 Kristi Seanor |
Lens for taking portraits I would like to focus on taking more portrait type pictures in my home but only own a Canon Rebel G with 28-80 and Canon 75-300 IS USM lenses. What is a CHEAP lens that would be good for taking portrait photos? I also have a 550 EX Speedlite. I have NO OTHER lighting at this point.
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John Wright |
The two lenses you mention should provide enough range to do portraits. Is there something specific that you are looking for? If you really want to spend more money, you might look at the Canon 85mm 1.8. Probably one of the best "cheap" lenses that Canon makes. You might also look at the 50mm, but I'm not sold on it as a portrait lens. Hope that helps... 8-)
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Kristi Seanor |
Yes, I want to take clear, closer pictures. Since I don't have a lighting set up, I can never get enough light with the big zoom lens so I thought going to a smaller one would be good. I checked into the prices for the 85mm 1.8 and I am not in the position to call $329.00 cheap so I guess I stick to what I have for now. When I tried to take a close up picture of a newborn, they all came out yellow in color. I had my house lights on in the living room and used my 550 EX speedlite flash (bounced). Any suggestions on what I can do to avoid that besides turning off the lights?
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John Wright |
I hear you... $329 is a fair amount of money but for the quality you get from that lens it's worth it. It's definitely worth saving up for. I believe that lens provides Canon "L" quality without the "L" price. As for the yellow color... that probably came from tungsten light (light bulbs). There must have been a fair amount of it, or the 550 might have been too difused to overcome it. What did you use to bounce the flash in? You should always use something white. If you use something colored to bounce the flash, the color will be bounced as well. You can correct this in a couple of different ways. They make a filter (I'd have to go back through my notes to find it, but I believe it's an 80A) that corrects for the different color temperature (you might want to read up on color temperature). You might be able to have the print processor correct the color balance (tell them it's too yellow and ask them to correct the color) and re-print the photos. Finally, you might try using window light. Always use a North facing window when available. Some of the best light in the world comes through your window - and it's free... :-)
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Kristi Seanor |
Thanks so much for the info. I might have bounced it off a semi beige wall because when I turned my camera to shoot vertical, it was no longer facing the ceiling so that is probably what happened. I am going to take it to my local lab and have them correct it as much as they can. I agree, that lens will be worth the money when I can afford it.
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Tom Walker |
A potrait lens should be twice the focal length or for a 35mm it should be 100mm, the 85mm mentioned is close enough and the 1.8 f stop can be worth it's weight in gold
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Any lens can be a portrait lens as long as it's clear and sharp. Your 75-300 is f/4 at the 100mm range. You just need to turn the power up on the flash more, use a slightly faster film. But mainly turn the power up on the flash. I bet you just didn't have enough light from the flash and didn't open the f/stop enough because of bouncing it. If you had the flash on auto it will shoot with more power when you turn the head up, but it's not uncommon for that to be enough. Depending on the ceiling you typically have to upon up the aperture. Maybe one f-stop.
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