Camera/lens advice

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zoeheatherington

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Zoe Heatherington
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Hi all - I have a few camera related questions I would love some advice on...

I am hoping to take the leap into professional photography in the near future(talk about a STEEP learning curve) and need to build up my equipment. My hope is to primarily focus on portraits. I don't have too much money to spend at the moment, but also would like decent equipment that will "do the trick" (ie: produce professional portraits). Currently I am using a Canon Eos 350d. It's fine for now, but I know there is so much better out there.

My questions are:
1) Do I buy a decent lens for the Canon to use with my current Eos and can also be used with a better Canon in the future or do I switch to Nikon?

2) If I stick with Canon, what is a good "all arounder" lens to buy now?

3) Which Canon would I be wanting to "aspire" towards?

4) Canon or Nikon???

Thank you so much for any advice, much appreciated!!
 
If you already have canon, may as well stick with it. All the EOS lenses are interchangeable except EFS, which only go on crop bodies (i.e. all except the 5D and the 1D).

Portraits usually need 85..200mm focal length in 35mm terms and a big aperature, f2.8 or bigger.

You could try a 50mm f/1.8 for about £55, next the 85mm f/1.8, £250. I've had great results with the 135mm f/2.8 (with adjustable soft focus) which I think is under-rated and good value at about £150.

Hope that helps.
 
1) Do I buy a decent lens for the Canon to use with my current Eos and can also be used with a better Canon in the future or do I switch to Nikon?
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A good lens for portraits (from what I have read, I am not a protrait man myself) is the nifty fifty; very sharp.
Remember any lens with EF as the prefix will fit your 350D/400D and 40D if you upgrade.

2) If I stick with Canon, what is a good "all arounder" lens to buy now?
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A good 'all rounder' would be something like a Canon 18-85mm... Maybe a 17-50L if you have the extra cash. Depends if you want the power at the tele end. There's almost endless options to suite your style.

3) Which Canon would I be wanting to "aspire" towards?
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The sky's the limit!

4) Canon or Nikon???
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Hit the dirt, incoming... As you can imagine this is a question without a definitive answer yet has been debated since the beginning of time itself :LOL:

I'm not as experienced as most of the guys on here so I'm sure someone will be able to offer more in depth advice. At least this is a start (y)
 
I don't know if I want to switch from Canon at all - but I hear so many people rave about the Nikon - personally I'm happy with the Canon, but if I invest in lenses, I want to know I am going to be happy with it long term - especially if I upgrade in the near future....oh, so many decisions...

Thanks so far for the sound advice...
 
If you're happy with Canon then stay with Canon, both camps have their fans and their detractors,by all means try a Nikon and see if it feels better to use, but really there is nothing between the brands.
 
If you are use to Canon then stay with it. As mentioned above there are arguement for either Canon or Nikon.
If lens is the route you wush to go then look at a Sigma 17-70 DC Macro. It is cheaper than a Canon, and the glass I think is good quality. It is much better than using the kit lens any day.
 
this thread might be useful to you in helping you think about what canon lenses to get if your looking to upgrade in the near future:)
 
ok, here's my tupence fwiw.....

first off, good luck in turning pro! it's gonna be a steep curve as you've worked out, so get as many books on it as you can, source info from the net, and try and learn from a pro if there's one near you willing to help you out. i'm guessing you have a lot to learn from what you've asked.

1) Do I buy a decent lens for the Canon to use with my current Eos and can also be used with a better Canon in the future or do I switch to Nikon?

i'd say if you are used to canon, stick with canon.

2) If I stick with Canon, what is a good "all arounder" lens to buy now?

depends on budget i guess. if it's portraits you want to concentrate on, then i'd say you want to be sticking to primes for sharpness and lenses that have focal lengths of 70mm - 200mm or more in terms of 35mm equivalent. you really want a longer focal length so you aren't distorting people's features with wide lenses.

faster lenses are handy if you wish to blur the background. f2.8 or less. another reason for going for the primes is you'll typically get a faster lens. however, a lot of portraits are shot between f8 and f11 so it's not vital to have super fast lenses.

ideal portrait lenses would maybe be 85mm L, 135mm L, 200mmL but the non L 85mm and the 50mm f1.4 or f1.8 would do a decent job on a budget.

3) Which Canon would I be wanting to "aspire" towards?

5D's are great for portraiture, as are 1Ds's. nothing wrong with the lesser models either with a good lens on the front. however, as important as the body is, i'd place more emphasis on getting decent glass first. bodies deppreciate quickly and get superseded every couple of years. lenses take less of a hit and will transfer from body to body for many many years if you look after them.

4) Canon or Nikon???

whatever suits your needs best. both systems have their advantages and disadvantages. i'm a canon guy, but there's aspects to the nikkon system that i'd love canon to have, but it's simply not viable to change financially.
 
If you already have Canon, stick with it otherwise you will be changing lenses as well.

The body is the least important part of the set up. Your 350 will do fine for a couple of years yet - and if you do decide to upgrade there is only one route to go, and that is for full frame. If you want quality, then just as with film the only way you can get extra quality is to get a BIGGER chip, not more pixels, a bigger sensor. That is why the D3 is such a quantum leap from the D2X. It has the same pixel count, but a bigger sensor.

Go to a medium format chip and the difference is just startling - they show so much detail that for portraits you would be trying to soften them a bit to prevent the pores of the skin making girls look pock marked! Make up then becomes a big part of the picture.

lens wise.....a 50 is OK on the 350 because it becomes an 80 in effect (75 or 80, something like that, close enough). Move up to a 5D (the best move if upgrading - you don't need loads of FPS, just a really good capture) and the 50 lens will be a bit too wide for most jobs. But, it won't cost you much because you will be able to sell it on formuch the same as you bought it for if you get a used one.

However, everyone is talking about lenses......you have some already that will be fine. use the ones between 50 and 150 for standard, general portarits. Get in reasonably close and then f8 will still seperate the face from the background - depth of field is greatly reduced by close subject distance.

The one thing NOBODY has talked abot is LIGHTING. You don't need loads of lenses for portraits - you could get away with 2 primes. An 80mm and a 135mm - maybe a wider one for environmental portraits of folks at work, a 35mm ish, but no wider.

What you do need though is a good lighting set up. THAT is where you should be spending your money.
 
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