Hi, I will bought a DSLR camera in a few days. I stopped my choice for the cam on the Canon 40D refurbished of used. On the lenses, I hesitate between 3 lens. I would like to know witch one you would choose when you can be around the court. I'll take picture in local gym. 1. 50 mm f/1.8 II USM I looked at the review and it tell the picture quality is good but the usm not fast enough? Any problem there? Also the construction seems not so robust. 2. EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM I local merchand recommended me this lens and tells me it's the best one. But if I consider the price difference with the 50 mm, I wish to knew if the difference worth it? 3. EF 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM This one is a zoom lens and is known for it's best quality. I just wonder if this lens have a focal low enough for badminton shooting. I'm interresting to knew if this lens can do great shot at the pace of badminton because it's more a all-around lens than the others prime lens. I saw a deal on a 40D + 17-55mm so that's the reason why I'm asking. Witch of the following scenarios do you think is the best for a starter: 40D + 17-55mm and buy prime lens when the money will come in 40D + 50mm and buy a cheaper zoom lens than the 17-55mm 40D + 85mm and buy a cheaper zoom lens than the 17-55mm. Every comments will be appreciated.
Thanks a quote from the post you mentionned. The 3rd line tells me exactly the info I was looking for! Thanks you very much I'm wish I will get my stock soon!
Quickie comment... (just my 2 cents): ...for badminton, indoor, no flash picture taking, definitely go for the fastest lens, biggest aperture opening available. Ideally, and personally, it's better to go for f/1.0 to f/2.0 lenses. Primes usually produce better quality pictures than zoom lenses. The 17-55/f2.8 is minimal/barely enough at best for taking indoor baddy pics. Also what's your budget?? If you want and don't mind going several technology lower for a camera body, you can purchase a used 20D or 30D. Then use the rest of the money to buy the lenses.
I think the 40D has significant autofocus improvements on the 30D - enough for me to think th extra premium is worth it. 50/1.8 - yes. Not very good AF motor but advantage is the very low price and therefore cheap to experiment with. If you are not familiar with camera equipment and lenses, I would say 50mm f1.8 is a reasonable choice as a learning tool. As familiarity with the subject improves, then buy the 85mm/1.8. But the specific answer to this question In my opinion, the difference is definitely worth it. For some gyms, the 17-55mm/2.8 is possible. e.g. in HK many of the places have light good to use that lens but not so in USA. As a general purpose lens for other subjects, this lens is good. You need to be able to sit near the courtside to use this lens. Some examples with the 30D and the limitations of the 17-55mm: Taken with 17-55mm. You can see from the end of the court, this is the view you would get at 44mm. (ISO1600, f2.8, 1/400) For this one, it's taken at the side of the court with the same lens @ 35mm. Same setttings again but you can see the photo came out a little dark. Remember, this was under strong lights for TV
Hi, thanks for you comments. To ctjcad, I choose 40D because of the better autofocus and the 6.5 fps. I'll probably do some road bike shooting next summer so I think it's better having a faster fps. Also, the difference between 40D and 30D is something like 100$ maximum so I consider the 40D worth more than this difference. My budget for right now is limited but I'm planning to get my stuff gradualy. But I want to choose the right range of prime lens. To Cheung, I appreciate the example of the 17-55mm. I find the first to be not good enough so I'll go for a faster lens. I have another question. I looked at the pics I tooked a couple of months ago and find that I used a focus lenght of 37mm equiv because I'm oftenly able to go right on the side of the court. Like 3 feet all around the court. So I will probably do like Cheung said and start with the EF 50mm f/1.8 to see my real needs and learn the difference between my Fujifilm S5000 and a real DSLR! Where are you when you shoot badminton game? Very near the court. With the croud and far from the court, approximately how many feet? I'm asking because I will probably shoot in my badminton club where I can go very near the court so maybe I have to take a wider lens. That's what the 50mm f1.8 will teach me! Here are two pics I took with my Fuji at 37mm equiv. so maybe 50 on 40D gives 80mm equiv. so I will need to stand back a bit. What do you think? I know that there is a lot of noise and the picture are not really sharp! That's the reason why I want a DSLR. Because with f2.8 lens on a point-and-shoot it's hard to have good quality picture! But I need to improve my skills alot! Thanks every one for your answers.
^^Hmm..^^ a couple more sens: Abt the fps feature, actually in taking baddy pics, it's probably the least needed feature. In most cases, the best pics are taken one click at a time. As for the location or spot of our picture taking, well, it depends from: - which angle do you want to take the pic from, - what and how much do you want to include in the picture. Personally, court-side or near the court location is ideal. Because since there are not many prime and/or telephoto lenses which have an aperture opening of f/2.0 or larger, you will be able to get up close to the players & action (esp. if you're only using a 50mm). Of course, it's not to say you can't get nice pics standing further from the court. Also, experiment w/the ISO feature and how it affects/can compromise the type of lens you're using. Enjoy & have fun!
Based on your access and needs, the 40D/50D is a good choice in cameras. Since you can get so close to the courts, a 50mm lens will work out better for you. If not the 85mm works better as it allows you more room to frame your shots at a slight distance. So I would suggest the following lenses in order of your needs: i) EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM (quite possibly the best walkaround/'do everything' lens for a APS-C camera ii) EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, taking this instead of the f/1.8 as I find it a significantly better lens. iii)EF 85mm f/1.8 USM - quite possibly the best value 'gym sports' lens. Very sharp, very fast focussing. Just be careful when shooting into a glaring background as the may be chromatic aberrations which this lens is pretty sensitive to. Would suggest you try the following things on your camera to get the best results: 1) Switch to Aperture Priority mode, set aperture to about f/2 (too big an aperture like f/1.4 makes for a extremely shallow DOV and very difficult to get good shots up close) and ISO 800, 'spot metering' and meter the players on the court to get the approximate shutter speed available. If its in the range of 1/250 and more, you're good to go. If not, tweak the aperture and ISO settings till you can get that. 2) Switch to 'Manual' mode and replicate the settings for Aperture and Shutter Speed and ISO settings here. You're almost ready. 3) Switch your 'AF-Drive' to 'Ai-Servo' using only single point, centre-point AF. And 'High-speed' multi-shot. 4) Practice laying the active AF point on your subject (usually the point on the face), achieve AF lock, and hold onto the 'AF-on' button behind the grip (near your thumb) while you follow the subject, snap your pict when you feel the moment is 'right'. With some practice, you'll get some very, very nice shots. Of course luck plays a part too... Ideal shutter speed is about 1/400 or 1/500. Though sometimes, for a little artistic effect you want to go as low as 1/200 or even 1/160. And in some instances, if possible 1/1000 when the fleeting moment is the finest capture! Good luck with your photo taking and post them up when you've captured them!
