Prime. 100mm or 85mm

Gerrard

Gerrard

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Paul
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I'm interested in getting a prime lens and the 100mm and the 85mm seem to be most talked about.
So apart from the obvious which is better or are they about the same and its down to your own choice..

Cheers
 
Hi Chris..

Close ups really I'm dithering on getting a macro but not sure, I have a canon 15-85 which I have been using a lot full out at 85mm with good results (for me anyway) but its still a zoom and I wanted to go prime lens but reading what posters have said the choice seems to be 85 or 100mm.
PS.. I want to do street stuff, I have a 10-20 Sigma, 30mm Sigma prime and I'm going to add a nifty fifty and 85 or 100 to them..
Cheers
 
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Primes are great - I use them myself - but you do lose a bit of versatility, which is something that I would have thought would be an asset with street photography. Would a longer zoom with VR be better ?

With the macro stuff you could try getting a reversing ring for the 15-85. That would give you a good, inexpesive intro and leave the rest of your cash for the VR ;)
 
ChrisGilbert said:
Primes are great - I use them myself - but you do lose a bit of versatility, which is something that I would have thought would be an asset with street photography. Would a longer zoom with VR be better ?

With the macro stuff you could try getting a reversing ring for the 15-85. That would give you a good, inexpesive intro and leave the rest of your cash for the VR ;)
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Chris..

Sorry to sound a bit dim mate but could you explain what the VR is in the zoom.. and what sort of price would you be looking at.. and how does a reversing ring work.

Cheers..
 
Sorry Gerrard - Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilisation. It works well in situations where you have to handhold the camera and where a tripod is impractical. It doesn't come cheap in longer lenses. I've had this lens before and despite the fact that it might be a bit dated now it performed well in the mid-range zoom ...

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-canon-ef-70-300mm-f4-5-6-is-usm-lens/p1010309

A reversing ring screws into your lenses' filter thread and allows you to attach it to the camera back to front. It sounds daft but it turns short focal length lenses into half-decent macro lenses and is a cheap way of working out whether you'll enjoy spending the whopping amount of spondoolicks required to secure the genuine kit :lol:
 
ChrisGilbert said:
Sorry Gerrard - Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilisation. It works well in situations where you have to handhold the camera and where a tripod is impractical. It doesn't come cheap in longer lenses. I've had this lens before and despite the fact that it might be a bit dated now it performed well in the mid-range zoom ...

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-canon-ef-70-300mm-f4-5-6-is-usm-lens/p1010309

A reversing ring screws into your lenses' filter thread and allows you to attach it to the camera back to front. It sounds daft but it turns short focal length lenses into half-decent macro lenses and is a cheap way of working out whether you'll enjoy spending the whopping amount of spondoolicks required to secure the genuine kit :lol:
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Thanks Chris I know the lens you mean now.. :thumbs:
Funny I was looking towards one of these as an alternative.. and the reversing ring looks interesting..

Cheers Paul.
 
Nguss said:
For the sake of 5mm you could also consider the sigma 105mm macro lens. A fine lens whether used as macro or for portraits. It is a bit long though.
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really like mine, really sharp. just a little slow on the focus side - no problem for macro or portraits though.

i may be sticking my neck out a bit here, but i havent heard of many typical sigma problems of sample variation / qc with this lens.
 
I have a 60d and a very similar set of lenses to you. I had the Canon 85mm and sold it for the Canon 100mm macro. I never really got on with the 85mm, the minimum focussing distance used to drive me up the wall.

Also so far I'm enjoying taking macros!
 
Just as an after thought.. A problem I have with my 15-85, its frightened of the dark and its not too cleaver in low light.. where as a prime would be better.
 
Gerrard said:
Just as an after thought.. A problem I have with my 15-85, its frightened of the dark and its not too cleaver in low light.. where as a prime would be better.
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Hmmm, possibly. It's the camera that does the metering but the light does of course come to it via the lens and the more light the better.
 
I've got a "nifty fifty" and find that a little long if using is indoors.

If I'm shooting at a rugby match with my 100-400L, I need good (finger in the air guestimate) 20ft-30ft before I can a whole player in shot.
 
The 100 2.8 macro makes a damn good portrait lens as well as a macro. I've got the L version, but the non L is IIRC the same optically but with no IS. If I'm wrong I'm sure someone will point it out, but they give great IQ and fairly fast AF too.
 
ChrisGilbert said:
Hmmm, possibly. It's the camera that does the metering but the light does of course come to it via the lens and the more light the better.
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As it stands at the moment I use the Sigma 10-20 or my Sigma 30mm for my low light shots.
Light is a big problem over here in Spain, its very bright and glaring in the day time, so your best bet is evening time or mornings shoots..
Even if I stick my camera on Auto the results are not great.. so I need lens that work well in low light.
 
Russ77 said:
I've got a "nifty fifty" and find that a little long if using is indoors.

If I'm shooting at a rugby match with my 100-400L, I need good (finger in the air guestimate) 20ft-30ft before I can a whole player in shot.
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The nifty looks a good bet as I do little or no indoor photos really..
 
Gerrard said:
The nifty looks a good bet as I do little or no indoor photos really..
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For the money it's a good starting place, plus you can get some adaptors (I think they may be Raynox) to turn it into a macro too.

Even if you do decide to get a dedicated macro and/or longer prime at a later date, the 50mm f1.8 is still a very handy little lens to have in the bag!
 
The 85mm F1.8 is fantastic for low light work, a good sharp lens, USM motor and full time manual focus too if you want to use it.

Great for head & shoulder shots from 2m as well indoors.

I wont part with mine..
 
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