day while my kids are in school. I think it would be the perfect job. That's the vision in my head now anyway.

 

[pisco]

Sounds like a solid plan to me. It seems to me from what I have seen from a number of portrait and wedding photographers that you are going to need a good low light prime lens. Without going the L route the most popular and well liked is the Canon 85 1.8. It allows for some really great low light and extremely shallow depth of field portait shots.

So are you still doing web design or are you just focused on the greeting cards? I am a web developer myself but am not self employed. I'm just not a good enough salesman to build my own business.

 

[Laura]

Man I wish there was a way you could just borrow lenses for a day (like a library) and test them out before purchasing. So if you were me, you would buy both the 18-50 2.8 and the 85 1.8? That sounds like a pretty good pair to me, plus I still have my 75-300 zoom and my 18-55 crap lens that came with the camera. Your advice has never failed me before. I figure I need about 3 grand to get all the stuff on my wish list (1K for lenses, 1.5K for studio equipment, and 500 for props and misc stuff).

I don't advertise that I do web design (I really dislike doing it LOL), but I do continue to maintain the sites I was hired for in the beginning, and if someone approaches me with a wreck of a site sometimes I'll help them out with a simple design if I'm not too busy. I actually hired a friend of mine to do the web design for my greeting card site because I got sick of staring at my own designs LOL. I mainly just do the greeting cards now, as well as random photo retouching and enhancements on a case by case basis.

 

[pisco]

Many photography shop will rent lenses, particularly the more expensive ones (like L lenses). They will typically also allow you to test out a lens on your camera that you are interested in buying.

As far as aving both the 18-50 2.8 and the 85 1.8 I would point you back to the Fred Miranda site again. They actually have a forum dedicated to wedding photography so you can find out what working pros are using. They seem like a very friendly and helpful group over there.

Here is a set up from one of the pros shooting with a Canon camera:
[FONT=Geneva, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
1Ds mark II
24mm 1.4L, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.2L
200mm 1.8L
16-35mm 2.8L[/FONT]

 

[Laura]

Wow I'm not even going to look up the prices on those lens. Sounds like about 10 grand in lenses!

I bookmarked Fred. Thanks!

There are absolutely NO photography shops anywhere around here (that I know of). It drives me nuts. I have to order everything online or get it at Best Buy.

 

[pisco]

That's too bad that you don't have any decent shops around. We at least have Mike's Camera out here. Though I still wind up ordering most everything online since the prices are cheaper.

I didn't think you would be too interested in trying to get all of those lenses. I just thought it might give you a good idea of the focal lengths an experienced wedding shooter is trying to cover.

No reason to make that kind of an invesment until the business is paying for it.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Uhhhh If you shot nikon, i'd let you borrow mine to play with.... LOL

 

[Laura]

Uhhhh If you shot nikon, i'd let you borrow mine to play with.... LOL

Hey I'll be down in Disney again in a couple weeks, I could always hunt you down and demand that you let me play with your equipment. :lookaroun Wow that sounds bad. :lol:

 

[dizneykev]

Hey I'll be down in Disney again in a couple weeks, I could always hunt you down and demand that you let me play with your equipment. :lookaroun Wow that sounds bad. :lol:

Wow, I'm tempted to buy a few lenses just to take you up on the offer. :kiss:


Sorry, my bad side just couldn't resist. :fork:


As a side note, I have been following your picture threads in the past and also following your avatar changes the last couple of weeks. You are certainly very talented in your profession. I would love to take a look at your website to see more of your work. perhaps you could share that with us.


Dizneykev

 

[Laura]

Oh thanks Dizneykev. I wouldn't consider myself any sort of great photographer right now - but I'm learning. Occassionally I'll get a good shot. The only profession I have right now is making photo greeting cards, my website is www.photogreetingsgalore.com. And then my family website with all my thousands of pictures is at andrew-laura.com, but with all the pics I take I think only about 2% are decent. LOL

 

[pisco]

Hey Laura,

I just wanted to tell you that my favorite podcast, Tips From The Top Floor, has an interview with a professional wedding photographer (Scott Robert Lim).

I haven't had a chance to listen yet but typically these interviews are very enlightening.