Architecture in London - which lens

F

fridge

Messages
185
Name
fred
Edit My Images
Yes
Well I live in London but never taken architecture photos even though this is one of the types of photography I like the most. So today I'm gonna put that right!

Would rather take one lens on my 1DSmkII but could be tempted to take two! Primarily for architectural shots. Which would you take?

Canon 16-35 f2.8L II
Sigma 50 f1.4
Canon 70-200 f4L IS

Thanks and any advice on locations or what to look for in architecture photos very welcome!
 
I use my 17-40 f/4L and 70-200 f/2.8L in near equal measure round London.

A quick peek at your web site suggests you're more comfy with the wider end [?]

If I had to take just one from your list, I'd possibly take the 16-35. I'm not averse to going out with just a 35 f/2 and doing architecture.
 
Charlatan said:
16-35 is definitely in there, you want as wide as possible.
Click to expand...

Musicman said:
I use my 17-40 f/4L and 70-200 f/2.8L in near equal measure round London.

A quick peek at your web site suggests you're more comfy with the wider end [?]

If I had to take just one from your list, I'd possibly take the 16-35. I'm not averse to going out with just a 35 f/2 and doing architecture.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice, right the 16-35 it is then! And yes, you are right I am FAR more comfortable at the wide end. Although I might take the 70-200 along to pick out details, suppose the f4 version isn't TOO heavy!
 
Would be interested to know if you ever get told not to take photos of any buildings.
 
Jackwow said:
Would be interested to know if you ever get told not to take photos of any buildings.
Click to expand...

I have been stopped on occasion.

A security guard had a go outside 30 St Mary Axe (the Gherkin) about 18 months ago at the height of s44 nonsense. I pointed out I was standing in public space on the pavement and he said he'd be calling the police if I didn't hop it. It was my lunch hour and I did't have time to argue.

I had another security guard tell me I could't take photos of The Shard early on in the construction. His colleague next to him was laughing and telling him he couldn't do that, so he dropped it. I've become a bit if a fixture round the site since and that all know me.

I've been stopped and searched by police while taking a picture of Tower Bridge (!)

Most of the time it's OK, though.
 
Nah,, leave all your lenses at home and buy a tilt and shift lens whilst in london!
 
Musicman said:
I have been stopped on occasion.

A security guard had a go outside 30 St Mary Axe (the Gherkin) about 18 months ago at the height of s44 nonsense. I pointed out I was standing in public space on the pavement and he said he'd be calling the police if I didn't hop it. It was my lunch hour and I did't have time to argue.

I had another security guard tell me I could't take photos of The Shard early on in the construction. His colleague next to him was laughing and telling him he couldn't do that, so he dropped it. I've become a bit if a fixture round the site since and that all know me.

I've been stopped and searched by police while taking a picture of Tower Bridge (!)

Most of the time it's OK, though.
Click to expand...

That is scary stuff, I work next door to the Gherkin (literally, no.10) and there are forever people taking pictures! I maybe understand the shard scenario - they dont want people knowing the supporting structure et al. but even that is a far shot.
Tower Bridge though?! Security gone mad!

Anyway, the matter at hand - I pretty much exclusively use my 24-105 but on the wide end, so wide angle all the way :D Though I am picking up my 70-200 F4 IS Saturday so this opinion is completely up for change after that lol
 
The best:

Canon 17 T/S f4
Canon 24 T/S
Canon 16-35 II
Canon 17-40

or
an Nikon 35 f2.8 PC with EF converter they are cheap.


Lenses win perpective correction are the best choice for arquitecture, plus you can use every lens because they are always manual focus, than does not matter the brand couple. :)

With converter and aperture ring you can use the lenses in every body.
 
gongua said:
The best:

Canon 17 T/S f4
Canon 24 T/S
Canon 16-35 II
Canon 17-40

or
an Nikon 35 f2.8 PC with EF converter they are cheap.


Lenses win perpective correction are the best choice for arquitecture, plus you can use every lens because they are always manual focus, than does not matter the brand couple. :)

With converter and aperture ring you can use the lenses in every body.
Click to expand...

PC is new to me but I have never found that many occasions where I couldn't move my feet to walk to where I wanted. Id find a UWA lens far more useful I think and doubt id use a PC very often at all.

This is of course from someone who had to google the lenses to find out what they were :LOL:
 
gongua said:
Lenses win perpective correction are the best choice for arquitecture
Click to expand...

Shift lenses are very useful, but it's best done in conjunction with a tripod, which I'm kind of getting the impression wouldn't suit the OP's requirements. ;)

This coming from a guy who'll happily use a fisheye for architecture :D


Rogers vs Foster by cybertect, on Flickr


Scoop! by cybertect, on Flickr


Slash by cybertect, on Flickr

[but, yes, I do care about my verticals when I'm not]
 
Last edited:
Really interesting topic and thread this, thanks all..

I've been and twice in the last 5 months, plan on another trip soon, I've used my 24-104mm for the first visit as it allowed me more handheld shots with it's IS. The second I took my 17-40mm get the UWA views, also used a tripod for all shots too, enabling me to take multiple exposures for HDR processing.

Here's a few:

5128414360_58217e7024_z.jpg


5151767071_8f2069bb4b_z.jpg


5199148609_452049d48d_z.jpg


5118169521_90c062cfe2_z.jpg


5003826548_ce7499da62_z.jpg
 
Last edited:
woow very interesting thread indeed...those are amazing shots...i've been saving up for a UWA lensfor architecture shots, was looking forward to get the 10-20sigma but after seeing those fisheyes, i may need to reconsider.

quick questions
1)would the sigma 10mm fisheye be the same as the sigma10-20 plus fisheye effect??in ref to fov etc.

2)anythoughts on the sigma 8-16mm??i've read review but want to get some opinions from tp members especially in architecture photos caterogy rather than landscape..

cheers
 
I'd probably suggest a wide rectilinear lens to begin with. It'll be more useful in a wider variety of situations. I have a 17-40L which gets used a lot more (I'm shooting on full frame, so that's a similar FoV to 10mm on crop).


The Shard: More London Place by cybertect, on Flickr

The Siggy 10-20 seems OK from what I've seen of it, but the Canon 10-22 is in a league above by all reports.

You can get a feel for the different angles of view between the fish and non-fish wides here, but they're not directly comparable because of the differences in rendering.

http://www.16-9.net/lens_tests/fovs.html

Personally, I'm not too fond of adding a 'fisheye' look in PP. If it's just an effect you're after it may work for you.

A fisheye takes a fair bit of effort to control well. The first one I posted (Rogers vs Foster) was partially de-fished using Fisheye Hemi plugin for Photoshop, which, essentially, defishes in one direction only (it sorts out your verticals in landscape orientation).

Here's a couple of other examples done with this plugin. I find it an effective compromise between full on 'fishiness' and retaining the maximum information and quality from the original.


Foster's Roof III by cybertect, on Flickr


Eden Project - The Core by cybertect, on Flickr

The other two were more or less OOC, but very carefully framed so the distortions associated with a fisheye are minimised. It helped enormously with the one of the GLA building that there are so many curves in the shot. Circles tend to be less distorted with a fisheye lens compared to a rectilinear (it's partly why they were invented) but straight lines that don't pass through the centre of the frame get severely bent. Horizon lines really need to go plumb down the middle unless you've a specific effect in mind...


Revolution by cybertect, on Flickr


The Shard: Hoist platform by cybertect, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Take 70-200 to enjoy shooting details of pictures but also to use the compression effect of a telephoto lens to create a different kind of picture.

Take the 16-35 to take more bread and butter pictures.

70-200 is pretty light at the end of the day - don't leave it at home :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top