Sovern wrote in post #15312545
I just put my Tamron 17-50 on ebay because to be honest I'm not impressed with zooms despite what people may say.
I thought that 17-50 would be a big deal coming from a straight 50 1.8 prime but it isn't.....take a few steps back and you have 35mm effective, few more back 20mm effectve, few steps forward back to 50mm.
Plus I find myself almost always using the 50mm end for what I shoot.....I don't like the look of 17mm on these zoom lenses.
I guess that I'm more of a telephoto shooter since I primarily shoot portraits and I love the compression that long lenses give but I also like to have the ability to go a little wide for environmental portraits whether it be indoor or outdoor/
Plus you can't beat the bokeh and low light ability of a good prime as I shoot primary portraiture and in the future weddings. I hope that I can get at least $350 for this Tamron and start to build up a set of primes.
Plus there was just something lacking contrast and sharpness wise coming from a 50mm prime.....I'm sure that if I get a prime that is better than the cheap thrifty fifty that has Full USM I'll be more than pleased with that.
What do you guys think a good prime set up would be for crop body (I'll be going FF eventually)? Maybe something like 30 1.4 or 28 1.8, 85 1.8, and a wide angle prime?
Thanks and all the best.
It's surprising how good the nifty fifty really is. It's definitely a good lens optics-wise. On crop, there are about 3 different budget levels for your primes.
Low budget: 35 f2, 50 1.8, 85 1.8
Medium budget: Sigma 35, (sigma or canon) 50 1.4, Sigma 85
High budget: Sigma 35, 50L, 85L
For portraits, these will be great. For weddings, you'll want to make some other investments first, like making sure you have two camera bodies that can handle ISO 1600-3200 with manageable noise. In my opinion, the 450d can't do that. The 550d can(same sensor as 7D), though, and it can be had for a few hundred dollars. Shooting primes for events, you'll want to have two bodies with one prime on each(since you can't zoom and situations may arise where you don't have time or space to move around or switch lenses).
35mm isn't very wide on crop, but when it comes to wider primes there aren't a lot of good options, at least none that aren't very very expensive. The rokinon 14mm is great and fairly wide on crop, but doesn't have the same dramatic perspective that it does on full frame. For wide angles you'll probably want to grab a 10-22 or a tokina 11-16. Personally, I didn't miss a wide angle on crop. On full frame, it's much easier to get those wide angles.
However, for portraits, crop just can't beat full frame. Since the price of 5D classics are coming down so much, if I were you I'd just pick up a 5d classic for $600-650, grab a 35 f2 and an 85 1.8 and you'll have an excellent portrait kit for $1100 or less that can shoot ISO 1600 all day long. The full frame difference is immense when it comes to shallow depth of field. An 85 1.8 is a good portrait lens on crop, it's a fantastic portrait lens on FF. Eventually you'd probably want something a little longer so you may look into a 135L or 200L, but the quality of the 70-200 zooms today aren't to be overlooked. Try them before you knock them. Canon's 70-200 2.8 II is king, but the Sigma 70-200 OS is also incredible and much cheaper. Tamron's new 70-200 VC offering should also be a contender. Image stabilization is invaluable for portraits(since you only need 1/60-1/120 shutter speed to capture portraits ).
In summary:
1. A 35, 50, 85 combo is great on crop(equivalent to a 50, 85, 135 combo on FF). You'll be lacking on the wide side, but there aren't any inexpensive primes that are better than a 10-22 on crop.
2. For weddings/events you'll want to have 2 bodies, especially since you're shooting with primes(but otherwise for backup in case the first fails).
3. For your purposes(portraits and events), full frame is definitely king. 5D Classic and 5d Mark II prices are coming down rapidly, making full frame very affordable.
