Kit with oy primes

[felix1231]

Hi everyone. I have a passion for photography that I want to eventually develop into a side business. For the time being I want to focus primarily on family portraits,kids, maternity and eventually weddings. I currently have a t3i but will go FF within a year or so. My question is how practical is it to have a kit with just prime lenses for that type of work. And what recommendations on specific lenses. My next purchase is a 85mm 1.8 and I'm not sure where else from there.

A little background. The reason for only wanting primes is nerve damage to my left arm that makes quick and accurate zooming and focusing difficult,especially on l lenses with narrow zoom barrels. Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[sandymandy]

Some wideangle might be useful for group shots 35mm 1.4 or 24mm 1.4 would be my choice. 135mm 2.0 is useful for headshots. Add 50mm maybe for body shots. all on ff.

primes only sure work. make sure u get a second body for backup plus flashes and so on.

 

[bholliman]

You will be fine with a kit of only primes. You may need to need to move quickly at times and get good a quick lens changes at events or for kids that are moving quickly, but generally speaking primes are great for the type of photography you describe.

The 85 1.8 lens is great for portraits and general use on a crop body, but at the long end for indoor use (136mm FF equivalent).

I suggest a 35mm (Sigma 1.4 or Canon 35L) or Canon 40mm pancake to use as your normal lens. I love my 50mm 1.4 lens on my full frame 6D, but think you would be happier with a 35 or 40 on T3i.

The Canon 24mm 2.8 IS would be my other recommendation at the wider end. Unfortunately, 24mm isn't that wide on a T2i, but Canons wider primes are either poor (20mm) or specialty lenses, not necessarily useful for general purpose shooting (15mm Fisheye and 17mm TS-E).

At the longer end, the 135L is one of Canons very best lenses. It has awesome sharpness and color rendition. Pictures with this lens just look different/better. Not sure why, but they do. The 135L will be pretty long on your T2i, so if you don't think you will need 200mm equivalent now, you could hold off on this purchase until after you move up to a FF body.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Hi everyone. I have a passion for photography that I want to eventually develop into a side business. For the time being I want to focus primarily on family portraits,kids, maternity and eventually weddings. I currently have a t3i but will go FF within a year or so. My question is how practical is it to have a kit with just prime lenses for that type of work. And what recommendations on specific lenses. My next purchase is a 85mm 1.8 and I'm not sure where else from there.

A little background. The reason for only wanting primes is nerve damage to my left arm that makes quick and accurate zooming and focusing difficult,especially on l lenses with narrow zoom barrels. Any suggestions would be appreciated

I have nerve damage in both hands. I've been using mostly primes, but changing a lens is difficult, and I tend to drop things, so I've bought some zooms.

Only you know if changing a lens frequently is easier on your hand than zooming. I'm left handed, so changing a lens with my right isn't easy.