What lens for indoor work?

[lee_fernandes]

Mainly portraits in varying (mostly mediocre) lighting conditions. I

have the 24-85 now, looking at maybe the 35 1.4L or the 50 1.4. I

have a 10D, so will the 50 not be "wide" enough? Thanks.

 

Lee

[patricks]

well, it depends on how "environmental" you want your portraits to be. i have the 50/1.4 which becomes an excellent short tele portrait lens at 80mm on the 10D, but if you want more space, you definitely need something wider like the 35mm.

[patricks]

Also, the f1.4 comes in very handy for blurring the background, which many times can disturb a portrait (as you are well aware of) but the DoF is also a concern on a 80mm lens.

[cgo]

I'm not sure I'd want to do portraits with a 35mm lens.

 

Play around with your 24-85, set it to 50mm to if 50mm would be OK.

 

Save yourself some money, the 50 f/1.8 is a darn good lens for a fraction of the 1.4 and there isn't much diiference in depth of field.

[josh_thornton]

Don't save yourself the money by getting the 1.8, Do get the 50mm 1.4! Great lens. Worth the extra money for higher quality background blurr, not just the extra portion of a stop, the blurr is smoother, there is a name for that bokuhh or something like that. A 35 won't be as flattering as the 50, but since you're digital either would be ok, most people prefer to have as much of a 'telephoto' look as possible though, so go with the longest lens you can for your environments.

 

Josh

[lu_yin]

What are you shooting? For fully body shot, 35 is probably OK, but will definitely give you weird perspective for torso shots. 24-85 is a good range for portrait shots: 24 is wide enough to have full boxy shots, and 85 is long enough for tight face shots. If you have curtain available, you should be able to shoot with it at f/8 as background blurring is not needed.

 

35/1.4 is not going to blur the background: its hyperfocal distance is only a few feets. 50/1.4 and 50/1.8 are pretty close in terms of sharpness, but 50/1.8 has really ugly bokeh. For your application, a 24-70/2.8 (or 28-70/2.8) is probably the best, although a little more expensive.

[gerry_szarek]

Remember it's a crop factor not an extender. Their still is distortion from a 35mm lens, I would go for the 50F1.4 .

 

If you need to do group shots you still have your zoom.

 

GS

[brian_potts]

What are you taking pictures of? Typically, the 35 would not be considered a standard portrait lens although every rule is made to be broken -- I just wouldn't want to all the time. I typically use either the 50 f/1.4 or 85 f/1.8. Both of these are good lenses for available light and neither is too expensive.

[yakim_peled1]

As you have the 24-85, you have both 35mm and 50mm focal lengths, as well as 24mm and 85mm. Play with it and see which focal length works best for you.

 

Happy shooting ,

Yakim.

[matan_levinson1]

lee, although the lense's angle of view is "getting narrower" on a digital body, the DOF is still the same. so if you put a 35mm lens on a 10D, you get the angle of view of a 56mm lens, but with the DOF of a 35mm...and a 35mm lens has a large DOF.

 

matan

[olivier_de_lame]

Hi,

 

Although I do not have the 50mm 1.4, I would second the opinion "Don't save the money...": for portrait you need a fast AF, and the 50mm 1.8 micromotor is too slow.

 

Regards,

 

Olivier