New lens

Hi everyone,

I'm starting to get into my automotive photography and looking to get a new lens to add to the arsenal.

Currently have the following:
Canon 70-200 F4L
Canon 50 F1.8
Tamron 17-35

and they are on a Canon 7D and a 1D MKii

Really am open to ideas? Be nice to get some more seperation between cars and background.

IDEAS?

It might help to define the sort of separation you want. Trying to seerate by shalloe DOf with cars is more of a positioning thing than a lens thing. A wider lens can use perspective to diminish the background, but some distortion.

Thats a good question really.

Guess I mean DOF but would that stop the whole car being in focus?

not if you're perpendicular to it.

How far away are you planning to be? f/1.8 should be plenty shallow.

Angle and distance play a big part in this.

I was thinking maybe a 85mm 1.8?

As others have said, looking at your lenses it's probably not an equipment issue. Shallow DOF will just mean that a tiny amount of the car is in focus and you don't want that in automotive.

Maybe show us what look you are trying to achieve, vs what you are currently able to produce?

98kellrs wrote in post #17334973
As others have said, looking at your lenses it's probably not an equipment issue. Shallow DOF will just mean that a tiny amount of the car is in focus and you don't want that in automotive.

Maybe show us what look you are trying to achieve, vs what you are currently able to produce?

I'd say it depends. There are times you want the entire car in focus, and times when you're shooting a detail and you want to highlight just a part of the car. Here are three photos of a McLaren 650S Spider. The first was taken with a Sigma 12-24mm. The other two were taken with the Canon 50mm f/1.4.

Play with the equipment you have. You have gear that can do lots of things. Put it to work. Go to car meets, and shoot. Look at what others shoot. Don't shoot what everyone else shoots if you want to stand out from the crowd.

penfolduk wrote in post #17334424
Really am open to ideas? Be nice to get some more separation between cars and background.

IDEAS?

This depends on what you mean by separation of the car and the background. Some of the examples posted have nothing to do with separating the car from its background, only dealing with the DOF. Separation from the background is going to be a combination of your lens choice and what you set the DOF at. That comes down to your choice of f/stop and a number of other variables in any given situation. I'd suggest that you look at what you're looking to shoot and base your lens selection on your needs. For example, if you're shooting motorsports, your choices should be based on that. If you're just going to car shows and shooting that, consider your needs and choose accordingly.

penfolduk wrote in post #17334424
Be nice to get some more seperation between cars and background. IDEAS?

To get what you want may be expensive.

Don't be surprised if you need a Canon 50mm f/1.2 lens or a Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens.

To be honest, depending on what you mean by "automotive photography", I would consider a few things. If you're talking more of something like car profile pics (car portraits so-to-speak), I'd personally just go for a decent lighting setup - a strobe, softbox, stand, power source, pocket wizards, etc...

I know you're asking about a lens, but personally I think your arsenal is good for profile shots. If you're trying to get racing shots, I'd sell the 200 f4, get a 200 f2.8 mark II, OR keep it and save more for a supertele. That's just me though. To each their own. Photography is an art, it just all depends on your style, subjects, and what you're going for.