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Best Lens for Photographing cars

DAWNVANAUKEN
Contributor

I have the Canon Rebel 4ti.

I generally photograph kids.... just for fun.

My favorite lens is the 1.8 - 50 mm   maybe someday I'll get the 1.4 but this works for me right now.

 

However, I have been asked by my husbands Camaro Club to photograph Camaro's at an event.

Each car will be driving in front of a backdrop - and I will photograph it.

I'm not great with this, because not sure what would be the best lens to photograph a vehicle outside.

 

Any suggestions would be great.

Again, I'm very new at this....I'm doing it for free....  but like the creativity.

20 REPLIES 20

Thank you..... I'm going to check the lens out.  Your comment makes me feel a little bit better about my pictures.... LOL I thought perhaps I was hopeless last night.  Started reading all the links and suggestions and was a bit overwhelmed.

There are a couple things I would have done differently in the photos you shared. As you take more pictures you will notice some little things that make good photos, great.

For example if you permit me, Smiley Wink I would have put the railroad tracks in the center of the photograph . Kinda like the diminishing returns of the parallel lines. And the rail in the other photo adds nothing but obstruction. Still your photos are very nice and there will always be "critics"!

 

Besides your equipment, the Canon T4i and a 24-105mm f4 L, the addition of some post processing software would be a fine idea. Photos are not solely made in the camera!

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

I sincerely appreciate your suggestions. Tips such as yours are only going to help me improve.

I am a Grandma who started out taking pictures of her Grandson. Too cheap to pay for newborn shots. Had a Rebel XS and researched pintrist and took a couple of classes.

I have upgraded to the Rebel 4ti because I truly love taking pictures. I never want to be a professional photographer, because I don't want to lose the love for photography.

But I want to take really good pictures. I have a great camera, and I am looking to purchase better lenses. I love your suggestion. Also been looking at a telephoto 75-300 f4.

My flickr: www.flickr.com/people/dawnmvanauken

I truly appreciate your suggestions. The are very constructive.

Hi "grandma"!  I am a grandpa and I worked for Hallmark Cards for 40 years. I am still taking pictures so don't worry too much about 'burning out'.

I looked at you flickr page and it looks like you don't need too much help. Smiley Happy The only thing I would still recommend is watching the background.

Secondly, the Canon 75-300mm f4-5.6 is not in the same class as the 24-105mm f4 L. If you get the "L", look further for a bigger zoom. Unfortunately as the zoom ratio gets bigger the lens gets worse in picture quality, if that is important to you.

You know you can always get "two feet" zooms? Yes, you can get some very nice prime focal length lenses and walk to zoom them!

 

Some "better" choices would be the Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM or even better the 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM.

They are going to cost you more but from your flickr page and what you have said, I believe you would get your good use out of lenses of this quality. Because it sounds like you really enjoy photography.

Sigma, a series of lenses I have come to like lately, has some zooms in this same price range that go up to 500mm. Their

 50-500mm f4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM is a really nice lens and is on sale right now. Keep in mind, however, it is not a Canon "L" but it doesn't cost like 'L' either. (Pun intended!)

Al the best,

EB

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

Right now the Tamron 70-300 VC seems to be the best lens in it's class, and although I haven't owned or used one I've read a lot of praise about it. Hese's a good siscussion on it and they are comparing it to the much more expensive (and highly respected) Canon 70-300 L IS.

 

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1308139

 

"A skill is developed through constant practice with a passion to improve, not bought."

DAWNVANAUKEN
Contributor

Thank you all..... I appreciate your advice and suggestions.

I have taken some pictures of my husbands Camaro....but didn't know if there was a better lens or suggestion.

I am currently using my kit lens.  But I worry my pictures can appear amateur

If I help out the club with this photoshoot, I obviously will not have the freedom to find the ideal location.

But if there are suggestions a better lens, or ideas on how to accomplish this - I'm all ears Cat Happy

 

I did go to Flickr and look up the pictures pf cars with EXIF data and was wicked impressed.

 

I do like the idea of renting lenses and have been looking into this prior to investing in a lens where I'm just not sure I would have a lot of use out of it.

 

You can knock back the strong reflections by getting a "circular polarizer".  This is a round screw-on filter and they come in sizes... you need the size which matches the threads on your lens.  For example... the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II has a 58mm thread diameter.

 

The polarizer rotates and if you look through the camera at something with a reflective surface (like a car windshield) while rotating the filter, you will notice the reflections getting stronger or weaker (depending on much you rotate it).  You want the car to have *some* reflections of course... but not so much that it's not possible to see through the glass.

 

Polarizers don't work well on ultra-wide lenses because the amount of light blocked also depends on the angle.  This means you end up with a "sweet spot" where the polarization works well... but at other angles it doesn't cut as much.  It will look fine on moderately wide angle lenses or anything narrower.

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

Italian4215
Enthusiast

Your photos look good, I think thr biggest if not one of the more important things to do would be using a lens hood.

MY EQUIPMENT:
EOS Rebel T4i
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II
EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II
(2) B+W 5.8 010 UV - Haze 1x MRC (F - PRO Series filter)
HOYA 58mm HMC Multi-Coated ND8 Filter

SacCarScene
Apprentice

16730103_1346493195411845_1565666960138646210_n.jpg16730103_1346493195411845_1565666960138646210_n.jpg16730561_1346492672078564_5208532708886491856_n.jpg

 

 

These were taken with the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens

 

 

 


@AliceBell wrote:

I am also interested in this. I would like to take such photos!


I have photographed a few car shows, just to give myself a reason to use my cameras.  Using a full frame camera, I have photographed cars over a range of 14mm to 100mm.  I like the results at 35mm the best.

 

21875256-F9FF-4ED4-8378-37D509491D10.jpeg

 

As noted above, a slightly wide angle lens works well on cars.  A Canon APS-C sensor body with a 22mm lens is equivalent to a 35mm on a full frame body.  [The standard 18-55mm lens would be almost ideal on an APS-C body, which is roughly equivalent to a 24-70mm lens on a full frame body.]

Getting good exposures on super shiny cars in bright sunlight can be tricky sometimes.  You will frequently get blown highlights, because the camera’s metering can easily be fooled.  So, I dial in a bit negative exposure compensation when i take the shots, and just accept the fact that there will almost always be small reflections of blown highlights.  After all, that is pretty much what you eyes see when you look at the shiny cars, anyway.

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