Category Archives: Gear

Best Lens for Fashion Photography

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Raymond Chou

Canon ef 135mm f2.0l usm Best Lens for Fashion PhotographyA fellow photographer recently had asked me what’s the best lens for fashion photography. As you can imagine there is no one sentence answer for this question as fashion, like everyone else, depends on the photographer’s preference, but I do believe there are some rules that can and should be applied.

One of the primary guidelines when shooting commercial fashion is to stick with a long lens due to getting a desired lens perspective. I was therefore surprised to hear that my friend was being told otherwise by other photographers, and that one photographer even advised her to get the 24-70 mm lens for fashion photography. My answer was “that’s a great lens for weddings but not for fashion”.

My general understanding of fashion photography is that the models should look as tall as possible; therefore, shooting wide is the last thing you’d wanna do as that would make the models look shorter and stockier. Even an 85 mm, which is considered by many portrait photographers to be the shortest acceptable focal length, is not quite long enough for fashion in my opinion (works pretty well for beauty though). I speak from my own experience after seeing the difference between using an 85 and a 135.

I’m not sure if this next point is true, but I’ve been told that photographers who shoot for fashion magazines such as vogue commonly use focal lengths as high as the 200 mm range. But before you go thinking “the longer the focal length the better”, shooting too long, (beyond 200) image compression will start biting you in the butt, resulting in a dimensionally flat image.

All that being said, there is no “best” lens for fashion photography, simply because there are other factors to consider aside from lens perspective alone. As good as shooting at 200 mm is, unless you’ve the luxury of a costly full-frame sensor and space is never an issue (yea right), it’s not exactly convenient to use. Alternatively the 70-200 mm is a very good lens as you have the convenience of zooming plus being able to go up to 200, the problem of course is that it’s costly (the 2.8 version anyway) and weighs you down after a while. I myself prefer to stick with primes and I personally favor the Canon 100 and 135 mm for my full-frame body.

Of course there are some situations in which shooting long is virtually impossible, such as when you’re trying to shoot from a top-down perspective or when you’re working in tight corners.

If anyone feels otherwise feel free to leave a comment as I’m interested in hearing differing opinions.

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Prime Lenses vs Zoom Lenses

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Raymond Chou

canon ef 50mm f14 lens 150x150 Prime Lenses vs Zoom Lensescanon 17 40mm zoom lens 150x150 Prime Lenses vs Zoom Lenses

If you’re at all accustomed to lens-speak, you’ve no doubt heard about, and probably used, both prime lenses and zoom lenses. Like many photographers, you probably started out with your zoom kit lens. If you also own a prime lens, you already know some of the advantages they offer. If you haven’t, then definitely give this article a read.

Just a word before I begin, most of the things written here are generalizations which should serve as a departure point for further research. Also, I will be covering Canon lenses for the most part, but most of what is written here should apply to all manufactures.

What are Prime lenses

Quite simply, prime are lens with fixed focal lengths, meaning that unlike zoom lenses which allow you to conveniently remain in one spot and adjust your focal length, prime lenses will force you to be on your feet if you want to move closer or farther away. So many of these lenses have been made that they encompass everything from ultra wides (8 mm) to the longest tele lenses on the planet. The most popular one on the market is the 50mm, otherwise known as the Nifty 50 due to its affordable price and general all-purpose-use. For anyone just starting out in photography, I would highly recommend getting either the 50mm 1.8 or the 50mm 1.4 model.

Why Primes?

The main reason for wanting to go for a prime lens is image quality. Prime lenses are known to produce sharper images because they contain less moving parts (the same has been said about IS vs non IS lenses). This also allows for faster and wider apertures, which makes them better for shooting in low light conditions.

The more affordable prime lenses–most of the ones below $1000 if we’re talking US Currency–are also smaller and lighter, thus making them more portable, that is if you’re not carrying several of them. More on this point later on.

To paraphrase what Darren Rowse wrote in his article which speaks about Prime and Zoom lenses (I highly recommend this article as well), yet another reason to shoot prime is that more technique is involved as you’re forced to move around to find the best angle and get creative with your framing, whereas zoom lenses are said to make people lazy. To an extent this might be true if you’re starting out where the temptation to stand in one spot is stronger, but when I’m shooting prime or zoom, I find both to be as challenging as the other. For example, while you may not need to move back and forth between against a subject with a zoom lens, you do have lens perspective to tackle with, which is definitely you’ll want to pay attention to in your framing. Onto zoom.

Why Zooms?

To begin with the obvious, one of the biggest reasons to acquire a zoom lens is the flexibility they offer in terms of focal length. So instead of carrying three prime lenses of varying lengths from wide to telephoto, you cover all those bases with a single zoom lens. Along those same lines, depending on what you’re shooting, your shooting situation might require you to have one decent zoom lens at all times. This is especially true for weddings where so much is going on that if you were to constantly be switching back and forth between different prime lenses you’ll be bound to miss some important shots. And if you are constantly switching back and forth between lenses, your old pal dust will find opportunities to get cozy with your sensor.

Pricing Differences

This depends on several factors. First off, bear in mind that there’s a difference in comparing entry/moderately priced lens to L series lenses. Whereas the more affordable prime lenses, like the nifty fifty, belong to the former category, you won’t find anything cheap when it comes to L’s. As far as I know the “cheapest” L prime lens is the 100 mm 2.8 macro lens which runs for about $950 on BH Photo, meaning that it probably costs around $1300 in Canada.

That being said, price alone is probably not the best factor to bank on when it comes to choosing the lens type you should buy. Base your lens choice instead on your needs as a photographer and what you enjoy shooting. You can find an entry on that here.

Which is better?

This question is sort of like asking what type of tires you should buy, it depends on the situation. For example when I’m shooting headshots, I stick to the sharper primes because I know my subject isn’t going to go anywhere. When shooting weddings however, I will always bring one or two zoom lenses along for the ride.

My suggestion if you’re starting out is to go with both, have maybe a couple of primes on hand and a couple of zooms that cover the focal spectrum you need, and don’t bother getting anything that costs less than $300–other than the nifty fifty–because you’re bound to be disappointed by what you get. I think it’s safe to say that when it comes to lenses you get what you pay for, so do consider the value of a more expensive, yet useful, lens before you opt out altogether. Just make sure that you can afford it.

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FAQ | Which camera should I buy?

Posted on April 2, 2010 by Raymond Chou

*This post will be updated as new camera bodies arrive on the scene:

Vancouver Commercial Photographer

Out of all the questions I get asked frequently, this is by far the most common. In this post I will talk a bit about the most popular camera bodies, who should be getting what, and reasons for my recommendations. This post is not intended to serve as a comprehensive review for each of the camera bodies to be discussed, you can find lots of those elsewhere on the web.

Canon EOS 550D aka Canon Rebel T2i

Suggested Users: someone who’s fresh at SLR photography, hobbyists, someone who wants something small and compact

These are the most affordable and compact among the Canon SLRs. My first SLR was a Rebel XT (which is about 4 generations behind the T2i, and it was absolutely fantastic. Image quality is what you would expect out of a SLR, and it’s light enough to carry around with a reasonable light lens attached. If you’re just starting out in photography and are unsure about whether you want to take it to a professional level, you can’t go wrong with this.

Canon EOS 7D

Suggested Users: amateurs wanting to go professional, professional photographers, photographers who shoot video

Although not considered a professional camera by Canon standards, the 7D is used by professionals everywhere. For a camera below $2000, the features are rather advanced and it deals with noise very well for a crop sensor. The only reason I would choose the 5D Mark II over this is because of the full-frame sensor of the latter, but if that’s not a big deal to you, the 7D to me is the obvious choice. It’s also the choice for videographers who need gear on the go and easy to set up.

Canon 5D Mark II

Suggested Users: serious amateur photographers or professionals who need a full-frame sensor

Out of all the Canon SLRs I’ve seen around Vancouver, this is by far one of the most common. This is somewhat surprising because I hardly ever saw anyone use its predecessor the 5D, which is the camera I am currently using. The main feature of the Canon 5D series is their full-frame sensors, which will allow for a field of view that’s 1.6 as wide compared to the T21 or 7D. In other words, what you’ll be seeing on a 50mm mounted to a 7D is the same thing as you would on a 50mm mounted to a 5D MK II.

The 5D MK II also boasts better image quality due to its full-frame sensor, and it handles noise like a charm, making it the ideal of the three for low-light conditions without a flash. (though that benefit on its own is hardly worth the upgrade from a 7D to 5D III) When it comes to video, the 7D is currently superior (specifically because of its ability to shoot at 24 fps), but a firmware upgrade apparently in the works for the 5D II should level the playing field.

If you’re unsure as to the type of user you are, here are a list of questions you can use to qualify your needs:

  • Will I go professional with this some day?
  • Will I be taking pictures often or will I find dust on my camera with each use?
  • Do I need something that’s easy to carry around?
  • Do I want something light and compact?
  • Will I need something that performs well under low-light conditions?
  • Do I need something that shoots good video?
  • Do I want something minimalistic?
  • Am I willing to spend an ARM and a LEG on extra lenses in the future?
  • Do I NEED a full-frame sensor?
  • Can I achieve the same results with a more affordable model?
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