Official BeyondUnreal Photography Thread

[Firefly]

I'm not much of a photographer but my wife is.
click on the "english life" link in my sig to see her pics.

[BillyBadAss]

Originally Posted by OO7MIKE

No more tossing... it is essential for every photographers bag! Scoop one up as soon as you can. You will love F1.8 and you will love the sharpness of the lens. 50mm f1.8 is the gateway lens to some photographers. Some sell off all their zooms for more primes because of the leap in image quality.

There seems to be a vast span in the price range for these lens. Can you suggest me one that will be the most bang for my buck. I got the cash, I just don't want to over spend on something I am not going to see. Thanks.

[BillyBadAss]

Originally Posted by JohnDoe641

Right after a storm.

Nice man! Is this your first camera? Good eye!

[Igoy]

Love the pics 007MIKE, especially the ones with backlighting! It looks gorgeous. However, #2 bothers me for some reason. :/ Overall I like the picture, but the pose seems to unnatural; very forced.

Firefly- I like the missus' photos. Very typically 'blog' style (but not a bad thing ;D)

[sid]

Post processed.

[OO7MIKE]

Originally Posted by Firefly

I'm not much of a photographer but my wife is.
click on the "english life" link in my sig to see her pics.

I looked over the first page on her blog with my fiance. The photos do indeed tell a story. Very nice

Originally Posted by igyou hime

Love the pics 007MIKE, especially the ones with backlighting! It looks gorgeous. However, #2 bothers me for some reason. :/ Overall I like the picture, but the pose seems to unnatural; very forced.

I actually agree with you 100% however after several of my photography colleagues looked at the shots all of them pointed that one out as being one of my strongest shots. They all loved the shadow cast shape. I'm more concerned about her expressions but with the overwhelming response... why not put it up?

LOL I'm actually relieved you feel the same.

Originally Posted by BillyBadAss

There seems to be a vast span in the price range for these lens. Can you suggest me one that will be the most bang for my buck. I got the cash, I just don't want to over spend on something I am not going to see. Thanks.

No problem. I'll give you a wide range of options with a few reasons on why they are good choices.

First up is the 50mm F1.8 II for $90 This is usually every Canon users first 50mm lens. Its one hell of a bargain because it delivers outstanding image contrast and sharpness for the price. You can snatch this lens up on the used market for as low as $50. They are very much in demand so they sell fast. KEH.com has them for $60 right now! There is an older version of this lens that contains more metal and less plastic. Its a slightly better lens but is a rare find. I typically see them sold for around $200. For that price you may as well snatch up the next lens on this list.

The 50mm f1.4 for $320 to me is a love/hate sort of lens. It delivers a beautiful colors and silky smooth bokeh. It is quite sharp even at f1.4. Much more sharp at F1.8 and F2.0 than the lens above. You really are getting what you are paying for. I own this lens personally and what I do not like about it is its tendency to mis focus. It is the must frustrating lens to deal with in terms of auto focus cooperation due to its shallow depth of field. If you have a good eye you will be able to spot when things are not quite in focus. Overall this is a wonderful lens. I have seen these on the used market for as low as $220.

Canon makes a 50mm F1.2 for $1,300. Its a bit more lens than you may need. Its specialty is low light and shallow depth of field. Focusing is slow however more accurate than the F1.4 lens. Although I would love to own this lens, the need does not currently exceed the price tag.

Canon used to make a 50mm F1.0 which was a monster. Similar in size to the 85mm 1.2. A few photographers who own this lens swear by it. This lens is extremely rare and usually sells for $4,000 - $6,000. There is an interesting story behind why the lens was discontinued but the value of the lens remains much higher than the original retail purchase price.

Canon does make a 50mm f2.5 but it is a macro based lens. Best used for objects that you intend to get very close to. Auto focus is very slow so a tripod may be necessary. Not a good choice for anything far away as sharpness and contrast breaks down if you try to get any more depth of field than F8. By the time you get up to F22 or F32 you are left with photos that are a lot less sharp than your camera phone. Very sharp when taking shots at F2.8 - F8.

Moving back into the price realm of common man... there are other brands and types of 50mm out there. Sigma makes a few 50mm lenses which offer a different look and feel to your photos. If you are willing to give up auto focus, with a lens adapter you have more options. You can utilize lenses from Leica, Zeiss, Carl-Zeiss, Pentax, Voigtlander and even some select Nikon! Adaptors run anywhere from $10 - $200. I scored a Pentax and Nikon adapter for $14 a pop off of Ebay. They are not outstanding in quality but they do allow me to take photos with their respective brand lenses.

I hope this helps!

[TomWithTheWeather]

Originally Posted by OO7MIKE

The 50mm f1.4 for $320 to me is a love/hate sort of lens. It delivers a beautiful colors and silky smooth bokeh. It is quite sharp even at f1.4. Much more sharp at F1.8 and F2.0 than the lens above. You really are getting what you are paying for. I own this lens personally and what I do not like about it is its tendency to mis focus. It is the must frustrating lens to deal with in terms of auto focus cooperation due to its shallow depth of field. If you have a good eye you will be able to spot when things are not quite in focus. Overall this is a wonderful lens. I have seen these on the used market for as low as $220.

I'm actually considering adding this one to my collection. Do they all "mis-focus" or do you possibly have a bad one? Or is it the scenario where you take a picture, realize you focused on the tip if the nose instead of the eyes, and the DOF is just shallow enough to screw things up?

[Plasmadaemon]

I'm on holiday in St.Petersburg at the moment, and will be for the next 2 or so weeks- ample amount of time to practice my street photography.

Problem is, I'm stuck with an old (sure looks like it) CRT 17" monitor, whose res is set to 1024x7something, so I've difficulties reviewing and working my pics due to the fuzzyness and lack of calibration.



Here I cloned out some parked cars out in front of the kids, producing a stark bright contrast to bring out the silhouettes; and made the graffiti patch to the right a bit clearer/darker.

I'm actually considering adding this one to my collection. Do they all "mis-focus" or do you possibly have a bad one? Or is it the scenario where you take a picture, realize you focused on the tip if the nose instead of the eyes, and the DOF is just shallow enough to screw things up?

It's the latter- but since you'll use the shallow DOF mostly in controlled environments (going by my own tendencies), where time isn't an expense, you can have multiple takes on the subject to get the focus that's right for you.

[JohnDoe641]

Originally Posted by BillyBadAss

Nice man! Is this your first camera? Good eye!

Thanks, it actually isn't my first camera, my first camera was some really old Pentax that I shot slide film with and it was completely used and abused until I got my first dSLR the D70s. I had that since May 2006 and now the D300 since July. The clouds and the dog pic were taken with the D300 and the D70s has since become a never used backup body.

[sid]

Plasmadeon, that is an awesome pic man! I wanna try something like that someday

[Firefly]

Originally Posted by OO7MIKE

I looked over the first page on her blog with my fiance. The photos do indeed tell a story. Very nice

cheers. I'll tell her, she'll be happy.

Plasmadaemon, i love those dark urban pics. always remind me of Future Sound of London's music style. good one

[OO7MIKE]

Originally Posted by TomWithTheWeather

I'm actually considering adding this one to my collection. Do they all "mis-focus" or do you possibly have a bad one? Or is it the scenario where you take a picture, realize you focused on the tip if the nose instead of the eyes, and the DOF is just shallow enough to screw things up?

They all missfocus. Its a combination of your camera, the shallow depth of field and movement.

I really cant discribe just how many portraits have been botched by trying to do them at F1.4. Its rare but possible to do. F2.0 is a much better setting unless you are far away. Even then, after you take the shot, check ! Those eyes may not be as a sharp as you expected.

For this lens even the slightest move of your subject will move them out of focus.

For this lens I use the following techniques to get headshots.
- One shot focus
- Tell your subject to be very still once an excellent pose has been made
- Focus on his/her eyes lashes then recompose with out moving yourself out of range for optimal focus
- Tap on the focus till he/she is as sharp as they are going to get
- Burst mode - Everyone moves, chances are during the move you will capture a sharp shot.

Although the 1dmk2n and the 1dmk3 have a better autofucus system the problem still lays with the lens. You may want to consider using manual focus from time to time. Sometimes its faster.

Please, dont ever try to use this thing for sports photography. LOL

[TomWithTheWeather]

I'm used to mis-focus. I use a 100mm macro lens as a walk-around lens occasionally.

[Juggalo Kyle]

Originally Posted by OO7MIKE

First up is the 50mm F1.8 II for $90 This is usually every Canon users first 50mm lens. Its one hell of a bargain because it delivers outstanding image contrast and sharpness for the price. You can snatch this lens up on the used market for as low as $50. They are very much in demand so they sell fast. KEH.com has them for $60 right now! There is an older version of this lens that contains more metal and less plastic. Its a slightly better lens but is a rare find. I typically see them sold for around $200. For that price you may as well snatch up the next lens on this list.

This is the lens I use with my Canon Rebel XT (350D). I just took these photos a few days ago. They're of my friend from work, and her son. (She is also a photographer)

The lens itself, well, you get what you pay for. I don't like the focus motor, so I Manual Focus 100% of the time. (Mis-Focus issues out the yin yang).

The Bokeh (Background blur) is good at f/1.8. I mainly shoot in f/1.8 - f/2.8.

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[Plasmadaemon]

Two more. Shot with... a prime 50mm 1.8 lens! Used burst mode, as Mike mentioned, to get the damned dog in focus.

[Zur]

Nice field of depth in that last pic. His/her eyes really stand out (sorry I don't like referring to animals as "it").

[sid]

Originally Posted by Azura

His/her eyes really stand out (sorry I don't like referring to animals as "it").

Same. I love the "tongue out" pic, its quite sharp.

[Slainchild]

Another abandoned place visit with Hazel today:























More here: http://flickr.com/photos/benedney/se...7606653127847/

[TomWithTheWeather]

Here's a few new pictures from my trip to the beach recently.

http://www.nathanoverman.com/photo/beach08/index.html

[Mr. UglyPants]

Originally Posted by Plasmadaemon

Looks almost game-like!


Same shot, just tweaked.

Wow, I'm so hyped up by this & can't wait to do more. Hopefully my trip to Leningrad (I know I know, but it's quicker to spell than St.Petersburg) will inspire me by the way of abandoned buildings.

Totally reminded of Crysis's Dx9 vs DX10!

Also, good tweaks. How'd you manage that anyways?