Need some advise, thinking of trying primes...

Hi there everybody!

To make a long story short, I wanna try out primes, but not sure which one I wanna try out. I lenses i have are 24-105 and 70-200 ii. Im only considering between 24-70, since anything above 70 I will just use my 70-200 ii. For now im debating between 50 1.4 and 28 1.8, but im unsure only because I have been spoiled by my 2 lens. Im thinking that anything short of "L" will disappoint me. This will be used with 5dii.

Should I be worried? Between the 2, im more inclined to get the 28 1.8, reason being is that its true usm and since its wider, I wouldnt be to worried about dof and I can use it more indoor/group than the 50. Imagine dinner table setting and/or house party type of stuff.

I have a flash, but im thinking fast prime and flash will compliment each other perfectly, or maybe sometimes the fast prime will be more than sufficient.

Thanks in advance for reading my post and advising!

I have the 50 1.4 and I love it. At the dinner/house party thing, it might be a bit close. I am using a crop, so on your 5DII, it should be fine. I've seen pros use an 85mm 1.2 on a 5DII, so it depends how close you want to get.

With your 24-105 in the same types of situations, do you find yourself mostly around 24, or zoomed? That should give you an indication which focal length that you would use most often.

musashi wrote in post #14959062
Hi there everybody!

To make a long story short, I wanna try out primes, but not sure which one I wanna try out. I lenses i have are 24-105 and 70-200 ii. Im only considering between 24-70, since anything above 70 I will just use my 70-200 ii. For now im debating between 50 1.4 and 28 1.8, but im unsure only because I have been spoiled by my 2 lens. Im thinking that anything short of "L" will disappoint me. This will be used with 5dii.

Should I be worried? Between the 2, im more inclined to get the 28 1.8, reason being is that its true usm and since its wider, I wouldnt be to worried about dof and I can use it more indoor/group than the 50. Imagine dinner table setting and/or house party type of stuff.

I have a flash, but im thinking fast prime and flash will compliment each other perfectly, or maybe sometimes the fast prime will be more than sufficient.

Thanks in advance for reading my post and advising!

I loved my 50 1.4, but sold it bc it was too tight on a crop body. I replaced it with the 28mm and was very happy. Now that I went to full frame, ill be looking to swap again. As far as the USM AF, I honestly didn't see any real world difference between either lens. Build quality is pretty similar, with the 28 having a slight edge. Bokeh of the 50 was better. Sharpness maybe a slight edge for the 50 at anything besides f/1.4

I'd say 28 for crop, but optically and for low light conditions, you really can't go wrong with either. I thought I'd miss the 2/3rd stops using the 1.8, but I haven't run into any limitations thus far.

The first step is to figure out the proper focal length you want. Try setting your 24-105L at different focal lengths to get an idea of which length would work best for the types of shooting you intend. That will narrow down your choices.

Some decent quality and relatively inexpensive non-L options include the Canon 28 f/1.8, Canon 35 f/2, Canon 50 f/1.8, Canon or Sigma 50 f/1.4, and Canon 85 f/1.8.

Personally, I really like a 50mm prime for general purpose shooting on a full frame camera. However, others prefer 35mm for a "standard" prime.

Thanks for all the response so far.

28 1.8
35 2.0
50 1.4

Which of these would perform better wide open? If im gonna use it, I will probably use it wide open most of the time. Like I said before, will I be disappointed on the performance of these wide open compared to my 2 lens that I have?

musashi wrote in post #14961937
Thanks for all the response so far.

28 1.8
35 2.0
50 1.4

Which of these would perform better wide open? If im gonna use it, I will probably use it wide open most of the time. Like I said before, will I be disappointed on the performance of these wide open compared to my 2 lens that I have?

Wide open? 35 @2.0, then 28 @1.8 at a VERY close 2nd, then the 50.

Stopped down to even f/2.0, the 28 begins to quickly overtake the 35 at mid-frame and the edges of the frame. The 50 is on par with the 28 once you stop it down to about f/1.8-2.0.

mannetti21 wrote in post #14961955
Wide open? 35 @2.0, then 28 @1.8 at a VERY close 2nd, then the 50.

Stopped down to even f/2.0, the 28 begins to quickly overtake the 35 at mid-frame and the edges of the frame. The 50 is on par with the 28 once you stop it down to about f/1.8-2.0.

Thanks for that, now I really have some deciding to do. Im really torn between the 50 and 28.

Is this for a crop or full frame sensor? Either way, I'd pass on the 35/2 since it starts out at f2 and doesn't do anything special until its stopped down further, and even then, only the center stays sharp. My suggestions would be to choose between the remaining lens based on your camera body...50 for the full frame, or 28 for the crop. Again, just my opinion after having went through the 50, the 35, 3 copies of the Sigma 30, and finally to the 28 on a crop.

Its going to be on ff. im still leaning towards the 28, only because i think im more of a wide shooter.

I'll put in a word for the 28/1.8 - it is fast focusing, has excellent IQ, and I've used it indoors with minimal lighting with no flash. One thing I particularly like about it is that when I discover sub-scenes in my original, I can crop to get another really good pic. During informal family gatherings, I don't "stage" shots - I just shoot a lot and sort it all out in post-processing.

Also, I just shot the Ringling Art museum classic gallery with my 28/1.8 (no flash) - 189 shots on a quick walk-through and only one - ONE - missed shot. (no PP on the first shot)

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

bubbygator wrote in post #14962260
I'll put in a word for the 28/1.8 - it is fast focusing, has excellent IQ, and I've used it indoors with minimal lighting with no flash. One thing I particularly like about it is that when I discover sub-scenes in my original, I can crop to get another really good pic. During informal family gatherings, I don't "stage" shots - I just shoot a lot and sort it all out in post-processing.

Also, I just shot the Ringling Art museum classic gallery with my 28/1.8 (no flash) - 189 shots on a quick walk-through and only one - ONE - missed shot.

Same experience here in regards to AF accuracy. It's a hidden gem. Some knock it for sharpness, but I'm not seeing it. Just 2 days ago I snapped a quick pic of a jersey before the NFL opener...the detail at 100% is far more than I need.

Both shot RAW, no PPing beyond conversion to JPEGs

Near original (cropped about 10%)

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/png' | Byte size: ZERO

28mm f/1.8 on FF was a preferred FL for street. Love that little lens!

Thanks guys, I think im really convinced of my decision in the first place since I dont see a lot negative things about the 28. Now only time will tell if primes are really for me. At the very least, I will keep at least 1 prime in my bag and never worry about lowlight again. Lol. If I ended up liking it, I might just as well add the 50 and 85. I dont really think I would need a prime past 85 since thats going to my 70-200 territory and that monster is just so hard to put down or take off!

If you like getting couples or portrait shots, I'd get the 50 f1.4 or 85 f1.8 for a FF.

For smaller group shots 35 f1.4L gets my vote. DOF can be tricky wide open so you'd be stopping it down anyway so don't worry about subtle differences.

For me; 28 on a FF is too wide for people shots except large groups. If you move in too close you get distance distortion (closer limbs look fat), so tight shots of couples or small groups is out unless the plane-of-focus is completely flat.

NBEast wrote in post #14962618
If you move in too close you get distance distortion (closer limbs look fat)

oh no, I forgot to consider this one fact. Would the 50 be better for this? Or how would the 28 act if I dont get too close, thinking about full body portrait might be the closest I will try.