40mm 2.8 pancake or 85 1.8 for travel

[david_mcewan]

<p>In a few weeks time I'll be travelling to London for a short business trip.<br>

I'll be taking my 5D MK11, and it was my intention to take just one prime lens, a 40mm 2.8, as I have found it to be useful in the past. It is very sharp wide open and being so small the MK11 becomes much easier to use in crowded situations.<br>

However, a friend has returned from a similar trip but using an 85mm f1.8. His results are excellent.<br>

I am finding it difficult now to decide which one to take, and I can take only one.<br>

Has anyone had experience with either lens in a city such as London during winter?</p>

 

[robert_turner5]

<p>Isn't the obvious answer "both"? ;-)</p>

<p> </p>

[james_elwing]

<p>If I only intended to take one lens, I don't think I would be taking a great lump of a digital SLR. With the larger lens, around 1.4 kg. , I think. Not a problem for the young and sturdy, but I would take a Leica M digital with 50mm lens, but then I couldn't stop myself carrying another lens in my pocket :-)<br>

If it's because you want to simply concentrate on one focal length, go with the 85, as you can get more out of focus backgrounds. If I have a complaint about the 40, it is only that it is too much of a pan focus lens; everything tends to be sharp, like with a point and shoot compact.</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>While I personally wouldn't NOT take the 40/2.8, since it's about as deep as my wallet, and can fit ....<em>anywhere</em>... </p>

<p>If you want to only take 1 lens (I don't understand in this case), it depends on what/how you want to shoot. If you want single subject images, or specifically focused ones, than the 85/1.8 is the obvious answer, but the lens will be useless (well not useless, but considerably worse) for capturing a scene, or getting complicated images with several layers of interest. You are who is trying to shoot, so you would be the best to answer that question.</p>

<p>Personally, I'd do both. You don't need to carry a camera bag either for that kit, just a cargo pocket.</p>

[dcstep]

<p>I use the 24-105mm, but if restricted to one lens, it'd probably be the 40mm pancake or the L-series 50mm, for use on a full-frame body.</p>

[steve_dunn2]

<p>Given the choice of only taking one of those two lenses, I'd take the 40. If you have the 40 and you need the 85, you can always crop; you lose pixels but you still get the shot. If you have the 85 and you need the 40, you don't get the shot.</p>

[ed_avis2]

<p>My subjective experience with these two has been that the 85mm is a good lens but the contrast is a little lower and the colours a little bit muted compared to the 'pop' of the 40mm. For all that these can be adjusted in post-processing, on overcast days I would like all the help I can get from the lens.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<blockquote>

<p>..a similar trip but using an 85mm f1.8. His results are excellent.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>But is his shooting style and photography approach anything like yours? What focal length usually works best for you in an urban environment? That's the lens to bring.<br>

What works perfectly for others doesn't necessarily work for you. It's about choosing the tool that works for (and with) you. If this is a trip you're not likely to make again any time soon, I wouldn't waste the oppurtunity by bringing a single prime with a focal length that I do not use frequently - too much risk of remorse and not getting the shots I'd have in mind. If you know the city well enough, trying something different might be fun and a good exercise, though. So - hard for any of us to tell what you should do, really.<br>

Tiny as that pancake is, I'm struggling to see, though, why you would not bring the 40mm, alongside something else. The obvious answer is both.</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>40mm without question if you can only bring one lens.</p>

[steven_clark]

Bring both, stick one in a sweatshirt

pocket. Why even have an SLR of any

type with only one lens? Yes I

sometimes single-lens my EOS-M, but

that's because I can fit it into my

pocket with the pancake on.

[richard_markus]

<p>You indicated: "I'll be travelling to London for a short business trip". Although have not provided information on what you are planning the visit / photograph. I will make the assumption you will be in the core downtown area of London and are planning to photograph historic and primarily architectural sights, and not people. Correct me it this is the incorrect assumption.<br>

The two lenses you described are quite different. The 85mm is an excellent portrait lens and surprisingly sharp, as well as good for low light. It is relatively small and light. It is not a lens I would use to photograph monuments and architecture where I want to capture large structures in tight shooting locations. The 40mm is very light, small and a solid performer in good light situations. It will be good for photographing monuments and architecture in tight shooting situations where you can not step back a distance. I would not bring both lenses for a relatively short trip.<br>

You posed the question with the limitations of one of the two lenses. If I were visiting London for just a few days on a business trip I would bring my 14mm Samyung and 35mm Canon IS for my full frame digital 6D or simply my Fuji x100T with a 35mm equivalent fixed lens. I would bring along a sling to relieve the weight on my neck and provide security from thieves.<br>

Cheers.</p>

<p align="left"> </p>

[david_mcewan]

<p>Thanks to all who have replied to my query.<br>

It is quite some years since I have been to London and never in winter, so I thought my full frame with its iso range, far better than any other body I have, would cover the 2.8 limitation of the 40mm in poor light.<br>

Also, with the 40mm mounted, the Mk 11 seems to have the ease of use of a point and press.<br>

It was only after I saw the results from the 85mm that I began to consider it. In my mind I sought to justify its use by wondering whether the extra stops would outweigh its additional size and weight. <br>

Given how tight my schedule will be, I've decided to go with convenience of the 40mm. </p>

<p> </p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>Good choice. I love the 40mm.</p>

[dcstep]

<p>I also agree with your choice. If you have more time on a future trip, consider a zoom. If that's too bulky for you and you're not planning to do prints over 20x30", then consider something like a G16. Those are excellent cameras, with a 24-105mm (equivalent) built in and no trouble to pack and carry.</p>

<p>Like someone else said, if you're going to limit yourself to a single 40mm lens, then why are you using a 5D MkII? The only good reason that I know is that you might make some large prints in the future. If that's the case, then get used to carrying a more complete kit.</p>

[david_mcewan]

<p>Just to answer some of the points raised, in no particular order: over the years I have accumulated quite a number of prime and zoom lenses. I have sold my ef-s bodies and lenses and stayed with the "normal" focal length lenses for full frame as I find composition easier - probably embedded in my mind from years of using film cameras.<br /> I fully realise the problems in lugging the Mk11 around but I do so because it has a viewfinder. I live in Australia and for most of the year - certainly now because it is summer - the brightness of light is such that I find any camera which relies on an LCD screen for framing is frustrating to use because in almost every case the screen just blacks out. For people living in the United States, think of the light in Arizona in summer.<br /> The only camera I own which is not full frame is a Canon Ixus 850 IS with a 28-105 lens. I have not upgraded it because it has a somewhat primitive viewfinder which can be used in an emergency when the LCD screen blacks out. I had thought of taking this camera but it does not go beyond 400 iso and is fully automatic.<br /> So I am left with the Mk11 and the 40mm. I am restricted to one lens because of other non photographic luggage I am taking.<br>

<br /> Once again, many thanks for the replies to my query.</p>

<p> </p>

[james_elwing]

<p>Lots of folk apparently get lumpy hooded magnifiers for their LCD screens to get over the bright light problem. I value an optical viewfinder, so fair enough.<br>

Even London can be startlingly bright in clear weather. Have a good trip. </p>