Nifty 50 or Shorty 40?
- Thread starter bendobb
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jdramirez said:
I'd actually say 40mm on a full frame, "none of the above" on a crop body. I own the 40mm. On my XTi, I'd describe it as a good portrait lens. I really don't find it to be wide enough to use as a walk-around lens. As always, personal tastes vary.
Just for fun, I used sqlite to dump the focal length of every shot in my Lightroom database, then ran a histogram on the data.
| 10mm | 2406 |
| 11-30mm | 10518 |
| 31-45mm | 2582 |
| 46-60mm | 2376 |
| 61-120mm | 4262 |
| 121-600mm | 2130 |
There are two obvious hot spots around 10mm (2,406 pictures at full wide on my 10–22) and 17mm (4,195 picture at full wide on my 17-85). I took 6,526 pictures in the 16-20mm range. The median is 28mm. The mode is 17mm. Standard deviation is 69.02.
Obviously YMMV. Widely.
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jdramirez said:
Pretty easy, actually, at least on OS X. I have no idea on Windows. Lightroom just uses a SQLite database, so you can run any SQL queries on the thing and get back results. For example:
Code:
# Make a copy of the library just to be extra careful:
cp ~/Pictures/Lightroom/"Lightroom 4 Catalog.lrcat" lr4.sqlite3
# Run a query that dumps the focal length of every shot:
sqlite3 lr4.sqlite3 "select focalLength from AgHarvestedExifMetadata;" > focallengthsI then opened that in TextEdit, copied the resulting file (which contains one length per line), and pasted it into a Numbers spreadsheet. I then sorted the list and deleted everything below 10mm (iPhone pictures), though I really should have limited the query by camera type to begin with, e.g.
Code:
sqlite3 lr4.sqlite3 "select * from AgInternedExifCameraModel;
# Look at the list and create a comma-delimited list of the index number on the left
# end of each interesting row, e.g.:
sqlite3 lr4.sqlite3 "select focalLength from AgHarvestedExifMetadata where cameraModelRef in ('510367', '509132');"Either way, once you have the numbers in a spreadsheet, you can do various sorts of statistics on the list.
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Harley said:
A Canon FD 55 1.2 SSC in good shape plus the mika conversion will amount to close to 500 USD and you have the probability of hitting the mirror in infinity. I have that combo, it does produce a particular look but wide open it is only good for portraiture (lots of aberrations that give a certain surreal look).
In your place and with hindsight experience of buying a bunch of lenses I would advice strongly to save a bit and get the very best first rate lens that you can afford later on. It is not worth spending some cash just because you have a couple hundred dollars to spare and coincidentally the 40 2.8 or the 50 1.8 are in that price range.
My advice to you would definitively be to save a bit and get yourself the Sigma 35 1.4 which used can be a very attractive proposition. The 6D deserves first rate lenses and the 35 1.4 (a top tier 35mm, sharpest of all) will serve you handsomely in moderately wide landscape, general and even portraiture. Not to mention super fast 1.4 aperture that will do wonders in low light with the sigma....
Now, if you really need to chose now between the 40 and the 50 I´d give the 40 a try.
Good luck with the choice!
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A lot of good answers but most of them aren't choosing one of the two options provided. I have both lenses with a 6D and it really depends on what you want to shoot.
These lenses are very similar, in my opinion the only important differences are AF speed and max aperture.
If you are shooting moving subjects in low light, the 50 1.8 will end up being too slow to focus for you. The 40mm will be much faster.
If you are trying to get a shallower DOF, go with the 50 1.8
In all other situations they are pretty well matched.
These lenses are very similar, in my opinion the only important differences are AF speed and max aperture.
If you are shooting moving subjects in low light, the 50 1.8 will end up being too slow to focus for you. The 40mm will be much faster.
If you are trying to get a shallower DOF, go with the 50 1.8
In all other situations they are pretty well matched.
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fegari said:
I went the other way. I would suggest not losing money when you buy and subsequently sell lenses. The best way to do that is to buy a lens when it is on sale (obviously), but even more so, buy used good condition lenses and canon direct refurbs.
So let's say the normal price for a 50mm f/1.4 is a $349. There was a sale price for $285 the other day. Or a canon refurb is $320 but with a 20% discount, it would only be $256 (before tax). It's subsequent resale value is around $300 in really good condition.
So buy the lens, use it for a year or two, and then sell it for what you paid, or maybe for a little bit of a profit.
The key is keeping it in like new condition.
So buy a lens at a good price, and use it for a while and then when you are ready to upgrade, it is almost like you had that money in escrow and you are able to tap into any time you want.
As an FYI, bodies lose their value quickly because they are replaced frequently with better models. Lenses aren't quite that way because even if a better/newer model comes out, it is still cheaper than the newer model which helps keeps its value higher, and more often than not, the older lens is still really good.
3rd party lenses lose value much faster than Canon lenses. They may be good, but the market for Canon lenses is significantly larger than Tokina/Sigma/Tamron/etc.
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kennephoto said:
I HATE seeing the "hold your camera at arms length to take a self portrait photo". Buy a IR wireless shutter release.
http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-RC-4-Wireless-Control-Digital/dp/B0019RGQVU/ref=sr_1_19?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1372620757&sr=1-19&keywords=wireless+shutter+release+canon
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