My first lens was the "kit" lens that came with my camera. It is a very standard 18-55mm (so it zooms a bit, but not a ton) with an f-stop (aperture size) of 3.5 at the lowest zoom, which is a totally respectable aperture, but something lower would be more ideal in low light situation and also give you that nice portrait image with a sharp focus on a person and a beautifully blurred background.
This is the photo that set off my obsession for a new lens. This was taken with Alaina's Nikon 50mm fixed lens (so no zoom) at f1.8. Canon makes a similar lens and it is very affordable. On the other hand, Alaina has that lens, so I wanted to get something that would expand our options. I also found the 50mm to be zoomed in (if you are tracking, my current lens only goes to 55mm, so this is almost max zoom for my kit lens). I started flirting with a 35mm low aperture lens, but those are $$$. I settled on getting a 40 mm f2.8. Then I spent another 20 hours on the internet and found my "dream" lens- it offered zoom and a low f-stop at a fairly affordable price. It is not made by Canon (Oh, Canon makes a comparable lens for close to $1600- not going to happen!), but instead a Tamaron (28-75mm, f2.8). I bought it used from a reputable site, so the cost was less than half the retail value.
When I got the lens, I was in LOVE! But (big BUT) I have been using it for a while and am not totally satisfied, though am growing more and more satisfied. Here is the deal- I love the photos I get from my zippy little DSLR. Then I upgraded my lens to get even better pictures- but at the same time, I switched from using auto mode to a manual mode (controlling the aperture selection) and I don't think that I have gotten any brilliant photos. Part of this is a learning curve that I hope ends up being well worth the fairly minimal investment, as far as lenses go. It is so hard to judge, as I can't switch to my kit lens and take the same picture for a side by side comparison with the kids. I am also NOT willing to pay more that $200 for a new lens at this time, and that severely limits my options.
While I work all of this out, I am going to go through some of my most recent adventure photos to analyze what exactly I have going with my new camera.
This is a good demo of what my new lens is capable of. I cranked up the f-stop for the first photo and then dropped it down to 2.8 for the second shot. There is that blur I was looking for!
And then I can get some low light photos like this one that I love:
After some casual play with the lens, I took it on the road to the zoo- and I didn't love the results. Part of this is because you don't want to blur the background at the zoo (duh! I was just so in love with the portrait sharpness that it occurred to me too late that this was not the effect you want for the zoo).
I tried really hard to get carousel photos that were amazing, but I was really close to the kids, so it was tough to get good pictures starting at 28mm as a full zoom out. I don't think the pictures are bad- but I just don't know that they are better than the old lens set on auto, especially in an outdoors, high light setting!
The additional zoom over my kit lens was a nice boost in this case.
Fun focus option
I was really happy with the color and light of the helicopter, as that is in a garage type structure, so lower light.
Not a great picture, but this was really low light, so any picture is better than what I have gotten in the past.
Downside: The camera starts at 28mm, so it is hard to get a good angle on things when you are really close, like I was on the carousel.
So overall, I was reasonably happy with my pictures, but I can't say that I couldn't have gotten most of them with my original lens.
The next time I played with the camera, I was back at the zoo- three days later! This time, I was a chaperone for the Kindergarten field trip. I switched back to my kit lens, as I decided the benefits of the new lens aren't significant when somewhere like the zoo.
Looking at these pictures, I see that I don't love the color- which is related to the camera white balance more than the lens. Prior to this zoo trip, I took a bunch of test shots with my new lens and I was also unhappy with the white balance. For the next set of pictures, I still hadn't worked out what the problem was, so the color is also a bit blue-toned. This adventure was to a community egg hunt followed by Stephanie's first T-ball practice.
Cute picture- but a good demonstration of why you don't want to stop the camera all the way down- we were outside, so light wasn't a real issue, so the result of a low f-stop meant that Stephanie was out of focus- living and learning!
The new lens has a bit of a soft focus at the lowest f-stop. I don't think it is necessarily apparent unless you do side by side shots to compare, but I am a little disappointed in not being able to get a really crisp image when the aperture is wide open. However, more reading indicates that this is not atypical for any lens. That means that I should probably be in the market for a lower f-stop, but my options are limited unless I am willing to spend big bucks- which I am not. Also, I am trying to become less obsessed with a low f-stop, as it clearly is not always what I want. But if I want it, I just really, really want it.... such a sucker for that crisp portrait and blurry background!
The color tones are just a bit cool- something you can fix with white balance- if you realize you need to fix it! Now I know that this is a general issue with my camera and I am on it. It has always been an issue, I see it when I look at older photos on my digital frame. I was just never analyzing the pictures so heavily.
Okay, other than the color being a little cool, I really love this picture.
SUCCESS! Jump rope picture was at dusk, and the grass really is mostly dead (which is intentional- but that will have to be another blogpost), so I am happy that the picture has some warmer colors. This was stopped all the way down and I slowed the shutter speed to stop the jump rope. Not a fantastic picture of Stephanie, necessarily, but I was really happy to achieve the image.
Our next time out with the camera was for an Easter egg hunt at the neighbors house. Her grass is beautiful and green, I was attentive to the white balance and generally happy with the image quality.
I brought some confetti eggs (literally eggshells that have been emptied of their eggs and filled with confetti)- they loved them, and they were pretty cool. We did a few more on Easter, and I held some back to get some fun family photos- it was too rainy on Easter to bring the camera out, but I still haven't gotten to it. Is it too late? Maybe, but I might still do it anyway.
My last problem is photo composition- and this has nothing to do with my camera. It is like what Kevin says about his race gear- it isn't the bike quality that is holding him back. At some point, the person on the bike, or in this case, holding the camera is limited by their own skills. I often realize, too late, that I needed to shift angles or take a few steps back. I am hoping that once some of the camera settings become easy and natural to adjust on the fly, I will be able to work on composition. I suspect I will never be great at it, as I haven't shown a particular inherent skill in this area- but, like anything, practice can go a long way to approach natural talent, and I have plenty of practice ahead of me.
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