In search for that perfect lens, and that too, and that

When I got my first SLR camera last summer of 2008, I was ecstatic. The hubz gave me a Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens in Black as a surprise gift. I was envious of my brother having the same camera and wanted the same for myself. After a lot of effort on my part, I finally talked my way to my first SLR camera. The kit came with  the body of the camera and one Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens. It was ready to use!

I didn’t know much about SLR cameras (I still have lots and lots to learn now) and often found it ridiculous to see photographers carrying a bunch of lenses inside their camera bags. I couldn’t see myself carrying that heavy, big bag around. Even if I really wanted an SLR (maybe for the heck of owning an SLR-at first), I was pretty happy and contented with my point and shoot Casio Exilim Digital Camera in red hot color.But when I started snapping away photos from my new toy, everything just changed!

Especially when the photos I took looked like these:

* The above photos are straight from the camera, no editing, whatsoever except for the watermark on it.

So I’ve been hooked and bringing my new big boy (or girl) Canon everywhere I go. The EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens that came with the kit was ok but somehow,  small max opening (such as f/5.6) means lower performance and a dark viewfinder. These apertures are generally not good for indoor/low light shooting. A shallow DOF (depth of field) with a blurred foreground/background is more difficult to produce with a slow lens than with a faster lens of the same focal length.

I used the lens I had with outdoor photos but as I mentioned, it’s not really performing well indoors, with subjects with less light. I really would like to have some bokeh portrait shots too. If you don’t know what a bokeh shot means, it means the subject is in focus while the background is made to blur.

It’s better to show an example than to blah, so here are sample bokeh photos.

*Again, these photos are unedited, except for the added frame and watermark.

I bought a cheap prime lens Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, as per my brother’s suggestion since I have no budget for expensive lenses. With an f/1.8 maximum aperture, this is a fast lens. The size is very compact and light that I don’t mind mounting it in my camera and taking it everywhere I go. Look how cute it looks:

Price wise, it is a good lens (for me) to take simple portraits but the downside? I will need some extra space to accomplish a full-body portrait and might also want to capture head/shoulder portraits with this lens. I took those closeup shots of Pristine when I was at least 2 meters away from her! No kidding. I find it so hard to take photos of the 50mm lens on cramped locations (like inside our apartment, heh). Once, I wanted to take a photo of a building and realized that I need to cross the street to fully capture the building, not just one big window!

So I am going out on a limb here. I want a lens that’s fast/can take photos even with little light and with wide angle, a zoom function would be nice too BUT I don’t want to spend a fortune on it. You can go say booo plus thumbs down action on me now but if you have any suggestions, please share!

What is your favorite SLR lens and why?

Tagged as: lists, photography

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