ive fallen out with my 50mm

I think ive finaly had enough of my darling 1.8 50mm, its focusing and slappy bangness and general feel finaly got to me during a shoot last night Now im stuck in deciding a replacement.

Im not sure what to do, im hoping to be doing some concert photography which may require some closer-up action than 50mm, and i never realy liked 50mm for my present work which needs something a bit wider.

So i see it as a job for two primes or a decent 2.8 zoom.

I hear good things about the Sigma 30mm 1.4 so am tempted to take that route along with maybe the canon 85mm 1.8 for concerts?

or, spend a decent amount say £500 on a good zoom?

Any advice would be most appreciated, im not sure if im a bag of primes man or a zoom man! I struggle for 'normal' snapshot photos at events and family things currently with my setup of a tokina 12-24 and the 50m, I think the sigma being bang in the middle at 30mm may also double up as a good general lens?


RiverCottage

50mm F1.4 Its sharp, solid and your used to the focal length The 85mm F1.8 is also good build and sharp.
Havnt tryed a sigma 30mm
A zoom will offer more flexibility, However if you do a lot of low light then primes are your only option.

Maybe you should answer some questions first.

1) Do you need to shoot faster than f/2.8 a lot?
2) Does the 50 feel too long, too short, or both?

Can't really recommend anything without knowing the answers to those questions.

generaly im finding that 50mm is either too long or not wide enough depending on what im doing, but a lot of my work is hovering around 2.8, so its ...just.... about okay for one of these 2.8 zooms...but only just

If f/2.8 is generally fast enough, maybe a 24/28-70/75 f/2.8 zoom would work. Personally I just reserve my primes for lowlight or when I need extra bokeh. Else it's the convenience of a zoom that tickles me just fine.

I think you answered your own question - 50mm isn't cutting the mustard.

I'd suggest 85mm f/1.8 definitely, and then you need a fast prime between 28mm to 35mm. Keep your 50 1.8 for when you need that particular focal length.

I'd suggest having a good look at the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 - I found one in my local Jessops yesterday, very similar price to Warehouse Express, has a 30 day return policy, comes with hood and case - and it has HSM which is almost as good as USM, and full time manual focusing.

I don't think you'll find a better value lens than this.

If it's zooms you're looking at, with your budget you'll need to be thinking Tamron, tokina or sigma f/2.8 zooms - most of which don't have HSM

Since you state that f/2.8 would be *just* enough and that most of your work is around that aperature I too would go for the combination of the 30 f/1.4 and the 85 f/1.8 over the single f/2.8 zoom as this will give you flexibility in being able to choose a slightly wider aperature when required and I doubt the f/2.8 zoom would be able to match the two primes for sharpness when it's shooting wide open.

Thanks for the replies guys, looks like im going to be a prime man, definatly with the 85mm 1.8 and ill do some further research into a good prime around 30mm, the sigma seems a bit pricey compared to the other offerings around that range, ill have a read around...may as well throw a 20d battery grip in aswell


RiverCottage

RiverCottage wrote in post #2153088
Thanks for the replies guys, looks like im going to be a prime man, definatly with the 85mm 1.8 and ill do some further research into a good prime around 30mm, the sigma seems a bit pricey compared to the other offerings around that range, ill have a read around...may as well throw a 20d battery grip in aswell


RiverCottage

Here in the US the Sigma is only about $60 more than the Canon 85mm. Mostly because it's an f/1.4. Is it really that much more over on your side of the water??

cdi-ink.com wrote in post #2153127
Here in the US the Sigma is only about $60 more than the Canon 85mm. Mostly because it's an f/1.4. Is it really that much more over on your side of the water??

Even less...just £8 ukp, though whether that's because the 85mm is more expensive over here than in the US I don't know (£264). These two primes together will only cost £45 more than the £500 budget the OP was thinking of for the f/2.8 zoom lens.

The only other reasonably priced lenses that have AF and are in the same range as Sigma's 30 that spring to mind are all Canon. The 28 f/1.8 (£45 more than the Sigma), the 28 f/2.8 (Only goes down to f/2.8 so would need to be sure of sharpness wide open and no USM) and the 35 f/2 (Again no USM and iirc in reviews generally comes second to the Sigma - I believe lightrules did a comparison between these two lenses?)

Save a bit and look at the 16-35L used

Chris L wrote in post #2153236
Even less...just £8 ukp, though whether that's because the 85mm is more expensive over here than in the US I don't know (£264).

Apparently that's the case. The 85mm comes out to $497USD based on the cost you gave, while it's a $339 lens at B&H. The Sigma is only $399 at B&H. Of course the gap narrows if you buy a hood for $24 additional. Sigma includes one.

RiverCottage wrote in post #2152567
...
I hear good things about the Sigma 30mm 1.4 so am tempted to take that route along with maybe the canon 85mm 1.8 for concerts?
...

You will be floored with that combination! I never touched my 50 after I got those two. If you can afford both I would say stretch to do it. If you can only afford one...Eh, well I think I'd do the Canon first, again

Hi! thanks again, im going to go for that combo, ive already got £200 in my paypal account and may also sell a sigma ring flash to fund the cause so it shouldnt hurt the wallet too much!


RiverCottage

cdi-ink.com wrote in post #2153317
Apparently that's the case. The 85mm comes out to $497USD based on the cost you gave, while it's a $339 lens at B&H. The Sigma is only $399 at B&H. Of course the gap narrows if you buy a hood for $24 additional. Sigma includes one.

Interesting...the 85 f/1.8 hood is an additional £18 ukp which converts to $33 USD, the Sigma would be a bargain £211! instead of £274 ($515 USD!) and just to depress me even more, the cost of the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS over here is $2351 USD.

malla1962 wrote in post #2153288
Save a bit and look at the 16-35L used

Not quite sure how that's supposed to offer an alternative in the 85mm range?