EOS R8 Lens recommendations for documentary-style photography

[rambo007]

My wife just got a Canon EOS R8. She’s already so good with it and loves it. I don’t know anything about cameras but want to get her a lens. She says she wants to get into “documentary style photography”.

Any advice on which lenses I should consider getting her? I want to get a nice one but **bleep** some of them are expensive. Hoping to spend less than $1k so any guidance is much appreciated!

[ebiggs1]

OH, and BTW, get her DPP4 form the Canon website. It is free and will do a great job editing the photos. They almost always need to be cropped and or straightened or exposure contrast adjusted.

[mdphotography]

If she's shooting "documentary style", she'll probably be dealing with less-than-ideal lighting conditions.  I'd suggest something with an aperture no smaller than f/2.8.  You'll also want to get something with a wider angle of view because she may be working with limited space/mobility, like maybe 18mm (or even 10mm).  Unless she's shooting wildlife or nature documentaries, she probably won't need much zoom - maybe 105mm...135mm at the most.

IE: I use an 18-50mm f/2.8 for my street photography and it has more than enough range and light for my needs

[deebatman316]

APS-C lenses on Full Frame is not desirable. Due to the reduction in megapixels. Using that lens would result in a 9 megapixel image. When you can get the full 24 megapixels with a Full Frame lens.

[mdphotography]

I'm not recommending a specific lens, just the features to look for.

[ebiggs1]

"...she may be working with limited space/mobility, like maybe 18mm (or even 10mm)."

I would not recommend any UWA for documents. Distortion at the edges can be a problem if it is type or words as perhaps using the most open aperture. That is why a 50mm lens is considered the best all-around choice for document copying due to its minimal distortion. One of our copying stands even had a 75mm lens on it.

[kvbarkley]

Not "documents", but "documentary"

Though, you might want some documents in your documentary. 8^)

[ebiggs1]

I really do know how to read but it doesn't show sometimes. 🙄

[mdphotography]

Good point about edge distortion, but the OP said She says she wants to get into “documentary style photography”.  I shoot in this style and it's more about capturing moments as they happen than it is setting up the perfect scene; wide angle is essential.  In fact, my next purchase will be a 10-18mm; I have a mirrorless and with the crop factor 18mm is more like 29mm; it's wide enough, but I want a little more.

I really can't comment on photographing documents - I've never tried it.