my first prime

I'm trying to decide on my first prime to buy. I'm just a hobbyist so trying to keep my budget to about 5 hundred or less. I shoot portraits and landscape mostly. I live in Hawaii and travel regularly. I'll probably upgrade to a 7d eventually but just my trusty t2i currently. I have been leaning towards an 85mm but should I consider otherwise? Very open so please feel free to suggest other options. Thanks

BLACKFISH808 wrote in post #17810693
I'm trying to decide on my first prime to buy. I'm just a hobbyist so trying to keep my budget to about 5 hundred or less. I shoot portraits and landscape mostly. I live in Hawaii and travel regularly. I'll probably upgrade to a 7d eventually but just my trusty t2i currently. I have been leaning towards an 85mm but should I consider otherwise? Very open so please feel free to suggest other options. Thanks

Landscape and portrait would (usually) have quite different requirements. Granted there are plenty of scenarios where medium and long focal lengths are useful for landscape, but broadly:

Landscape: 24mm focal length (or wider), and often stopped down for depth of field
Portrait: 35mm focal length (or longer), and often wide open for shallow depth of field

Because even a decent zoom will usually give good quality when stopped down, I'd target the prime for portrait.

On a crop body 85mm is pretty long (approx 135mm full frame equivalent); which means it'd be more suitable for head shots, and outdoor work. I find 50mm on a crop still fairly long for many interior applications, so perhaps Sigma's 30mm F1.4 DC HSM Art would be useful (approx 50mm on full frame).

35mm (full frame) is good for environmental portraits and small groups, so one of the many 24mm lenses would get you close on a crop.

All that said, if you wanted wide-to-medium portrait focal lengths and shallow depth of field, don't overlook Sigma's 18-35 f/1.8; it's a superb lens, even though it's not a prime.

Finally - if you're shooting landscape and portrait then the 7D (excellent though it is) would probably be an unnecessary expense - it's a fast focussing, high fps machine; which isn't really crucial for portrait, and even less so for landscape.

7d is for surfing shots. Since I live in Hawaii I often shoot outdoors. Funny you should mention but looking into a sigma 35 art found listed on Craigslist. This is gonna be my first prime and depending on experience I'm sure won't be my last. Thanks for input

If I were you I would seek a set of primes that could complement one another.
24mm 50mm and 100mm
Or 35mm 85mm and 135mm

I saved up all my money, and bought the 24L II for my T4i.
I loved it and now I use it on my 6D
Glass first, then body.

Damn missed out on the the sigma 35 art...it was only $150. Yah think I want all of 14, 35, 85, and 135 eventually. Just getting one now as a gift to myself. Can't splurge too much with Christmas coming.

BLACKFISH808 wrote in post #17811233
Damn missed out on the the sigma 35 art...it was only $150. Yah think I want all of 14, 35, 85, and 135 eventually. Just getting one now as a gift to myself. Can't splurge too much with Christmas coming.

Frankly, if the Sigma 35mm Art was only selling for $150, you are better off having missed it, I'd be very concerned at that price. That's a top quality lens with excellent build that sells for $899 new. The price for a good used copy would probably be in the neighborhood of $450 to $600, and possibly more. That copy was probably stolen, damaged or misrepresented. Remember, something that sounds too good to be true....

Sigma has a DC version as well don't they? It was probably that one for $150

flowrider wrote in post #17811250
Sigma has a DC version as well don't they? It was probably that one for $150

Not sure about that. I searched and did not find one.

I would have tested it out before buying. So any suggestions for the first? Think I'm going with 35 or 85 first since they seem most commonly used. Going to wait and see if I can find them used and cheap first heh.

BLACKFISH808 wrote in post #17811284
I would have tested it out before buying. So any suggestions for the first? Think I'm going with 35 or 85 first since they seem most commonly used. Going to wait and see if I can find them used and cheap first heh.

Which you choose first depends on your priorities. If portraits, the 85mm, if you want something wider for small groups, low light interiors and general purpose, go with the 35mm.

My take is that I read this thread and didn't see the OP giving any kind of specific reason to buy a prime, which makes it difficult to give any kind of recommendation.

In general, any purchase of a new lens will be made to address a specific need. In some cases it's just to get a focal length range you don't have already. Like, if I don't have a telephoto lens I might look at a 70-200 or a 100-400, or a long prime.

But if we assume the OP is looking for a prime within the range of some undisclosed zoom lenses he already has, then we need to think about what the OP is looking for from the prime and then ideas may come to mind.

Often, people buy primes within their zoom range just to get a faster maximum aperture. For the OP's stated interest of portrait photography this might make sense, and there are several excellent lenses between 50mm and 135mm (even the 200/2.8L is a consideration if you like very tight framing) for this work.

The OP also likes landscape work. Reasons to select a prime for this work might be to get a lens with very low distortion, or better flare performance, or perhaps to get a lens that is sharper from corner to corner. The problem is, not all primes have these desirable features, so to suggest something here we really need to know what zoom lens you are using for this work, and what specific optical issues you do not like about it. Even then, depending on the focal length range you like for landscapes, there might be zoom lenses that are excellent choices. Primes are not always the best option.

^ Very solid advise.

I bought my 50 1.4 because I wanted a thin dof and the ability to shoot without a flash in low light.
Something my kit lens struggled to do at 50mm and f5.6

It fulfilled my need, but I desired a wider fov on crop.

Using a prime allowed me to pay more attention to framing my subject.
I didn't enjoy using its 81mm fov to take environmental portraits.
That fl was not right for me. That's what it taught me.

Decide that your primary type of photo will be and chose a fl to complement that in your crop camera.

If you don't know what you want, then get a 50 f/1.8 STM. At just over 100$, it's a cheap introduction into fast primes. From there you can figure out what that prime is missing that you are looking for and be able to better define what you want in your next lens.

I own the 17-55 and 55-250 zooms. I'd like a prime for portraits and mainly for thin dof and better indoor performance than the 17-55. The 17-55 is good don't get me wrong but I'd like to expand my bag and feel primes give superior images. I also like to do candid or "raw" shots so I won't always be able to walk up to subject and therefore want a telephoto as well. The 200 had crossed my mind but it is a budget buster right now. Hawaii has a lot of outdoors events and scenery. I'm shooting on a crop so wide needs to be wide. Probably better off with a 10-22. I read a lot of these forums threads and experiment with a lot of techniques I see. We have many fireworks shows here. Probowl is here. Triple crown of surfing. Many opportunities for great shots. Open to whatever but I will not spend more than 1500 on a single lens ever. But for now let's say $500 budget because Christmas is near

Ok now we have some idea of your intentions.

Quick rundown.
Only looking at primes faster than f2.8 since you have 17-55 already in that range.

I will second the recommendation of the new 50 1.8 stm
But it may be too long for indoors.
Avoid the 50 1.4 is is more costly and not any sharper.

The sigma 1.8 zoom is often considered a whole bag of primes. But I have not used it myself.

The canon 35 f2 Ias is another nice prime but it is not much faster than your existing 17-55 for your desired thin dof.

The older 24L mk I sell used for less than the mk II but may be out of your range.

There is also the Sigma 24mm and new 20mm f1.4 prime.
But again to get wide AND fast in a prime you pay premium.

If you do often shoot outdoors a refurbished or used 85mm 1.8 is worth ever penny.

Only choice you need to make is what fl first.

PS: regarding that 10-22mm
Don't get it. Get the new 10-18mm for uwa and save your cash for other lenses.
You can get one used off this forum too.
It is a great little lens.