Advice on Canon PRIMES

PikkieChick wrote:

Hi everyone - just wanted to let you know (after the fantastic advice from this forum) that I ended up getting the 5d3 + 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM IS + 70-300mm f/4 - 5.6L IS USM + 16-35mm f2.8 Mark II USM and have travelled extensively with the 1st 2 lenses and handled it fine !

I love the sharpness of the 24-70mm and the 70-300mm has been on my camera ALOT ! Even tho the reach for Africa may have been lacking - but thats OK as I knew that would be the case !

In found in Africa I was taking so many close up people shots, esp of the kids....so cute ! Also as I previously mentioned landscapes and architecture are still on my hot list. Im thinking I now need a prime that helps me with sharpness in these situations.

SO Im now looking at some PRIMES after owning my gear for a year. My range of shooting is so big, but considering that I have some good lenses at certain focal lengths Im not sure what to consider.

35/50/85/100/135 - eeek too much to consider ~ Advice would be great.

You've got two active threads on this issue. Might want to delete one of them.

What is it you want to do with the prime that you can't with your zooms? I'm assuming shallower dof?

Anyway, 35mm is a good all round focal length for a prime. Not too long/not too short. 50mm is of course the "normal" focal length--supposedly provides a perspective similar to the human eye. With longer focal lengths, you're starting to get into traditional portrait territory.

With lenses, it's really all about how you plan to use them. Figure out what you most want to do with your new prime, and select an appropriate focal length and max aperture. For example, I like to take indoor head and shoulder shots of my grandkids. And I like shallow dof for these kinds of shots. So I use a Sigma 85 f/1.4 on my 5D3.  The EF 85 f/1.8 would also be good choice for this (or the EF 85 f/1.2 if you can afford it).