Baby on the way - lens help

[milkrocks]

So now all i need is to find someone to lend me their 24-70, 35L, 85L, 100L Macro and 135L.

I really do appreciate all of the advice. I think i'll stick with the 40 pancake and 50 f1.8 to handle their respective focal ranges for now. The 40 is really quiet. I also tend to have the 22 f2 mounted to my EOS M which will make for a decent 35 f2 sollution (and second body).

I think you've talked me out of buying the 50 1.2L at least as an initial purchase. I may rethink the Tamron 24-70 VC vs the 24-105 F4 - this is especially after seeing the actual amount of light transmitted through the Canon (closer to f5). I am very inclined to get the 100L Macro now however. Has anyone used the Non-L 100 Macro in an low light portrait/closeup context? At $500 it would be a less expensive add to the kit.

 

[JohnDizzo15]

So now all i need is to find someone to lend me their 24-70, 35L, 85L, 100L Macro and 135L.

I really do appreciate all of the advice. I think i'll stick with the 40 pancake and 50 f1.8 to handle their respective focal ranges for now. The 40 is really quiet. I also tend to have the 22 f2 mounted to my EOS M which will make for a decent 35 f2 sollution (and second body).

I think you've talked me out of buying the 50 1.2L at least as an initial purchase. I may rethink the Tamron 24-70 VC vs the 24-105 F4 - this is especially after seeing the actual amount of light transmitted through the Canon (closer to f5). I am very inclined to get the 100L Macro now however. Has anyone used the Non-L 100 Macro in an low light portrait/closeup context? At $500 it would be a less expensive add to the kit.

I think you'll be fine with what you've already got.

Re the 50mm, sigma just announced an art version. Might want to wait for reviews on that once it's out.

I had the Non L 100mm and it was optically on par with the L which is what I have now. Only issue I would have is that the L has been as low as 725-750ish in recent months. Not much more than the non L.

RE portrait/close up, if you are going to be indoors a lot with your baby, go with something faster than a 2.8 unless you are planning on having enough light all the time be it natural or artificial.

 

[JohnDizzo15]

Might I also suggest the 35/2 IS? Good for the baby since he/she won't be motoring around or anything. With the 4 stop IS, I've shot handheld at 1/10th. As a plus, it is also great for handheld video. Price tag is 549 which is a bargain in my opinion.

 

[anthonyd]

When my son was about to pop out, I bough a 50 f/1.4 (for him, not for me ). It hasn't let me down, although on my crop body, it is sometimes too long when doing indoors work (which you will be doing a lot with a newborn). For example, it worked nice for the first shot bellow, but for the second I had to switch to a wider lens, although I brought the ladder inside and climbed all the way until my back was pressed against the ceiling!
Based on my experience, I would recommend against the 85 on a FF, but certainly for a 50. Your f/1.8 might work well, but the f/1.4 is not going to break the bank and will improve your depth of field and bokeh.

More importantly though, I would strongly encourage you to invest in some lights, if you don't already have some. I would argue that the difference between nice light and random light is bigger than the difference between the canon 50/1.4 and the otus. At the very least, buy a cheap diffuser/reflector (or a not so expensive and practical one like this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/283648-REG/Impact_CRK_42K_42_5_in_1_Reflector_with.html)
If you don't even want to invest $100 in lights, build yourself a large DIY softbox. The internet is full of advice on how to do that for next to nothing.

 

[neuroanatomist]

More importantly though, I would strongly encourage you to invest in some lights, if you don't already have some.

Excellent advice! The shot I posted above was with a pair of 600EX-RTs, each in a Lastolite 24" Ezybox. Flashes are nice because you control the light and the time. But, if you time it right, a sunlit window (or one flash) and a reflector can give great results.

Be warned - off-camera lighting can be addictive.

Syl Arena's Speedliter's Handbook is a great resource.

 

[IMG_0001]

As the father of a 2 years old boy, I've been shooting both an old film nikon with a 50mm and crop bodies with various lenses. At the hospital and in my appartment, I fond that 50mm on crop (about 85mm on FF) was a good short telephoto for subject isolation and taking pics of the baby in the arms of relatives. However, any longer would have been a problem.

50mm FF was ok, but I'd rather have had a 35mm for more ambiance.

As soon as your kid will walk, I think longer lenses are nice when playing outside. Something in the 135 to 200mm range.

And most importantly, congratulations. Becoming parent is great.

 

[FTb-n]

Neuro and AnthonyD, great shots! Love the blanket peek -- great timing helps when they're awake!

 

[milkrocks]

Anyone have any thoughts on this kit?

6D Body
40 Pancake
50 F1.8
Tamron 24-70 F2.8 VC
Canon 100L Macro
430EX
90EX (for trigger)

 

[IMG_0001]

Anyone have any thoughts on this kit?

6D Body
40 Pancake
50 F1.8
Tamron 24-70 F2.8 VC
Canon 100L Macro
430EX
90EX (for trigger)

Well, I would personally be quite happy with that kit for a while. I would like a shorter prime, but considering the price of the 40, it does not really have any competition. In the long run, you might found yourself lacking in the teles though.

 

[mrzero]

I think your proposed kit sounds good. I would've started with something much like it if I had the cash when my son was born. Don't worry about anything longer than 100mm right now, by the way. It will be a while before the kid will even get far enough away from you to use that. My issue was that my son was constantly crawling AT me when I was shooting, meaning I could never get wide enough (on crop).

Also, think about what you're going to use to hold that 430EXII up off camera. I've been putting mine on an old freebie tripod with a Sto-Fen and that's just not cutting it. My next lighting purchase is going to be a real stand and a box or an umbrella. (Although the Sto-Fen works well when bouncing on-camera).

 

[Oli4]

I would definitly get the 100L macro. Great lens, L quality build and reasonably priced. Plus it wil let you do macro's of your baby foot, hands, face,... Priceless! I have a 5d mkII and a 50mm prime but the day after the birth I went out and got the 100mm L and have not regreted it since then. Took some beautifull macro's of my daughters and some great portrait pictures of my wife (since the 100L is also a great portrait lens!).

Now that my kids are up and running I found my girls always running towards me as soon as I picked up my camera. My girls are always surrounding me at close range. I recently purchased the 16-35L and it has been a delight. It is very handy for "close range" and gives beautifull pictures.

So definitly the 100L to start with, then in a year maybe the 16-35L or the sigma equivalent as it also seems to be a great lens.

regards
Olivier

 

[bholliman]

Anyone have any thoughts on this kit?

6D Body
40 Pancake
50 F1.8
Tamron 24-70 F2.8 VC
Canon 100L Macro
430EX

The 40 and 50mm are really close together. I would suggest going with a 40 pancake or 35mm (the Canon 35 f/2 IS would be my choice) and 85 1.8. Or, maybe just a 50 and the 100L Macro for your primes?

We have a 18-month-old boy and I have used and continue to use my 50mm 1.4 quite a bit for indoor natural light shots of him. While 50mm is still not an ideal portrait lens, its a more flattering focal length than 35mm for head and sholder shots. I don't like to use 35mm for anything tighter than a full body shot personally.

As others have pointed out, little ones change quite a bit over the first few years. I used my 135L quite a bit when our son was young enough to still be immobile, but once he started crawling and walking I had to switch to my 50 1.4 and 24-70mm 2.8 zoom. The 50 1.4 really works well for indoor, natural light pictures as it fast enough to effectively blur busy backgrounds for "at play" shots around the house. Personally, I don't like to use anything wider than 50mm for people shots tighter than full-body.

I've been using my 85mm 1.8 to good effect recently has he is less prone to running straight toward me whenever I enter the room and I can keep enough distance to use this lens effectively. I've also been using the 135 again with some nice results.

Lighting IS huge. You can get some terrific shots in natural window light, but often you will want to take pictures when the ambient light is not ideal. Off camera flash is terrific for those situations.

90EX (for trigger)

I've been using a 90EX as a trigger flash on my 6D for my 430EXII and recent 600EX addition. It works well, but there are limitations. The 90EX's recycle time is very slow, so you will miss shots waiting for it to recover. Also since it doesn't pivot, you can't aim it toward your slave, meaning your slave has to be in front of your camera - in the field covered by the 90EX's flash. With a on-camera trigger that piviots, you can locate you slave beside the camera or even behind (at an angle) as desired.

I still use the 90EX as a trigger some (when I want to use two speedlites off-camera), but recently I've been using the 430EXII more and more as an on-camera trigger and the 600EX off camera as my primary light. The 430EX and 600EX also work well on-camera to bounce flash off walls and the ceiling, somethings the 90EX can't do since its fixed.

I plan to pick up another 600 soon so I have two off-camera speedlite capability with this set-up. Eventually, I want three or four 600EX's to really open up my multiple speedlite options and to use radio wave triggering instead of being somewhat limited by line-of-sight with optical triggering.

 

[neuroanatomist]

...recently I've been using the 430EXII more and more as an on-camera trigger and the 600EX off camera as my primary light.

How are you doing that? I don't believe the 430EX II can be a master. Unless you're attaching an optical slave trigger to your 600...

 

[bholliman]

...recently I've been using the 430EXII more and more as an on-camera trigger and the 600EX off camera as my primary light.

How are you doing that? I don't believe the 430EX II can be a master. Unless you're attaching an optical slave trigger to your 600...

Sorry, I misspoke. I'm using my 600EX to trigger the 430EXII off-camera.

 

[milkrocks]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Sigma 105? While i think i'd rather have the Canon 100 2.8L, the current price on B&H makes the Sigma fairly appealing.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/806377-REG/Sigma_258101_105mm_f_2_8_EX_DG.html

At $642 after rewards, shipping and no tax from B&H it seems like a pretty good deal.

 

[Eldar]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Sigma 105? While i think i'd rather have the Canon 100 2.8L, the current price on B&H makes the Sigma fairly appealing.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/806377-REG/Sigma_258101_105mm_f_2_8_EX_DG.html

At $642 after rewards, shipping and no tax from B&H it seems like a pretty good deal.

I don´t have it myself, but I have tried it. AF was very slow, it has significant vignetting wide open, but sharpness is good. Lenstip reviewed it:
http://www.lenstip.com/index.php?test=obiektywu&test_ob=318

 

[iaind]

Go for the 100L. You will not be disappointed.