lens for large family shot

I have been reading and learning off of this forum for awhile now. Thanks for the great info and ideas. I have been asked to take pictures for a large family. The family consists of about 30 people. I am also looking for a new lense to purchase because I am thinking the ones I have now will not do the trick. This shot will be taken indoors, I have already purchased some lighting and umbrellas, but am now worried about what lense I should have. The umbrellas and lighting I have been using for children's portraits. This large of a family is a new one for me. As always I am not wanting to spend $1000's so is there something that would do the trick for a bit less (under the $1000 mark). My Tamron lense does not produce the quality pictures that I would like. I also have to shoot a wedding so the lense I get I would like it to be useable for that as well. Any suggestions, or are you all laughing at me...

I've been quite pleased with my 17-40. Have used for weddings, team pictures, family portraits...and it's a gem!

What's wrong with the 50mm f/1.8? I used that for my family portraits (18 members, 6 per row). I'll admit that it was a bit long for a crop camera and I had to setup the tripod quite a distance. I shot outdoors at noon with overcast sky. If anything, I'd recommend 17-40 f/4L or a 30-35mm prime.

DisDarce wrote in post #2747751
I have been reading and learning off of this forum for awhile now. Thanks for the great info and ideas. I have been asked to take pictures for a large family. The family consists of about 30 people. I am also looking for a new lense to purchase because I am thinking the ones I have now will not do the trick. This shot will be taken indoors, I have already purchased some lighting and umbrellas, but am now worried about what lense I should have. The umbrellas and lighting I have been using for children's portraits. This large of a family is a new one for me. As always I am not wanting to spend $1000's so is there something that would do the trick for a bit less (under the $1000 mark). My Tamron lense does not produce the quality pictures that I would like. I also have to shoot a wedding so the lense I get I would like it to be useable for that as well. Any suggestions, or are you all laughing at me...

Hi,

Welcome to POTN

IMHO you have just described the Canon 17-55MM f/2.8 EF-S IS. It works great for large groups and for weddings and I use it on my 30D. I have used it in both situations with great results. Cost will be right at $1,000.00 so this is not a cheap solution.

One thing on the large group shots...get a small step ladder or 3 step kitchen stool and shoot down to the group...shot this way the pictures will look great.

The POTN folks here are super...in the next several days you will get lots and lots of great advice...so, read it all, apply the advice to your situation and your wallet and make your decision.

Good Luck,

My thoughts and opinions:

Canon: 18-55 f8-ish, 17-40, 17-55, 16-35, 17-35
Sigma: 17-70, 18-50 f5.6-ish
Tamron: there are some, I don't know this line well
Primes: any of the faster XX (double digit) primes, but will have to foot-zoom it

Hi,

Welcome to POTN

IMHO you have just described the Canon 17-55MM f/2.8 EF-S IS. It works great for large groups and for weddings and I use it on my 30D. I have used it in both situations with great results. Cost will be right at $1,000.00 so this is not a cheap solution.

One thing on the large group shots...get a small step ladder or 3 step kitchen stool and shoot down to the group...shot this way the pictures will look great.

The POTN folks here are super...in the next several days you will get lots and lots of great advice...so, read it all, apply the advice to your situation and your wallet and make your decision.

Was kind of leaning that way, however was kind of hesitant at the price but was thinking I would get a lot of use out of it. Seems like this is the a popular lense. I need to get a few other things such as a bigger memory card, and I have not purchased a light meter yet either. On the other end of things I did consider the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8, but am pretty sure I would still be looking for something better in the long run.

With the 50mm f/1.8 I have read alot about focusing problems. I am worried about a group this size. What if the middle row is all in focus and the back row isn't? Major screw up. I have it with three people where one of them is out of focus. Seen as how I am still in the learning process, it more than likely is the person behind the camera then the lense itself. I probably need to play with the aperature on that lense as I will on any lense. For a group this size I should have my aperature set between f/8 to f/11 or so, correct?

As well with the 50mm I am concerned about how far I would have to stand back. Too bad I didn't have a trial run at this.
As well, the 17-40 probably will not be as useful with other portraiture. At least I think that is right if I am understanding my lenses correctly.

Ever lay a wake a night worrying about these things?

DisDarce wrote in post #2748131
With the 50mm f/1.8 I have read alot about focusing problems. I am worried about a group this size. What if the middle row is all in focus and the back row isn't? Major screw up. I have it with three people where one of them is out of focus. Seen as how I am still in the learning process, it more than likely is the person behind the camera then the lense itself. I probably need to play with the aperature on that lense as I will on any lense. For a group this size I should have my aperature set between f/8 to f/11 or so, correct?

As well with the 50mm I am concerned about how far I would have to stand back. Too bad I didn't have a trial run at this.
As well, the 17-40 probably will not be as useful with other portraiture. At least I think that is right if I am understanding my lenses correctly.

Ever lay a wake a night worrying about these things?

Ah yes, I learned a few lessons the hard way. My first attempt using 50mm f/1.8 for family portrait yielded out-of-focus back group and front group but sharp middle group. Why? Because I thought it would be cool to shoot at f/1.8 and get a nice bokeh effect of the green trees around the family. Didn't realize that I had only a few inches Depth-of-Field (DoF)! Doh! Later I've read more and found out that you would want to shoot around f/8 like you said. The lens is fine. The focusing problem you describe is simply DoF and has to do with aperture size, f/11 solving your problem.

One more note: If you are going to shoot handheld on a mini kitchen ladder, at f/8-f/11, you are probably going to be glad if you had IS. In that case, the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS is a good choice. I personally went for the 24-105 f/4L IS. But since I shot with a tripod, I used my prime for better optics.

Well, it is nice too know that I am beginning to understand the in and outs of this business at least regarding DOF and aperature. I think the ladder is a great idea, but on the other hand a tripod and stability is kind of a nice comfort zone. Maybe I have to do some of both.

Also, if you have a non-IR controllable camera, you might want to buy the wired remote knockoffs and turn on the mirror lockup function. This way, you can fire the mirror out the way, then fire off the shot remotely without touching the camera, in search of the most clear portrait shot. Also, something to consider, use the Canon EOS utility, and control/monitor everything using a laptop instead. I haven't tried this yet, but want to play with it this week to see how well it works for a temp. studio setup.

17-55mm is the one!!

Okay, now you are going way beyond me... but one of these days perhaps I will be there. I have an ever growing list of things I want/need? Don't we all? I am just praying for a good picture, becasue 30 people are relying on it, but I have to use the equipment I have, with perhaps and added lense, memory card, and transmitter for my lights I am considering, etc.

it's amazing watching this thread develop into rocket science.

wow !

JTTDP for chrissake !

ed rader

Have patience... we aren't all as brilliant as others!!! LOL

Maybe this is a good time for a lens rental instead of buying. This way you could use a really good lens, get the shots you want, then later make a decision to buy that lens or another?

TeamSpeed wrote in post #2748334
Also, if you have a non-IR controllable camera, you might want to buy the wired remote knockoffs and turn on the mirror lockup function. This way, you can fire the mirror out the way, then fire off the shot remotely without touching the camera, in search of the most clear portrait shot. Also, something to consider, use the Canon EOS utility, and control/monitor everything using a laptop instead. I haven't tried this yet, but want to play with it this week to see how well it works for a temp. studio setup.

DisDarce, basically this means that when you take a picture, the mirror used to provide the thru-the-lens image on your viewfinder, moves away "violently" allowing the image to reach the CMOS sensor. This moving away "violently" causes undesired vibrations, and thus can introduce blurs to your image. Mirror lockup basically bypasses this "mirror moving away" part.

The IR remote is simply to avoid further vibrations during the "pressing the shutter button" part.

I have no idea if professional portrait photographers uses this function all the time and/or IR remote. Good time to ask...