Tuesday 20 July 2010

Favourite Lens - Quick Shot Answer

Name:: Tim Elliott

Question:: On your 15 minute challenges, what lens are you generally using please?

Answer: There are two main lenses I use in the 15 minute challenges. The first is my Canon 24-105L which and the second is a Canon 50mm f1.8.

So why use the 24-105? Well it’s easily the most used lens I own. Not only does it produce amazingly crisp images it also covers the kind focal lengths I need to use in every day life. For those two reasons it pretty much lives on my camera, so when the mood strikes to record a 15 minute photo challenge it’s often the only lens for the job I have on me.

You’re probably asking yourself, if Gavin loves the 24-105 lens so much why does he sometimes use the 50mm? It’s a fair question and deserves an honest answer.
Pretty much every camera manufacturer makes a 50mm lens and on the whole they’re one of the cheaper lenses you can buy. So when I conceived the idea for the 15 minute photo challenge I wanted to use a lens that was accessible to all and the 50mm f1.8 was it.

The other big advantage of the 50mm f1.8 is the fast maximum aperture. Shooting wide open at f1.8 allows me to get some very creative images with tiny depth of field like this image from my very first 15 minute photo challenge.

15 Minute Challenge - Garden Shoot (8)

7 comments:

Ben said...

One reason I like sticking with my 50mm f1.8 (Nikon) for a challenge is because the fixed focal length forces you to be more creative with what you shoot and your framing, and often I end up taking pictures that I would usually shoot wider and getting an interesting crop that I may not have considered otherwise. Also It's a beautiful lens :-)

yecheskel said...

What cheaper lens would you suggest instead of the L series one?

Gavin Hoey Training said...

yecheskel: Before I had the 24-105L I had a Canon 28-135 USM IS lens.

iago said...

Do not miss something wider?
Do you prefer take many photos and then join them in PS?
Thank you for your lessons.
Greetings from Spain

Gavin Hoey Training said...

Iago: I miss a wide angle and telephoto, but that's the whole point of the 15 minute photo challenge... Learn to see images that you can take with the equipment you have.

Unknown said...

the 24-105 L is a beautiful lens. i wud love one! i have a few differnt lenes but i find myself Havin the most fun and bein the most creative wen takin "inpromtu" photos like in the 15 min challenge with my 28mm 2.8 or a 50mm 1.8! I LOVE PRIMES!

Unknown said...

impromptu***

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