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i have been asked to shoot my sister engagement party (night outdoors) and my mother in laws 50th birthday party indoor low light what i am after is adivce on what lens to use and or buy,i have a canon 30D with the kit lens 18-50mm,will be buying a flash before the shoot looking at the speedlite 430 ex. i have only a couple hundred dollars to spend on a lens.was looking at a canon 50mm f1.8 MK11 lens
or smothing like a sigma 28-105mm f2.8
or what every else that would be suitable
thanks zsolt

Not being a canon or any camera expert,They will be a long soon. The 50 1.8 in the Nikon range is sharp and cheap.

But I also think the flash is invaluable. Also for close portrait stuff the onboard flash can be usefull within it limitations.


Goodluck and all I can say is get some friends around in a similar situation and have a practice. Then you can work on getting the most form your gear without the pressure.

Cheers
MATT

bump

I think your question has pretty much been answered, practice first, and as you say you have no money to spend really, so the 50mm f1.8 will be your best bet.

Hi, I did my nieces wedding & a freinds wedding (night outdoors) and mainly used the Canon 50 f1.4 and the 17-55 f2.8 IS, I don't like flashguns thats why i like fast lenses, didn't turn out to bad.

But one thing on my 350d i wished i'd had the 30mm f.1.4 for wider shots. the 17-55 wasn't fasts enough sometimes.

Harry

thanks guys looks like i'll go with 50mm f 1.8

Hi zeddy,

I got the 50mm 1.8 for Christmas, and it's a great lens!

At f/1.8, the depth of field is incredibly narrow, and I've found that often images that appear sharp and in focus on the LCD turn out a bit blurry on the computer screen ... there is a reported backfocus issue, but I've tested mine and it seems to have 2-3mm front focus.

matty you say in your reply that the pictures come out blurry,how blurry are they i really don't want a lens that is not sharp.have you taken portraits with that lens if so how did they turn out.maybe i should hang out and save for the 50mm f1.4

Hey mate,

not un-viewable blurry, just not as sharp as expected. I'm sure it's just having such a narrow DOF.

Click Here to see one of the sharper images I've been able to get at 1.8 ... I was intentionally aiming to get Nelson's snout in focus, with the rest of his face out of focus ... mind you, between f/2.2 and f/22, it's really crisp!

thanks matty thats what i am after,if you don't mind me asking where did you get it from and doyou know how much it was i know it was a chritmass present,but if your like me i buy my presents and then give them to people to give.LOL
thanks zsolt

haha, same here re: christmas presents.

I got mine from my local Paxtons, for too much! That happens with impulse purchases sometimes ... I paid $170ish, but you can get them at most camera shops for about $130.

Santa got me the 50mm f1.8 for Xmas as well. paid 149 from Teds

My Advice is Practise, practise, practise and then some more, I am still finding the sweet spot of the lens, granted I am not practising as much given my other commitments at the moment, http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=23132&highlight= is an eg of a portrait I took earlier using the 50mm lens.

Matty : How do I check front/back focus?

zeddy wrote:i have been asked to shoot my sister engagement party (night outdoors) and my mother in laws 50th birthday party indoor low light what i am after is adivce on what lens to use and or buy,i have a canon 30D with the kit lens 18-50mm,will be buying a flash before the shoot looking at the speedlite 430 ex. i have only a couple hundred dollars to spend on a lens.was looking at a canon 50mm f1.8 MK11 lens
or smothing like a sigma 28-105mm f2.8
or what every else that would be suitable
thanks zsolt

Zeddy, I would just get the speedlite asap and practice and enjoy.

As for the 50mm, it is a great lens. But are you going to use it at a outdoor night party? or an indoor low light party (is there enough room)?

Best is just use your current lens and practice bouncing your speedlite.

Cheers
Vince

makario wrote:Matty : How do I check front/back focus?

If you google 'back focus' or 'front focus', you should find a site that has a picture of a scale, that you save to your desktop. You view the image at full size, hold the camera at a 45 degree angle to the screen, auto focus on the middle of the scale and take a pic. Then you compare opposite numbers to see if your lens is balanced, has front focus or back focus ...

I think that explains it. That's what I could figure out anyway ...

Good lenses for weddings are:

50mm 1.8 (1.4)

85mm 1.8 (1.4)

70-200VR (for indoors in the church if flash photography is a problem. Some ministers won't allow it.)

The first two lenses are very affordable and sharp.

Of course, if you wanted to buy a new zoom lens, you could go for a Sigma 24-70 F/2.8. I got mine and swear by it (not at it). It's capable of F/2.8 throughout and produces good sharp images. Priced around the $500 - $600 mark.

Just an update, I had a bit more of a play with my 50 1.8 tonight. At 1.8, mine (at least) seems to thrive on lots of light (especially flash), and seems to really shine when attached to a tripod.

That, or it's a case of over (or under?) caffienation = jittery hands = slightly blurred images.

F1.8 is why it performs better on a tripod (focus plane is tiny), light shouldnt be a problem exposure wise, you can hand hold 1/30th of a second at ISO400 at F1.8 no problem at all if you need too.

The problem is horizontal movement, the plane of focus for an aperature of F1.8 is as thick as a piece of paper, rocking backwards and forwards will change the critical focus point enough to blur eyes etc.

You don't have to use it at F1.8 In fact it will be sharper at F2.8 or F4 giving you more depth of field and more in focus on your subjects

Identify the 'blur' is it a camera shake blur or out of focus blur?

Shooting at less than f/2 will require some extra practice at holding the lens for focus (try 1/80 or above and a fast finger). If you get hold of a f/1.4 lens it will be even worse.

haha, I realise that I don't HAVE to use it at 1.8 ... I guess I'm just excited with my first fast lens.

And yeah, it really is horizontal movement with a narrow depth of field. So I'll either use a tripod more, or a smaller aperture.

or both