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This lens offers at f1,2 up to f2, the most incredible bokeh but loves natural light and it's complicated to operate, at least with "moving" babies just because the focusing point is very, very little, at least wide open.

I'm not able to upload some shots I took yesterday of my 5 years old daughter (I'm actually at work) but the colors and contrast are great.

Well, it's not an objective point of view...I'm in love with that Kilo of glass and it's also my first prime !!

I'll try to post some shots for you. Once again natural tungsten light, you don't need more with that thing !!

Ludo
graphicaldeb said:
is this my best bet you think???

for speed, and ability to do good portraiture (w sharp eyes) of my
son!???

oh - SO EXCITED!

btw, the photos at http://www.alwphotography.com/index.php are so
amazing. she must do PP because the eyes just POP and that skin is
lucious on those kids. i want to make reuvi's photos like that, boy
do i have a long ways to go!

--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
Click to expand...
 
it all depends on the distance to subject, the 85 1.2 is an amazing lens but with a tiny baby or even an adult to get close enough to get a head and shoulder shot you will start to see noticable distortion and an enlarged nose.

If you are shooting wider than head and shoulder on an adult then should not be a problem, try to keep you physical distance about 7-10 feet and use an appropriate lens, under 5 feet will be very noticable distortion of features.

--
Stephen Eastwood
http://www.nyphotographics.com
 
for the 135? is it impracticle for a baby shoot where i need to be semi-close to the subject?

--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
 
by getting the 135 i'd save enough money to then get the 85 mm lens? sorry, maybe i didn't read your post right... can you please explain?

thank you kindly!
--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
 
i'm normally that far away anyway, sort-of. so you think the 135 is my best bet? or the 85? i'm trying for fixed focal length (i used to have the 70-200 IS for my nikon before i switched to canon, and it was a HUGE lens and very heavy... difficult to do portraits with unless i'm thinking of another one)

--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
 
I took that shot of one friend's baby boy with my 24-70L playing with the DOF. No problem here, he was sleeping.

f2,8 1/40 ISO 400 natural light



But if he moves a lot, to keep his eyes on focus at f1,2 or even 1,4 and take advantage of the fabulous bokeh of this lens, maybe it will take time. That said, you're not forced to stay wide open all the time !!

Ludo
graphicaldeb said:
for taking photos of a baby then??

anxious to see your pictures though!

--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
Click to expand...
 
But portrait lenses come in several different flavours.

As a shoot portraits all day for a loving.. I use the following lenses in the following circumstances.

24-70L - In the studio this is my most used lense. I use it from small groups to individual head and shoulder shots and I use it from F5.6-8. I don't use it at F2.8 expecting good bokeh. Against a good backdrop you don't wnat a defocused background anyway. Lots of my studio work in chromakey and this is the workhorse.. btw - I have the 24-105L and love it.. use it mostly outdoors as a general purpose lense.. but the 24-70 beats it all to hell in the studio. Bokey sucks compared to my other choices.. but who uses bokeh in the studio for most applications..

85mm F1.2L - This is the second lense I use in the studio. Even on a full frame it allows me to get close enough for a single eye if I choose so I'm not sure what the 100mm F2.8 Macro "it lets you get close" talk is all about. Mostly I use the 85mm F1.2L in the studio for head and shoulder shots when I want extreme detaila and I use it in the studio at F4-5.6. Tied for second best bokeh of all Canon lenses.

85mm F1.2L - Outdoors.. Excellent lense.. allows me to get as close as I want, as creamy wonderful bokeh, great colour anc contrast, and still allows me to get close to my subject/model so we can communicate without raising our voices.. Outstanding lense. I mostly use it in the manual focus mode in or out of the studio though. Tied for second best bokeh of all Canon lenses.

135mm F2.0L - Outdoors.. Too long for most studios. This lense has the best overall image quaity this side of the 200mm F1.8L which I used to have.. Wonderful in every aspect of image quality, light, easy to use, also mostly used in manual focus.. but then I like manual focus and when opening up the lense the only way to get perfect focus on the closest eye (this should always be your goal) manual focus rules. You'll need a quality focusing screen for best results and I'd recommend the Brightscreen ProScreen number 5 with the 8x10 guide etchings.. Tired for second best bokeh of all Canon lenses.

200mm F1.8L - Outdoors, though I used it extensively for low light church weddings indoors. The best image quality of any Canon lense in the portrait category bar none. Heavy, tripod required, Wimberly Sidekick recommended. Specialised lense.. results are worth it though for high end clients and assignments. Best Bokeh of all lenses.

300mm F2.8L IS - Outdoors. My favourite sswimsuit model lense. Light enough to to use handheld especially with the IS which is why I used it much more than the 200mm F1.8L.. The character of this lense is outstanding.. Just a hair behind in bokeh quality of the 85mm F1.2L and 134mm F2L.

Honourable mentions: 100mm F2. If you're on a budget you can't beat this lense. Same for the 85mm F1.8.

When it comes to portriats however the lenses aren't as important as the following in the order I'm lsiting..

1. Subject.
2. Subject expression, ease of mind, attitude..
3. Subject posing.
4. Great lighting.
5. Composition.

All five of the above are more important than the lenses I mentioned and I'd rather use the $89 50mm F1.8 with the above five ingredients than the best fo the lenses I mentioned with only four..

One Caveat.. All my choices are based on using a full frame body which is the only way to go for portraits. I never use filters for portraits.

Hope this helps.

BKKSW
 
that's all i've been using - the 24-70L, but people said my stuff looks distorted.

so i think i'm going to splurge with the 1.2L 85mm and see what happens...

thanks SO much for your help!
--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
 
the f1.2, 85mm from b&h, will receive tomorrow or wed. i CAN'T WAIT!!! i'll let you know what i think of it.

thanks for all the help!

;)
--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
 
congrats and have fun with this lens...I was seriously considering it and ended up getting the 135L and 85 f/1.8 instead

but man this is definitely on my dream lens list.
graphicaldeb said:
the f1.2, 85mm from b&h, will receive tomorrow or wed. i CAN'T
WAIT!!! i'll let you know what i think of it.

thanks for all the help!

;)
--
Deborah H. Israeli, MA
New Baby BOY! 10/14/05 Reuvi Asher
http://www.graphicaldeb.com/reuvi
Click to expand...
--
Pak K So

 
I've just used it with an employee's baby visiting her mother at work. I'll post the shots later on on this thread.

Love it badly also because this lens can do miracles when there is no light and guess what...In my company we use ugly low voltage yellowish tungsten ceiling bulbs. Despite that, the shots look terrific and bright. I'll convert and post them in a couple of hours.

You will love this lens, no doubts.

Ludo
 
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