Lens choices

[rosie_featherstone]

<p>My husband bought me a Canon EOS 550D from Jessops for my birthday they were brilliant. I chose a zoom lens and bought a Tamron 18-72 mm then I went to some classes to learn how to work the buttons etc. I was introduced to depth of field and discovered the limitations of my lens; depth of field is hard to manage when taking close up portrait shots and macro shots using a zoom lens!<br /> My dear husband has agreed to give me another lens for Christmas. What do I chose? Do I go for a wide-angle lens? Can I adapt the zoom lens to do portraits and then go for a macro lens?<br /> What do people suggest I do? <br /> Rosie</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>The range on your Tamron covers the traditional 'normal' to 'short telephoto' focal lengths usually liked for portrait work, as well as going to a modest wide angle on your camera body.</p>

<p>Most people actually want less depth of field (DOF) for portrait work - together with pleasingly smooth OOF effects (aka 'bokeh'). Your Tamron will not give you as shallow a depth of field as a faster prime lens will, and one very economical option is to get a EF 50mm f/1.8 (aka, "plastic fantastic") which will be a short tele on your camera for both shallower DOF and low light capabilities.<br /> A nicer 'bokeh' can be found on the faster, but more expensive, EF 50mm f/1.4.</p>

<p>You can get greater DOF by either stopping down the lens (usually requires higher ISO with the risk of more noise) or by going to a wide angle lens. The latter is uncommon for a portrait lens, however, because objects (like the nose) that are closer to the lens are going to seem exaggeratedly large in the resulting image.</p>

<p>I suspect you will do better to keep the lens you have and learn how to use it for portrait work. However, since your spouse is willing to spring for a new lens, look at your overall coverage. Perhaps you would like to have something longer on the telephoto end -- Canon and others make many nice zoom lenses ranging from 70mm-300mm range. Some of them are both good and reasonably affordable.</p>

<p>DOF on any kind of "Macro" work is achievable only by using a support like a tripod and stopping down the lens severely with very low shutter speeds. Real Macro (1:1 image to object) is even harder.</p>

[paddler4]

<p>Are you sure you have the lengths correct? I have never heard of a Tamron 18-72. Maybe sold elsewhere but not here?</p>

<p>On a camera such as yours, the traditional portrait focal length is in the vicinity of 55-60mm, so you have that covered. That length is chosen because at the distances from which portraits are often taken, that length gives a nice perspective. Wide angle lenses are not usually used for portraits because when you get close enough to fill the frame, faces look distorted (big noses, round face).</p>

<p>Although lots of lenses are marked "macro", they are not really macro lenses. Macro lenses are specialty lenses used for very close up work. They are almost always primes (fixed focal length, not zooms). As JDM says, it is hard--probably not the best place to start.</p>

<p>I agree with JDM's advice. I'd work with the zoom more, to learn the basics and to figure out what additional would be best for you.</p>

<p> </p>

[robin_sibson1]

<blockquote>

<p>depth of field is hard to manage</p>

</blockquote>

<p>that's true in plenty of circumstances</p>

<blockquote>

<p>when taking close up portrait shots and macro shots</p>

</blockquote>

<p>and particularly so in those situations</p>

<blockquote>

<p>using a zoom lens!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>but that has nothing at all to do with it.</p>

<p>At any given focal length and aperture, all lenses, prime or zoom, will produce the same depth of field on your camera. What is true is that prime lenses can have wider maximum aperture than zoom lenses, allowing you to reduce depth of field. Whilst this can be relevant for portraiture (and a number of other things), for macro shooting the difficulty is to find enough depth of field, and using a lens with wider maximum aperture than your zoom won't help. If your problem is that you can't get close enough with your zoom lens, that's another issue altogether, and the best solution (at a price) is indeed a macro lens.</p>

<p>It sounds as if either you have been given misleading advice, or you have not quite understood what you have been told. Either way,I agree with other posters that you will understand your own needs better after gaining a bit more experience with your current setup.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Probably the Tamron is a 18-270mm (f/3.5-6.3) - sold quite common bundled with cameras such as the 550D.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Wouter, only the OP can tell us. I assumed it was a 18-55mm or some such. If it's the longer range, then my advice about getting a longer lens is not to the point.</p>

[derek_hofmann]

<p>Rather than taking "close up portrait shots," try stepping back 10 feet or more, zooming in with the lens as needed, and keep the background as far from your subject as possible. It's easier to get good depth of field on your subject this way while keeping the background out of focus.</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>My feeling is that it's the 18-270 also, a simple typo... maybe she could confirm that for us?</p>

<p>That's a great general purpose lens when you have a wide range of focal lengths to cover, and only want to carry one lens (or no bag). To complement it, I would shoot... alot... first. Learn where the camera/lens limits <em>your</em> photography. <br>

I expect you'll find one of two areas lacking with that lens. 1) UWA ultra wide angle 18mm on the crop isn't exactly stunningly wide, 10mm is. If you find yourself always wanting to go wider, then you'd benefit from an UWA crop lens.<br>

2)portraits/ low light capability. The limited aperture range (~f4-5.6 @ common focal ranges for portraiture) will limit both DOF (depth of field) control, and low light capabilities. a 50/1.8 or 1.4 complements the lens nicely.</p>

[damian_tinsley]

<p>Rosie,<br>

you must be nearly as organised as my wife to be thinking about Christmas presents in October. Congrats on that! Simple answer, without breaking the bank is to get the very useful and highly regarded Canon 50mm f1.8. It's cheap but very good indeed. The 50mm focal length on your 550d will be a nice lens for potrait work and the wide f1.8 aperture will let you experiment a bit more with depth of field for portraits. I personally would suggest you don't get the more expensive f1.4 50mm lens whilst learning. <br>

I'm not quite sure which bit you're struggling with on the whole DoF issue but if you explain it here I'm sure a lot of people will be happy to help out. <br>

Happy shooting<br>

Damian</p>

<p>Damian </p>

[User_6667263]

<p>At the end of your post you said, "Can I adapt the zoom lens to do portraits and then go for a macro lens?" Since you are concerned about depth of field you need to read some detailed articles or tutorials about macro photography before you buy a macro lens. As others have pointed out, one way to increase depth of field is to use a smaller aperture. However, as you increase subject magnification depth of field decreases. At 1:1 magnification your depth of field will only be a few millimeters at any reasonable f-stop.</p>

<p>Many of the stunning macro photos that you have seen that appear to have great depth of field are produced by a technique called focus stacking. This is done by mounting the camera on a tripod with a focusing rail, a device that lets you move the camera forward and back in very small increments. The camera is focused on the closest part of the subject and an exposure is made. The camera is then moved forward by slightly less than the depth of field and another exposure is made and so on. The result is a series of images with various parts of the subject in focus. This series of images is processed by special software that combines the images into a single image with all of the subject in focus. The point of this explanation is that there is more to macro photography than just buying a lens that will achieve the desired magnification. Before you buy macro equipment make sure you understand everything that is required to produce the images you want to create.</p>

[ben_pike]

<p>For macro and portraits, the 60mm EFS Macro is hard to beat. Get an external flash too if you can.</p>

[yakim_peled1]

<p>50/1.8 and Raynox 250 are the cheapest way to get you started in shallow DoF and macro. Best of luck.</p>

<p>Happy shooting,<br>

Yakim.</p>