BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Questions

Camera lens for Rebel 2000 Canon

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July 07, 2001

Portrait lenses:
In general, a "portrait lens" for 35mm format is between 85mm and 135mm in focal length. It is generally desirable to have a faster lens for portraiture, f/2 at 85mm or f/2.8 at 135mm. The wider apertures allow more depth of field control to have the subject in sharp focus (most important are the eyes) with a softer out-of-focus background. Since the DOF varies with focal length, aperture and working distance, the aperture used for a specific length should be judged by your working distance and how much DOF you need.

Close-up lenses:
"Close-up" can mean several things in common usage. Technically, a close-up is not "macro" (1/4 life-size or larger _on_the_film_), but something between normal closest focus distance and a macro. Likewise, some lenses labeled as having a "macro" capability are really "close-up" as they cannot focus close enough to achieve macro magnification. How close you need to get is determined by the size of your subject material and the focal length of lens you are using. In the field, 85mm to 135mm focal lengths work well for nearly all macros. This allows standing off more for lighting (not blocking it), tripod setup and and not disturbing insects. I've used as short as 18mm and as long as 300mm in very odd/special situations, but the three used for 95% of my macros are an 85mm, 100mm and 135mm. True macro lenses can be an expensive budget-buster. An excellent alternative is a set of extension tubes. These are hollow tubes that go between the body and lens, linking the body controls to the lens and allowing closer focus (they're _not_ tele-extenders which have glass in them). Extension tubes can be stacked for even greater extension if they are sturdy enough (use just one if you can get away with it). I don't recommend using extension tubes with zoom lenses which internally focus instead of extending the lens like most primes do. Focus and composition are much more difficult and many zooms are not made to be extended in this fashion. I don't recommend "close-up" auxiliarly lenses that screw onto the lens front like a filter either. They are rated by diopters of magnification. The inexpensive third-party ones are not that good optically and the cost of better 2 or 3-element ones approaches the cost of an extension tube set.

Rebel 2000:
Since the focal length ranges are about the same for both, here are several EOS lenses and extension tubes to consider (you didn't state a budget; a couple of these are very expensive):
85/1.2 USM
85/1.4 USM
85/1.8 USM
100/2.8 Macro
100/2.8 USM Macro
135/2 USM
Extension Tube EF-12
Extension Tube EF-25

One lens I didn't mention is the 135/2.8 Soft Focus. This is a special application portrait lens and that is about all it can be used for because of its soft focus. Unless you are doing a lot of soft focused portraiture to justify a dedicated lens like this, it is better to use a "soft focus" filter on a lens that otherwise produces a sharp image within the DOF. Especially true if you want to make macros with the same lens(es). The EF-12 is a good all-around tube length, and the EF-25 would be used more with longer lenses for greater stand-off and/or very close focusing (high magnification).

-- John

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July 08, 2001