Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Out with the Old... (A photography question)

It has been about two weeks since disaster struck.

I had so many plans and in a split second they all had to change.

You see I was trying to be a better photographer and learn more about my camera, a good thing, but it wasn't my lucky day.

I heard a strange noise and as I continued to look through my camera everything was very dark.

Initially I was puzzled and adjusted my settings again.

But, when I looked at the lens from the front, I could see that something was very wrong.

I tried everything.

Nothing worked.

My lens was jammed at f22, barely letting any light through the teeny tiny opening.

I took it to the camera shop the next day hoping it was an easy fix.

No such luck.

They would need to send it away for a 3-4 weeks and it would cost me about $75.

The lens (a Sigma 28-80mm f3.5 -5.6) only cost about $85.

I was not a happy camper.

After all I had Austin's birthday party, Mark's birthday, my cousin's engagement pictures, Mia's first birthday and maybe first steps and so much more quickly approaching.

My 100-300mm lens would not suffice for those events.

So, I am now in the market for a new lens because fixing my old one seems ridiculous at that price.

I have already missed Austin's birthday party and Mark's birthday so I can't afford to miss any more great moments.

My question for all of you who are photographers or at least really like to take pictures and are lucky enough to have a DSLR is:

What is your favorite go-to lens and why?

Thanks for your feedback.

7 comments:

Amanda @ notsoextraordinary said...

you knew i would be here commenting didn't you :) the canon 50 f1.8 is a really awesome goto lens, and the fact that it only runs around a hundred is really nice. an even nicer one is the canon 50 f1.4 which is more around $300, but totally worth it. then, there is the 85mm f1.8 (or 1.4 i can't remember) which is a beautiful one. my personal favorite at the moment though is the one i just got which is the canon L 28-70 f/2.8. it was pretty expensive, but it was totally worth every penny!

Midwest Mom said...

You know, I have an Olympus with an f1.8 lens and 7.5x digital zoom/4.1 megapixel. It is the Camedia C-4040 and I love it.

It is relatively inexpensive, and our family has taken terrific photos with it.

Good luck. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

- Julia

Anonymous said...

Not sure if you are canon or nikon, but I use nikon and nikon lens. I love my 50mm 1.8 for portraits and indoor shots of one kid. It is very clear, very crisp and very afforadable. But not so good for events like parties where you want to capture closeups and wider angle shots of a scene or group. For this kind of stuff I use a 18-200mm VR lens. The extra zoom is nice, but for years I used a 18-75mm that was also a good all purpose lens.

Anonymous said...

How ironic, I am beginning my penny drive for a real camera of my own. You were the first I was going to ask.
And I promise...no more mention of Charlie's disgestive issues!!!

Tyne said...

Hope you find a lens you love... I have no input for you- but I miss seeing pics of your kids. Please catch Mia's birthday???!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I am Kristin Sumners friend and also a photographer so she asked that I jump over here and give you my thoughts.

I agree with the other posters about the 50 mm f/1.8...for $80.00 it should be in every photographers bag. I also have the 80 mm f/1.8 and love that one too. Again, because both are "prime" or fixed length lenses they will come with limitations in certain places.

I see Amanda mentions the L 28-70 f/2.8 lens. Photographers RAVE about this lens, I didn't love it as much as my primes (50, 80 mm). I actually purchased this lens 2 times (returned it once and sold it the second time) because everyone just raved over it, but I never thought what I was getting from it was worth the $1100.00 price tag compared to the Tamron version of this same lens -

http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-28-75mm-Aspherical-Digital-Cameras/dp/B0000A1G05/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233161520&sr=8-1

I have this lens and I LOVE IT. I think it compares rather well to the Canon 28-70 L, but is 1/4 of the price.

So, if you want a lens that will work in everyday environments than I would consider the Tamron. I shoot all with prime lenses outside and usually use the Tamron as my "everyday motherhood/family event" or studio lens.

I hope this helps! E-mail me if you have any questions. :)

kristin@kristinwilliamsphotography.com

Chris said...

Well, I use two different cameras, but I have the same size lenses for both. The 50mm lens is great for some portraits and landscape shots. But I LOVE my 70-300mm zoom lenses. You can really get in close, which is what I like for portraits (I like to blur out as much of the background as possible), and it's also pretty versatile with wider shots.