Low light Prime lens for APS-C

Justin_Kerby

Justin_Kerby

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Justin
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I have a Canon 600D with a 15-85mm for walk round but don't find this fast enough for kids inside/street photography at nighttime. Think I have decided the 35mmis the way to got for me but just need some advise on the 2 lenses I have filtered my list down to.
Canon 35mm f2.0 IS USM
Canon 35mm f1.4

Will the F2.0 be enough for nighttime low light for inside and on street photos or is the 1.4 (1 stop) really needed. The 1.4 costs so much more, so was hoping the F2.0 with the IS would be enough for my needs?

I have looked at the Sigma's and even tried the 30mm 1.4 art but the 2 copies I have tried have both front focused and their AF in low light was very temperamental.
 
I've got a new art sigma 30mm f/1.4. Maybe you should look into this option too. It's very well built and has a fast focus. I've been considering selling it recently because I wasn't using it much. But used it to do some picture of ebay item at the weekend and last night took it out for some northern light shot. Now I'm thinking I might keep old of it, it's a pretty good lens. I've not got enough experience to tell you how is IQ compare to canon but it's good enough for me.
 
I have tried 2 of these in shop with focus charts and both have front focused and when taken into a low light room had poor performance AF. Think it is a lottery with these, you get a good one and you are laughing.
 
Did you tried the old model or the new "art" one?
I've done a few test on mine and it doesn't seem to have problems. Also if you have front/back focus problem it seems that the new one can be adjusted with a usb dock pretty easily which a shop could probably to for you if you show them that their lens has bad focus.
 
I tried the new ART one in 2 different shops and seemed to have the same issue. Think I have read that Sigma does have some issues with some Canon bodies as they had to reverse engineer the AF as Canon will not release info on it.
 
I absolutely love my 35mm f/2 IS. For me it does a bit of everything. It might be slower than the f/1.4 lenses but for me IS is way more useful on both my 5DMKIII and 650D (especially when it comes to video).
For me not having to shoot everything at f/1.4 in low light means I still have control over DOF. Ok, moving subjects need a faster shutter speed but I tend to shoot more static subjects, and having IS allows me to stop down a bit more than my 50mm f/1.4 would (for example).
It's also much smaller and lighter than the f/1.4 lenses and balances better on the smaller camera.

Although not what this thread is about I'd recommend getting a flash that can be bounced if shooting kids running around indoors. You can get some very natural looking shots and use almost any lens. I used to have the 15-85 and found it very versatile on my 60D, especially with my flash.
 
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dave_bass5, would you say the F2.0 is fast enough to capture people moving in a street at night without blur if I up the ISO to 800 or 1600 or would the 1.4 be the must for that?
 
It would depend on the situation etc but yes, f/2 is fast enough. I got a 100mm f/2 lens for this exact purpose and had no issue with capturing people on the street at night. The only thing I would add is that this was with my 5DMKIII, and higher ISO is a lot cleaner than the 600D.
I also find that when I've been shooting my kids in the past (they don't move so fast now)at home f/1.4 was not ideal, as DOF would be very thin if I was up close to them, this is why I went for a flash, so I could stop down a bit.
 
So, leaning towards a 35mm f2 for street and maybe a flash for inside. Was hoping the F2 would be good enough for inside as find a flash intrusive when out in restaurants.
 
I'd say the 35mm f/2 will be fine for restaurants. Although I've not tried mine yet I have been taking my 40mmm f/2.8 out with me to places like this (and pubs) and it works well, I'd expect the 35mm to do even better.
In these situations there probably isn't a lot of movement, although I do think f/2.8 is a bit too slow to keep the ISO down most of the time.
Also for places like these a smaller lighter lens would be easier to carry IME.
 
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