AboutJim Delillo Expertise ALmost any question about traditional (film) or digital photography including techical, technique, lighting, darkroom, Photoshop, marketing and business.
Expert: Jim Delillo Date: 6/17/2008 Subject: Lense suggestions
Question I am getting ready to purchase a Canon XSi camera kit with the 18-55 mm lens and ditching my old Point and Shot. I have read that the lens the camera kit comes with is a good beginners lens...which is what I am. I have saved a little more money to spend, and wanted to get another lens that may be more appropriate for what I take photos of daily....which happens to be, my fast moving dog...Another hobby of mine is cake decorating and cooking, so I tend to take (up-close)photos of my desserts and dinners also. Since I am basically camera lens illiterate...and don't really understand the difference between all the lenses...telephoto, standard zoom, etc (except I know a Macro is for taking 'really' up-close photos)I was hoping you could guide me into the right direction as to what type of lens would be good for what I plan to take photos of daily....my dog and food.
Answer This is a question of personal choice, so I will try to give you some facts as to help make your decision.
Sounds like you want a 'fast' lens. Look for one with the lowest F number. This will allow you to use higher shutter speeds.
A prime lens, that is one with a fixed focal length, will be the fastest and sharpest, but it will limit your ability to reframe your subject just by zooming in.
A 'normal' lens is about 50mm and will give you a angle of view that you would see with one eye closed.
A wide-angle lens is anything below that and is most forgiving for focus and movement blur.
A lens below 20mm will start to distort things by curving the edges, especially at close distances.
A 100mm lens is a portrait lens and is good for keeping the right distance of personal space, while framing the whole face (or dog).
Anything above that is considered a telephoto. The longer the lens the more stable the shooting platform needs to be to eliminate blur from camera movement. The rule of thumb is that you have to shoot at a shutter speed that matches/or is higher than the focal length. e.g., 1/250 for a 200mm lens.
I would get the fastest portrait lens (100mm) you can find.
or
A zoom lens that starts just above normal 70mm and grabs portrait and short telephoto (under 200mm) would also be a versatile lens giving you a range with your kit lens that includes from 18mm (wide angle) to Normal (55mm) to Portrait (100mm) to Short Telephoto.
