On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 16:42:45 -0700, "Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote/replied to:
>You are probably right and better off with a zoom for informal portraits >unless you take more formal protraits regularly, in which case you may >benefit from a fixed focal length of 85mm (132mm with 1.55x factor of >some DSLRs) and a F1.8 aperture. The reason being with a smaller size >image sensor has considerably more depth of field so your F2.8 is >probably closer to an F4 when used on a DSLR. An F1.8 would be about an >F2.5. >When you do move to something like a EOS1D Mark II then the 85mm becomes >a 110mm, a much better portrait length for portraits. Actually the 50mm >F1.4 would be a great portrait length on a EOS10D. Oboy, too much free time here these days, but it could be the recent lack of any real discussion on the EOS list has prompted me to stir things up here. I kind of picked up the 50 and 85 in fact for portraits and stuff. And I have used them a bit. Lovely to have that bright viewfinder back and roll that wheel all the way over into the 1s woohoo. But when I get back any shots at these immense apertures I'm always so disappointed with my DOF. Like one hair on the eyebrow is really sharp and the rest of the person's face is out of focus. Now, I think more about DOF and use the DOF preview before cranking my aperture to bigger than f5.6 on any lens except maybe the wide angles, but hey, we shoot them at small apertures anyway. I haven't done many portraits lately, but one thing I really hate is moving forward and backward for frames just right. Zooms are great in this respect as the photographer can relax a bit more and frame by twisting a zoom ring. This page illustrates this point: http://jimdavis.oberro.com/Stuff/temp/temp.htm And don't 'cha just hate changing lenses in the middle of a portrait shoot. First you shoot all the close ups with the 85, then change and do the half and full body shots with the 50, yuck! You'd have to schedule the shoot for the lenses. zoom zoom zoom - this L hype is nasty stuff. Now we got 3d imaging going with an L lens :-) Big smiley guys, big smiley... And without a tripod or IS! Damn, I'd love to have a lens that magical. No, wait, my images are always fantastically magical and 3-dimensional now :-) I think primes have had their day. Sweet looking to have around to look at. I'm cashing mine in. I'll let you all know just how magical the new lens is for me. I can always resell for the same price on auction! -- Jim Davis, Nature Photography http://jimdavis.oberro.com/ Standard Poodles for fun BMW motorcycle for pleasure * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
