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John down under said:
As someone else suggested, the best bang for buck is the Canon
50/1.8. the 50/1.4 is better build and image quality (at wider
apertures like f/1.8) and still not exceedingly expensive. As
someone else suggested, the 85/1.8 is also worth considering. f/2
would be a whole stop faster than f/2.8, and anything less is even
faster, so you could at least halve the exposure time with one of
those fast primes, all else being equal. Primes aren't as flexible
as zooms (obviously primes don't zoom), but there aren't any zooms
for Canon faster than f/2.8.
Click to expand...
OK.

I feel like I'm learning something and I've bought my reflector, (which is silver. Very impressed. Can't wait to try it on kids this weekend). Now looking at lenses and found the following:
Canon FD SSC 50/1.4 Normal Lens 50mm f/1.4
Would this suit?
Silly question I know, but do all canon lenses fit all canon models?

J
 
Macsimum said:
Macsimum said:
As someone else suggested, the best bang for buck is the Canon
50/1.8. the 50/1.4 is better build and image quality (at wider
apertures like f/1.8) and still not exceedingly expensive. As
someone else suggested, the 85/1.8 is also worth considering. f/2
would be a whole stop faster than f/2.8, and anything less is even
faster, so you could at least halve the exposure time with one of
those fast primes, all else being equal. Primes aren't as flexible
as zooms (obviously primes don't zoom), but there aren't any zooms
for Canon faster than f/2.8.
Click to expand...
OK.
I feel like I'm learning something and I've bought my reflector,
(which is silver. Very impressed. Can't wait to try it on kids this
weekend). Now looking at lenses and found the following:
Canon FD SSC 50/1.4 Normal Lens 50mm f/1.4
Would this suit?
Silly question I know, but do all canon lenses fit all canon models?
Click to expand...
Hi June. Always best to ask if you're not sure.

You will need an EF lens (or EF-S) for your Canon DSLR to make sure it will fit and you get all functions like metering and AF. For the suggested lenses, I should have said EF 50/1.8 (cheapest), EF 50/1.4 (more $, but still reasonable price) or EF 50/1.8 (more $ again, but still good value for money).

Good luck and I hope you enjoy playing around. If you get the urge, I would strongly recommend you get a decent flashgun. The 430EX isn't bad, but the 580EX II is way better, giving you more power if you need it and 1/3 stop output power increments, among other things. Learning how to bounce the flash to blend the light with what's already available can result in pretty good results, even with only one flashgun. If you end up getting a flashgun, I'd recommend you get low discharge rechargeable NiMH AA batteries as others that aren't low discharge can tend to drain too quickly for my liking in between usage, so you have to keep recharging them, which is a pain (for me at least, but then again I have several flashguns and lots of batteries).

--
Cheers from John from Adelaide, South Australia
John Harvey Photography http://johnharvey.com.au
Canon 40D, Canon 20D & Fuji F10
 
ExNihilo said:
The 85mm is just longer - there's less background showed from the
same distance as a 50mm. This also makes the bokeh look a bit better.
Click to expand...
That's a start, but doesn't really cover pros and cons.

The lenses are here.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=152

50 is smaller and lighter and costs less than the 85/1.8, whether 50/1.4 or 50/1.8 II version.

50/1.8 II is very cheap, but is also cheap build quality and lacks USM (fast and quiet AF).

50/1.4 costs more, but is much better build, has USM for better AF speed and provides better bokeh than 50/1.8, but the bokeh may not matter to you.
50 gives you a wider field of view than 85, so you can capture more from closer.

50/1.4 at f/1.4 is obviously faster than 85/1.8 at f/1.8, so you can get shorter exposures for the same conditions and other settings to freeze the action better with the 50/1.5 wide open, even if the 50/1.4 is often a bit soft at f/1.4.

Being shorter, the 50 is less prone to camera shake for the same exposure times as the 85.

If you get a flashgun that supports ETTL II, I don't know whether the 50/1.4 (and 50/1.8) support ETTL II. That's probably less important to you than other considerations.

85/1.8 is a bit bigger and heavier and costs more.

85 is better quality than both 50s, especially 50/1.8, better optics and has USM for fast AF.

85 gives you a narrower field of view, so you may need to back up (if you can), but it also gets you in closer from further away.

At the same f-stop, you need a shorter exposure than with a 50 to keep camera shake under control. Not an issue in good light, but can be in low light.

f/1.8 is not as fast as f/1.4 (with the 50/1.4), but the 85/1.8 is sharper at f/1.8 than the 50/1.4 is at f/1.4, and probably not so different from the 50/1.4 at f/1.8 (although I don't know for sure). 85/1.8 at f/1.8 is sharper than 50/1.8 at f/1.8.

If you get a flashgun that supports ETTL II, I don't know whether the 85/1.8 (and 50/1.8) supports ETTL II. That's probably less important to you than other considerations.

Overall, I think the 50/1.4 is more versatile than the 85/1.8 for normal closer shooting and it costs less too. From further away, the 85/1.8 might make more sense. If you only get one, I'd recommend the 50/1.4 to start with. You can probably find one used for a better price and you can always sell it again if you decide you prefer something different.

--
Cheers from John from Adelaide, South Australia
John Harvey Photography http://johnharvey.com.au
Canon 40D, Canon 20D & Fuji F10
 
Thank you all for your help.

I have bought myself a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens.
Can't wait for it to arrive and try it out. I'll let you know how I get on.

I also bought a silver reflector. Played with it using my 24-70 lens, which I have to say looked awful. Still lots of noise/out of focus etc, but I'm hoping this will change when I get the new lens.

Next, I need to save the pennies and buy that flash, as I think this will make the biggest difference.
Ho, hum, it's all a bottomless pit.

Macsimum
 
To all of you who responded I want to say a big thank you.

I took all your advice on board, I've read the manual – slowly. I bought a 50mm lens with a f1.4 and a reflector. I then went on holiday and shot hundreds of pictures. What a difference, my pictures are sharp or at least most of them.

A real sense of achievement and feel good factor that the items I've bought are not a waste of money.

Regards
J
 
I was in your shoe last summer. This winter, I went and bought some good books where I really learned how to get a proper exposure and other techniques. Then it is to put in practice all this knowledge.

Here are some excellent books:

Byan Peterson, Understanding exposure (This is a must-have-book)

Bryan Peterson, Understanding shutter speed

Rick Sammons, Travel and nature photography

RM
 
Macsimum said:
To all of you who responded I want to say a big thank you.

I took all your advice on board, I've read the manual – slowly. I
bought a 50mm lens with a f1.4 and a reflector. I then went on
holiday and shot hundreds of pictures. What a difference, my pictures
are sharp or at least most of them.

A real sense of achievement and feel good factor that the items I've
bought are not a waste of money.

Regards
J
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback J. It's great to see you were willing and able to apply advice from this thread to help you to produce pleasing results. There's always something mroe to learn and try out.

Any chance of showing us any samples of what you can now achieve, perhaps even comparing with what you could do beforehand? In case you don't know how, post the images in a web gallery that allows public viewing and post the URL in a DPR post.

If you want to display an image in the DPR post, the image needs to be posted in a gallery that allows direct linking, like PBase, Flickr and a bunch of others. In your DPR thread, you then post the image URL with '.jpg' (without the quotes) on the end in the DPR post, the image will be displayed in your post. Before posting, it's a good idea to click on the preview button to make sure the post is going to look right, then edit again if you need to and preview again until you're ready to post.

--
Cheers from John from Adelaide, South Australia
John Harvey Photography http://johnharvey.com.au
Canon 40D, Canon 20D, Fuji F100fd, Fuji F10
 
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