[shuttertalk]

If you had to go out with just a body and 1 prime lens, which lens would it be?

Most people recommend a standard prime - 50mm equiv. seems to be popular as it gives a field of view of what the eye naturally sees.

Some also recommend a 35mm equiv. as it gives a wider field of view, and might be better for indoors and environmental portraits.


Which one do you personally prefer and why?

[matthew]

… go where and for how long?



(not actually joking, though…)

[shuttertalk]

... out... and forever... haha.

Or to phrase it differently, what is your favourite prime - one you could not live without? If there was only one you could take everywhere with you, which one would it be?

[slejhamer]

Well my favorite indoor and outdoor prime 'people' lens is the canon 50mm f1.4. But I do find it a bit long for some indoor use (on an aps-c camera), so one day I will splurge on a fast 35mm prime... unless I go full frame.

I do really like the canon 100mm macro too.

[Pavel]

Experts say that the "best" people lens is somewhere around 100mm on full format. It may be true for a formal portraits because facial features have "natural proportions". With a bit of care, you can get engaging, intimate and pleasing photos (and provide non-intrusive contextual information) from very wide lenses (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pavel_photo...7475912310) and very "paparazzi candids" (even when staged) using long lenses (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pavel_photo...9970053387). Do not worry so much on what is "right" and more what you wish to communicate through your photos and choose the lens that will help you do it.

[Toad]

Easy question for me since that is how I actually do shoot these days.

My Leica 50mm F2 Summicron-M is on my camera 75% of the time. The only other lens that I carry is a Leica Elmarit-M 28mm F2.8.

If I could only have one - it would be the 50. If I didn't shoot full frame, I would substitute a 35mm for the 50.

[pinmollusc]

Given that I have Canon 1100d ,I'd go for 50 mm f 1.4 lens. I would have to weigh options between choosing canon 50 mm 1.4 and 85 mm 1.8 however. I guess I'd have bit of trouble using the 85 mm f 1.8 indoors given that I've a cropped body.So group shots etc might be quiet impossible sometimes if I went for the 85 mm f1.8

However I've heard that compression of depth of field in canon 85 mm f 1.8 is more appealing than that of the canon 50 mm f 1.4 even on a full frame body like 5D. May be because of the longer focal length, over the extra stop of light however its just a wild guess due to the fact that I've never used a full frame camera.

I really love the lightness of the lens and the sharpness of the photos that I get from 50 mm f 1.4. Its a cheap, yet a perfect lens for considerable shoots. If I ever get a full frame body I imagine going for the canon 70-200 mm f 2.8 which would be very much much useful than a prime, in many situations.

[Pavel]

I just came back from a trip with two of the top ranking members of a my rather exclusive (invitation only) club. I always admired their photos not only for their creativity and imagination and superb compositions but also for their technical excellence. He was photographing seriously for 55 years and was consistently placing in large international competitions among the top 10 in the world. His wife has been photographing for almost as long and if anything, I admire her photos more. Our club uses prints only and few are smaller than 13"x 19" and the prints of that size show technical imperfections readily. Furthermore their art gallery contains prints mostly 36" wide. What do they shoot with? Nikon D7000 with (wait for it) 18-200 zoom (!!!!!). I retired this zoom years ago because of its technical quality. I sincerely doubt that I could produce one image at their level with all my nice gear. I am not suggesting that you follow their example, but when you feel that you really need a piece of equipment or another, do go through a reality check and save yourself some money. Or invest it into photo books or courses to become a better photographer.

[vlad]

Good point, Pavel.

I absoutely love my Soviet era Jupiter 9, 85mm f2 lens, a Carl Zeiss copy. It lacks multi coating, it's sharpness and contrast aren't top notch, but it has a certain character of its own. It fits great on my Pentax ME or my Pentax Kx. Just using this tool and training my eye and heart I could become a helluva portraiter
Oh, and did a mention the fabulous flare it's got?

Here are some sample shots, using Pentax K-x, the above lens and the Pentax in camera cross-processing mode.
http://badorgood.com/foto/-411081/453600

[jinko]

Probably Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, fast and would probably be great for portraits because of depth of field (or rather the lack of) and focal length. Another option would be some wide angle or even fisheye.

[EnglishBob]

I'd have to go with my Sigma 150mm 2.8 Macro... would limit my range of pictures, but use it far more than my other primes.

[alessya]

If you're using a Canon, I would personally recomend the new Canon 40mm EF f/2.8 STM Lens. Got this little baby almost 3 months ago, after I sold my 50mm 1.8, and I can say from the bottom of my heart that it's wonderful. As for the price, it's somewhere in between the 50mm 1.4 and the 50mm 1.8. As a big plus to it it's super-extra light as weight and really thin which makes it easy to handle. It has a new type of focusing system called STM - Stepping Motor Technology that's silent and comes in handy when you film something and it's really sharp when you photograph. Also, I really like that this lens is a bit more wide that the 50mm and it comes in handy if you don't own a full frame camera.

[Pavel]

I'd have to go with my Sigma 150mm 2.8 Macro... would limit my range of pictures, but use it far more than my other primes.

Hey Robert, I bought a few months ago the 180 macro (sigma) from Matthew and I love it! It saves my knees when I photograph small flowers and gives mre "reach for those some distance in the plogt where you can not walk.

[jinko]

If I had a choice for any prime lens at all, I'd choose this one: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Revie...eview.aspx

For sure it's not very flexible and suits basically only sports and nature photography but for that purpose it's the ultimate lens.

[photokev]

I'm not sure this question can be answered!
If you ask people what their most favorite lens is they can answer that OR if you ask what lens in most usable they can answer that, but in reality they're never the same lens. for example, my favorite lens for 35 is the 85, for the Blad it's the 150, but as far as most usable I'd have to go with the 50 in 35mm and the 80 for medium format.

[Don Schaeffer]

I like a 28mm

[NT73]

I like a 36-24-36.

[vlad]

Nice focal length!.. and width!