New Photographer from Central FL here...Let's Talk Lenses

[DanielTylerFL]

Good evening everyone!

So, I purchased a EOS Rebel T3i Kit off amazon 3-4 years ago, and it's been sitting in its bag during that time also.  The initital purchase was for my financee at the time (now my wife) and she just shot on Auto mode.  I've had some interest in getting off auto mode and now have started learning about the triangle of photography and started playing around with it.  What is a good lens for closeups?  What would be a good starter lens for most everything?  I would think two lenses would suffice for now untill I grasp the concepts more and get more advanced.  The lenses in the kit included; EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS roman numeral II, and EF  75-300mm 1:4-5.6 roman numeral III.  I have no idea what each of these numbers/letters mean?  I would like a lens for closeups - portraits - and one that would be great for short distances to long zooms.  I'm not sure what i'm talking about yet, but maybe some of you could point me in the right direction.  Thanks in advance!

I've found the Canon lens 50mm F1.8 and Yongnuo 50mm F1.8.  They seem to both be great lenses for large aperture shots, but is that a good lens for that application?  Both seem to have good reviews on youtube, and some-most seem to lean towards the Yongnuo because of price and quality is so so close.

I haven't found anything for the every day carry lens---any help would be wonderful!

[Ray-uk]

50mm is not really a useful length for portraits on a crop camera (which is what your camera is) because you need to be quite a long way away from your subject. Try putting your 18-55 at 50mm then use it without moving the zoom, you will soon find out if you can work at these sort of distances. I would suggest something around 35mm would be more suitable.

What you are asking for in your original post covers a wide range of uses and you are unlikely to find one lens that covers all aspects.

I would suggest you carry on with the lenses you already have and once you have taken a few hundred shots then go through them to find what focal length you use the most and what is limiting your style of shooting, then you will have more idea of what you need to purchase next.

[Waddizzle]

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@Ray-uk wrote:

50mm is not really a useful length for portraits on a crop camera (which is what your camera is) because you need to be quite a long way away from your subject.

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Why would you say that?  It has an equivalent angle of view of 80, which is arguably the same as an 85mm portrait lens.  You can capture an excellent bust shot from less than 5 feet away.

[Ray-uk]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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Why would you say that?  It has an equivalent angle of view of 80, which is arguably the same as an 85mm portrait lens.  You can capture an excellent bust shot from less than 5 feet away.

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Could be just me, even back in the 35mm film days I found an 85mm lens a bit long for portraits, perhaps I live in smaller rooms than most people

[RobertTheFat]

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@Ray-uk wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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Why would you say that?  It has an equivalent angle of view of 80, which is arguably the same as an 85mm portrait lens.  You can capture an excellent bust shot from less than 5 feet away.

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Could be just me, even back in the 35mm film days I found an 85mm lens a bit long for portraits, perhaps I live in smaller rooms than most people

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I'm with Waddizzle on this one. In fact, back in the film days when I didn't have zoom lenses, my favorite portrait lens was a Nikkor 135mm f/3.5 (on a full-frame camera, of course),

For the OP's benefit, it may be worth reviewing what makes a portrait lens a portrait lens. Since the entire field of view is subject to the same magnification, the closer you get to your subject in a full-face portrait, the more the resulting image tends to exaggerate the size of the subject's nose (because it's closest to the camera). The customary cure for that effect is to move farther back and use a longer lens. On a full-frame camera, a focal length of around 85-105 mm is considered about right; on an APS-C ("crop frame") camera, that translates to about 53 to 66 mm. Obviously the effect varies with the camera-to-subject distance and with how much of the subject you mean to include, but it's considered a good rule of thumb.

[DanielTylerFL]

I appreciate the feedback, Ray.  Being new to the photography field, all I've been doing is researching youtube for "How to photograph", etc.  Is there anyone in specific that you recommend on YouTube?

[John_SD]

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@DanielTylerFL wrote:

Being new to the photography field, all I've been doing is researching youtube for "How to photograph", etc.  Is there anyone in specific that you recommend on YouTube?

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YouTube is going to be a lot of hit and miss, a lot of dorks blathering on and on, as they struggle to figure out what they want to say. Mostly they are vloggers, chronic forum dwellers and spec sheet warriors whose "photography" consists of making test shots and comparing graphs and charts.

Personally, I get a lot more out of books written by established pros, asking questions here (there are a lot of very knowledgable folks on this site), and most of all, by taking the camera out in to the field and shooting in environments that interest me. Good luck with whichever approach you decide to take.  

[John_SD]

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@John_SD wrote:

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@DanielTylerFL wrote:

Being new to the photography field, all I've been doing is researching youtube for "How to photograph", etc.  Is there anyone in specific that you recommend on YouTube?

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YouTube is going to be a lot of hit and miss, a lot of dorks blathering on and on, as they struggle to figure out what they want to say. Mostly they are vloggers, chronic forum dwellers and spec sheet warriors whose "photography" consists of making test shots and comparing graphs and charts.

Personally, I get a lot more out of books written by established pros, asking questions here (there are a lot of very knowledgable folks on this site), and most of all, by taking the camera out in to the field and shooting in environments that interest me. Good luck with whichever approach you decide to take.  

EDIT: I'm going to add one thing (on top of seconding Waddizzle's excellent advice regarding the Canon videos), and that is to download the FULL user manual for your camera. Many people seem to bypass that or decide it is too much for them, but don't underestimate the value of that guide. There is nothing like acquiring an in-depth understanding of the camera itself, and Canon's full user guides are great. You can learn much from them. Start here: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/camera-user-manual

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[DanielTylerFL]

For sure will be revisiting the manual, I actually just found it tucked away in the camera bag...Great advice, Thank You! 

While on the topic of established pros...which authors you would recommend for information? 

[ebiggs1]

"YouTube is going to be a lot of hit and miss, a lot of dorks blathering on and on, as they struggle to figure out what they want to say. Mostly they are vloggers, chronic forum dwellers and spec sheet warriors whose "photography" consists of making test shots and comparing graphs and charts."

John is absolutely correct on this one.  Some people's professional friends all have a YouTube address. It is evident, you can tell just from their posts, even on this site.  They never did anything but look at YouTube or read reviews.

Also, Robert is spot on with his explainition about why the 85mm or 50mm on a cropper are good portrait lenses.