Lens for interior photos

[StevenCN]

I am very much a beginner, and I have just received my new Pentax K-S2. From reading and seeking advice of others, I have been told that a great lens for indoor photos would be a 35mm f/1.8 (as this is an APS-C sensor).

That sounded reasonable... until I tried to find one for a Pentax. I could have easily found a 35mm f/1.8 for Nikon at a reasonable price... but on Pentax it looks like I am stuck with either a 50mm f/1.8 or a 35mm f/2.8 (again, for not spending too much).

Any idea why Pentax would not make the 35 1.8... or is that not really as great/essential for indoor photography as I had been led to believe?

 

[confyushis]

is that not really as great/essential for indoor photography as I had been led to believe?

different lenses have different focal lengths ... smaller focal lengths (like 10-20mm) allow photographers to take wide shots ... those wide-angle lenses are typically used for wide indoor shots ...

take a look at any photo site, say flickr.com and search for "indoor" ... pick any photo and click the exif to find out what focal length they used ... 18mm? 11mm? 24mm?

you may realize that 35mm or 50mm or longer may not provide a field of view that helps to capture an entire room, if that is what you want ...

hope this helps ...

 

[StevenCN]

I am also concerned about the aperture. Should I really go for 1.8 or faster... or is 2.8 going to work out well enough indoors?

 

[Leonard Migliore]

I am also concerned about the aperture. Should I really go for 1.8 or faster... or is 2.8 going to work out well enough indoors?

Fast lenses are a great annoyance because you get poor depth of field. The best solution for interior photography (like, say, pictures of your children) is flash. Get an accessory flash with a swiveling head that can bounce the light off the ceiling. This will let you use a relatively slow lens, stop action, and get sharp pictures.

If you really want a fast normal lens you can get a 30mm f/1.4 from Sigma. Or even the 18-35 f/1.8 zoom.

 

[RedOctobyr]

How dark is indoors? Is this at noon, next to a window? Or at night, in a dimly-lit church?

I recently bought a new camera, I bought an f2.8 zoom. Then I couldn't pass up a deal on a 25mm f1.7 prime (equivalent to 50mm on full-frame/35mm).

The f1.7 gives me about 1 and 1/3 stops more light. If I needed 1/60 sec at f2.8, I could use roughly 1/160 sec at f1.8.

Does your lens or body have image stabilization? Can you use a tripod in really low-light, if the subject isn't moving? Alternately, you can increase your ISO setting, and be able to use a faster shutter speed, but image quality will be reduced somewhat.

Also, remember that nothing is free in photography With the wider aperture, like f1.8, you let in more light, which is great. But it also reduces your depth of field. Depending on what you're shooting, that might be exactly what you want, or that might be bad. But it's something to consider.

 

[RedOctobyr]

The best solution for interior photography (like, say, pictures of your children) is flash. Get an accessory flash with a swiveling head that can bounce the light off the ceiling. This will let you use a relatively slow lens, stop action, and get sharp pictures.

I'm still just learning too, but this seems like good advice to me, if the situation allows. You can't always use a flash, of course.

But in trying my new gear over the holidays, I started out with the f1.7 prime, and natural light, indoors at night. But I started experiencing the depth of field problem.

So I went back to the f2.8 zoom, for convenience. My camera's included flash can bounce and swivel. Previously, I had played a bit with bouncing it off the ceiling, so I started with that. It was better than with a direct flash, less harsh. But it still looked a bit odd to me sometimes. So I added some white paper, held along the top surface of the flash, with the flash still aimed towards the ceiling.

So the light bounced off the ceiling, lighting things from above, but I also got some light reflected forward off the white paper. This helped light faces "normally", in addition to the top-down lighting.

I liked the results better than when I was using a direct flash. And I could use a smaller aperture, for more depth of field, with a decent ISO, while still getting a quick exposure (kids don't stay still). So at least in this situation, the flash was a nice addition, vs just using a really-wide aperture.

 

[yardcoyote]

Try the 21mm Limited--it offers a classic semi wide angle pov that's great for interiors. Sharp as a tack, too, and extremely small and light. Should be a delight on your lightweight body. Highly recommended. (Hunt up a good secondhand copy of the original, non HD version of you are on a budget.)

 

[NetMage]

For some reason, Nikon is the only major DSLR vendor with an affordable normal for APS-C. I really wish Canon would come out with one and sounds like Pentax needs one as well.

 

[scorrpio]

I personally find that for indoors, the lens I use most is a 17-55 f/2.8 (I believe Pentax got a 16-50 f/2.8)

 

[NetMage]

Like Canon's normal f/2.8's, that is unfortunately an expensive lens, and not an inexpensive indoor solution.

I normally reserve my Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 for indoors as well, but I think the 18-35 is going to be the replacement some day.