Large aperture (1.8/1/4)

[matseski]

I will be studying in Germany in the fall for 4 months and want to get a faster lens to help with documenting my travels as castles and cathedrals are not known for their stellar lighting...

I will be shooting on a 50D so crop factor is in effect. I currently have a Tamron 17-50 f2.8, Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS, and Sigma 150 f2.8, so I basically have the whole range from 17-200 covered at f2.8. So I am looking for something on the standard to wide range of things with an aperture f1.8 or faster. I would like to have a lens designed for full frame cameras as my next body will be full frame.

I have a budget of about $500, so all of the Canon L primes are unfortunately out at this time.

My choices seem to be with associated used/best prices:
Canon 50mm f1.4 $320
Canon 28mm f1.8 $400
Sigma 24mm f1.8 $530
Sigma 28mm f1.8 $350
Sigma 50mm f1.4 $500

OR, I could sell my Tamron and get the Tamron or Sigma 17-50 f2.8 with image stabilization.


I have been leaning towards the 50mm options due to their use as a fantastic portrait lens as well and that when not doing touristy things I rarely even have my Tamron on my camera as it is.

Thanks for the input!

[scoundrel1728]

For a "normal" field of view with a crop camera, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 works well; but it is a DX lens, which means it is not intended for a full-frame camera. I have one by the way. I also have the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 sans the Vibration Compensation (VC) feature, which is what Tamron calls its version of IS. I hear that the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 has better optical performance than the Canon 50mm f/1.4, but it is also heavier and more expensive. The Canon 50mm f/1.4 is on my own wish list. I can't verify personally, but I hear that the VC version of the Tamron 17-50 has a simplified optical design that may compromise its optical performance. The VC feature is also of marginal usefulness at best at the wide angle end of the zoom range.

[matseski]

Oh missed that on the Sigma 30mm. Thanks for the heads up.

Looking at my current lens lineup and the fact that I always have a battery grip with 2 batteries, size and weight do not bother me. I much prefer to hold a quality lens in my hand then to be able to swing around a light piece of junk.

[scoundrel1728]

Although the Canon 50mm f/1.4 might not be the best lens in its class, I would hardly call it a piece of junk and it may (or may not) be good enough for your purpose.

[Max@Home]

Although the 50mm is a great portrait (head and shoulders) lens now, on FF it becomes more of a standard/full bodyshot lens. Cathedrals and castles are not only dim, but to capture their 'greatness' a wide(r) angle of view (than a 50mm on a 1.6x cropped body) seems more appropriate.

The Canon EF28mm 1.8 USM is a decent performer (good for the money ) both on cropped and on FF bodies, has USM and FullTimeManual, build is like the 50mm F1.4, but with a metal inner barrel (50mm is aluminum and thin), and a full USM engine (50mm is micro-USM engine), so my vote would be for the 28mm (FoV 44mm) . Also do note that this is an older design lens that can benefit greatly from micro AF adjustment.

...another wild option would be to bring a 1st class compact w/decent WA + IS (G12/G1 X/S95/S100) for the interiors, (less bulk etc, etc,) and save the 40D(50D ? in your signature) for serious outside & macro work, or buy & learn-to-use a small monopod and use the Tamron 17-50F2.8 at a little higher ISO...

...€0.02...

Kindest regards,

Max@Home

[dmthompson]

Originally Posted by matseski

I will be studying in Germany in the fall for 4 months and want to get a faster lens to help with documenting my travels as castles and cathedrals are not known for their stellar lighting...

I will be shooting on a 40D so crop factor is in effect. I currently have a Tamron 17-50 f2.8, Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS, and Sigma 150 f2.8, so I basically have the whole range from 17-200 covered at f2.8. So I am looking for something on the standard to wide range of things with an aperture f1.8 or faster. I would like to have a lens designed for full frame cameras as my next body will be full frame.

I have a budget of about $500, so all of the Canon L primes are unfortunately out at this time.

My choices seem to be with associated used/best prices:
Canon 50mm f1.4 $320
Canon 28mm f1.8 $400
Sigma 24mm f1.8 $530
Sigma 28mm f1.8 $350
Sigma 50mm f1.4 $500

OR, I could sell my Tamron and get the Tamron or Sigma 17-50 f2.8 with image stabilization.


I have been leaning towards the 50mm options due to their use as a fantastic portrait lens as well and that when not doing touristy things I rarely even have my Tamron on my camera as it is.

Thanks for the input!

Sounds like more of a want than a need. There is almost nothing that you are going to shoot that the 2.8 will not do if you just bump the ISO a little bit. I doubt if you will ever notice the difference in the final photograph as viewed on your computer or printed even as large as 11x14. If your work is going to be that critically then you would need "L" series lenses and your $500 is not even going to come close. Stick with what you have and use your $500 for something else because the end result is not going to justify the money spent.

Dwight

[Preeb]

All I can say is for the interior of buildings, wider is better. I know nothing about any of the lenses you have listed from personal experience, so i can't comment on that. I only know that I would miss a lot of shots without my Canon 10-22. It is not the fastest lens around though, so you may have to consider something like the Canon 28 f1.8, then invest in some good panorama stitching software to seamlessly assemble a composite photo.

[matseski]

I did some depth of field calculations:
f1.4/1.8
...........10ft.......20ft.......30ft
17mm: n/a n/a n/a
28mm: 2.65 11.3 27.9
50mm: 0.65 2.61 5.92

f2.8
...........10ft.......20ft.......30ft
17mm: 16.5 infin infin
28mm: 4.33 20.1 61.5
50mm: 1.29 5.29 12.2

f4
...........10ft.......20ft.......30ft
17mm: 43.7 infin infin
28mm: 6.40 36.0 242
50mm: 1.84 7.61 18.0

On average the subject is between 10-30% into the focal zone.

I currently have coverage of the entire 2.8 and 4 charts with my Tamron. I cant afford any <20mm f1.4 lenses at the moment, so looking at the DoF for the 50 and 28mm wide open, the 50 will not prove useful for anything other than interesting perspectives, which while I enjoy, I can easily achieve narrower DoF with my 70-200 f2.8 and at the distances in concern, the 50vs70mm will be a step or difference (DoF at 70mm f2.8 at 10,20,30 ft is basically identical to 50mm f1.4). Also, with 3 stops of IS, the benefit of the 50 is quickly diminishing.


Then the Canon 28mm f1.8 usually gets hammered wide open and the Sigma's optics are nothing remarkable and switching to MF seems to cause nothing but frustration.
I may have to reevaluate this...

I think I am going to look into Gorillapods and see where that takes me. Thanks for the advice!

[scoundrel1728]

I kwas really disappointed in the performance of my GorillaPod dSLR model when used with my 40D and my Tamron 17-554mm f/2.8. It just didn't hold the camera in place when set up for shooting verticals. There is one heavier version than mine but I am not sure I want to risk wasting money on it.

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by matseski

I think I am going to look into Gorillapods and see where that takes me. Thanks for the advice!

I was thinking more in line with this or this, with this on top, & you can buy and add additional plates for the tripod mount rings of your 70-200 L IS and your Sigma 150mmF2.8 Macro

...€0.02...

Kindest regards,

Max@Home