re: lens ie:50 or 85 mm recommend for canon d20

[geoff_munro]

can anyone let me know of a good lens for a 20d canon around the 50mm

mark around the f1.4fstop range and also an good quality 70-200auto

zoom aroun 2.8f

 

jethro

[basscheffers]

I hate stating the obvious, but what about the Canon 50/1.4 and 70-200/2.8?

 

Sigma makes a 70-200/2.8 too, but no third parties seem interested in making a standard prime.

[godfrey]

I buy only Canon lenses.

<br><br>

Primes:<br>

The Canon 50/1.4 is excellent, one of my favorite lenses. The Canon 85/1.8 is also

excellent, the 85/1.4L is superb. The 100/2 is superb. The 135/2L is also superb.

<br><br>

Zoom: <br>

The Canon 70-200/4L is superb, light and compact. The Canon 70-200/2.8L IS is heavy,

expensive and even better.

<br><br>

Godfrey

[vandit]

Why does my troll alert seem to be going off?

[geoff_munro]

you may be a hobbit or grommet or a dickhead man

[geoff_munro]

thanks godfrey

i have ordered a 50mm 1.4

and a 70-200 2.8f

 

great advice from a professional

 

geoff

[schutze]

I just bought both recently. I bought the 85mm for my Canon 20D because the 1.6 factor makes it a 135mm, which was one of my favorite old film camera lens's.

 

The 85 is an exquisite lens for optics, however, the magnification seemd to be more than my old 135. It's so magnified that I often can't get back far enough to take the photo in a normal room, unless you want everything to be tight cropped head and shoulder shots.

 

The color and clarity are stunning. the shallow depth of field when it's wide open is stunning if you like this effect for your artistic composition, or if you want to isolate people from a crowd and cluttered background. The main limit for me is that this lens is too magnified for general use.

 

So, .. I bought the 50mm 1.4. This is also a very exquisite lens for color, clarity, razor sharp focus and the 1.4 is awesome for low natural light situations or high shutter speeds with lots of light. The 50mm times the 1.6 digital sensor factor makes it a very nice mild telephoto for moving in close without being too close. With my 85, I often find myself moving across the street to capture my shot.

 

Minimum distance is also a factor. The 85mm has a minimum focus distance of about 3 feet ... just beyond an arm's length stretch. The 50mm is functionally about 2 feet. Neither are macros, so for closeups I have to crop in Photoshop. The superb quality and focus does not impede this post process cropping.

 

I like them both, but if I didn't already buy them, I would have bought the 50mm 1.4 only.

 

Since the resale on Ebay seems to be more than the price I can buy them for new, I think I'll use the 85mm for a few months against the 50mm, then decide if I want to sell off the 85mm. I don't want to be a lens collector.

 

I think I may also offload a new 28mm-135mm zoom. I have little interest in shooting for distance, and my "walk around" lens seems to be my 17-40mm zoom. I think I can survive nicely with my 17-40 zoom, the 50mm 1.4 prime and .. ?? maybe one other, but my other lens's seem to be overlaping in function.

 

I'll go to the San Diego zoo and compare my 85mm prime against the 28-135 for distance shooting of wildlife. Primes are so clear and crisp, and they have the advantage of more light. I'm not convinced I want all the extra glass and small F stop of a zoom. Anyway, that's just me.

 

Stan

sschutze@aol.com