The Nature, Wildlife and Pet Photography Forum - Fine Art Landscape Photography

Best Focal Length?

Posted By: Neil V

Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 02:38 AM

Hi all,

I am a nature/flora photographer looking to get into pet photography.

I am curious to know what focal length(s) you find most of your outdoor type of pet photography shot at?

I am thinking that a good, fast 70-200 would be the best but would love to hear from your experience as well...

Cheers,

Neil
Posted By: wallyspop

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 02:44 AM

Hi Neil, welcome!
What type sensor are you using? Cropped, full frame? What type of pet shots? Shows, outdoor, indoor, close, far, lighting,etc? There are a number of factors to be considered. I shoot primarily full frame but also have a cropped sensor. Although I have several lenses, including a 70-200 f2.8 L IS, I find most of the time I use my 24-70 f2.8 L. Great focal length overall. The 70-200 has awesome brokeh and tac sharp but limited if shooting a cropped sensor.
Posted By: Neil V

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 02:54 AM

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the quick reply!

For the most part I will be focusing on (no pun intended) outdoor, natural light photography. For now I will be shooting with cropped sensor cameras. Maybe a full frame down the road but I am trying to put to put the majority of my budget into lenses for now.

Thanks for your input.
Posted By: wallyspop

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 10:15 AM

Neil, I agree that lenses are the wisest investment and will likely have more impact on the quality of the images you will produce, at least in terms of what you purchase. Obviously the person behind the camera is the most significant factor. I've seen some stunning shots taken with P&S. Anyway, I have to say from my perspective if you're shooting with a cropped sensor and shooting with natural light, I would lean towards a very fast average focal length zoom lens. I mentioned the 24-70 f2.8 L in my previous post and I have to say, that lens absolutely rocks. Of all of my lenses this one clearly gets the most use. When I was shooting cropped I always had it on but I still use it with the 5d FF. With a cropped sensor the 70-200 can be a bit long. Like I said, I have the 70-200 f2.8 L IS and it is an awesome lens but if I could only have one general use lens it would absolutely be the 24-70. You will need fill light outdoors. You may also want to consider a hot shoe flash or speedlight with a diffuser if you don't already have those. I would recommend a small softbox. I have a Gary Fong diffuser and it's good for larger fill or groups but the softbox gives real nice catchlights. Also for only a few bucks get yourself a 6 in 1 reflector, I use mine a lot! Anyway, if you need additional info on any of this please let me know. Others here are a great source also so hopefully they'll chime in. Good luck!
Posted By: Jim Garvie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 11:40 AM

Hi Neil and welcome,
Bob has covered this subject very well but I'll just add a couple of additional points of view. For available light, outdoor pet portraits, you have to consider whether or not you'll be shooting off a tripod or hand-held. If you're shooting hand-held and you do your own baiting, you might want to consider an IS lens -- or the equivalent of you're not shooting Canon. This will make it easier to hand-hold with your right hand only as you toss a toy with your left.

For a starter kit, I like the 24-105 F4L IS and the 70-200 F4L IS. Both are excellent lenses in terms of image quality and both are plenty fast enough for outdoor AL photography. Also, both work on crop bodies as well as full-frame.

The 580 EX makes a great flash unit for fill light outdoors. At high-speed synch, it can be used at any shutter speed. The diffusers Bob mentions are excellent.

If your main focus is portraits rather than candids of the dogs in motion, I'd opt first for the medium-range zoom. It saves a lot of steps to be able to zoom with the lens rather than your feet. Image quality is almost as good as with primes. Again, if you are shooting Canon, pick up the $70 50mm F1.8. It's fast, cheap, and has outstanding IQ for the price and, on a crop body, it's a classic portrait focal length. I've found it invaluable both outside and in the studio for portrait shoots where I want to throw the background out of focus.

Good luck and let us know what you decide. And share some of your images. We'd love to see how you do.

Jim
Posted By: Julie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 12:29 PM

I usually use focal lengths 75mm and over. I do not like the regular wide angle zoom's as I feel they make way too much distortion of both people and animals.

If I had to only keep two lenses, I would keep my 35-100 f2 and my 50-200 2.8-3.5 Those are the 2 lenses I use 95% of the time for portraits.
Posted By: Jim Garvie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 03:14 PM

Hey Julie,
saw your ad in the June 27 issue of Dog News. It looked great. Really nice job!

Jim
Posted By: Neil V

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 06:47 PM

Thanks so much for the input folks.

I am looking at my current equipment, a Sigma SD14 and lenses, flashes etc and I am coming to the realization that they won't work for pet photography. While it is absolutely wonderful for photographing flora etc the buffer would just choke on trying to take pictures of a dog running around etc...

So now I am looking at getting a another system strictly for this purpose. So far the Nikon D300/24-70/70-200 or Sony a700/24-70/70-200 have made the short list. I don't want to turn this into a 'brand battle' so please don't take it as that...

Julie - I notice that you shoot with an Olympus system. Are you using an E3? If so, how do you find the focus speed and overall camera speed? (I had an E1 and loved it...)

Thanks again to everyone for your help.
Posted By: Jim Poor

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 07:04 PM

Neil,

As a D300 owner, I would say that if you are going to be photographing any action sequences, you should plop down for the extra battery grip, the ENEL4e battery and the BL-3 battery cover (nope the grip doesn't come with the cover for the big battery ). Otherwise, you'll be getting something like 2.5 frames a second in 14 bit mode.

Jim
Posted By: Neil V

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 07:19 PM

Quote:

Neil,

As a D300 owner, I would say that if you are going to be photographing any action sequences, you should plop down for the extra battery grip, the ENEL4e battery and the BL-3 battery cover (nope the grip doesn't come with the cover for the big battery ). Otherwise, you'll be getting something like 2.5 frames a second in 14 bit mode.

Jim




Hi Jim,

Thanks. Without a doubt I would be getting the grip with either camera. If fact, I was just at my local store sizing up the D300/MB-D10/24-70. It's a very impressive combination to say the least! I definitely would need the grip for my big mitts.
Posted By: Jim Poor

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 08:04 PM

I suppose you need a Nikon Canada version? I know where there is a US Version coming up for sale soon
Posted By: Jim Garvie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 08:45 PM

Neil,
I'm not a Nikon guy but I assume the 24-70 you're referring to is the F2.8 and the 70-200 is also the F2.8 VR model. Those are very nice lenses and on a D300 will give you everything you could need certainly in the short term.

I'm not aware of any Nikon mid-range zooms with VR but if there were, that would be ideal. But the two you mention are two of the very best. Keep in mind that the combination of camera/grip and zoom lens is pretty hefty for one-hand shooting if that's your portrait style (I know; I use the Canon 5D or 30D with battery grips and the 28-135 IS) and it can be a handful after a 1/2 hour or so.

Nice choice. I hope that Julie chimes in on her E3. She gets some really nice action shots with her gear.

Jim
Posted By: Visceral Image

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 08:50 PM

I use the D300 without the associated grip; for pet portrait work, the shooting speed is more than adequate for me. I like the lighter body without the associated grip for pet work because it is much lighter and allows extensive work without fatigue
Posted By: Jim Poor

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/02/08 10:01 PM

I believe the new 70-300 is VR and I know the 200-400 is.
Posted By: Julie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/03/08 02:26 AM

I want to see my ad!! Glad it looks ok. I was worried it would be too dark.

My E-3 is great for the pet work. I loved my E-1 too, but, this makes shooting much easier. It locks on and does a great job.

What would make the Sigma not work for pet portraits?
Posted By: Neil V

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/03/08 02:56 AM

Quote:

I want to see my ad!! Glad it looks ok. I was worried it would be too dark.

My E-3 is great for the pet work. I loved my E-1 too, but, this makes shooting much easier. It locks on and does a great job.

What would make the Sigma not work for pet portraits?




That's interesting to hear about the E-3, I will have to add that to my short-list.

The Sigma is fine and captures incredibly high quality images but the buffer fills way too quickly. After five shots, in RAW or JPEG the camera takes quite a while to clear the buffer to the card. The card doesn't really matter either, I use a 8GB Lexar 300x UDMA card, it's just plain slow. It takes just over 30 seconds to fully clear. It is possible to shoot single photos while it makes space but it can be frustrating...

It is workable but being limited by the camera can make the difference between getting "the" shot or not. In my opinion anyway...

That said, here is one that captured of my neighbour's dog. Roxy is her name and she is a whirlwind of excitement and tough to capture. (Captured with the SD14)



Posted By: Jim Garvie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/03/08 11:34 AM

Julie,
I'll send you the issue of Dog News. Send me your mailing address by PM and I'll get it out to you today. Page 157.

Jim
Posted By: Jim Garvie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/03/08 11:39 AM

Neil,
what type of "action shots" do you anticipate shooting? Moving shots of dogs in the show ring? Shots of dogs at Agility or other Performance events? Dogs running around in the dog park?

I ask because for some activities, you should be using the equivalent of the Canon 1D MKIII but for others, any good camera -- and the D300 and E3 are excellent -- would work just fine.

For most of the static shooting, the Sigma should not only work well but give you very nice color.

Jim
Posted By: Julie

Re: Best Focal Length? - 07/03/08 12:01 PM

That is too bad about the buffer of the SD14. I have heard such good things about its image quality. Waiting on a buffer to clear is annoying

I shoot lure coursing with the E-3 and its accuracy in CAF is awesome. I wish it had more than 5fps, but, I don't make my living with action stuff needing it, so, it is more of a want than a need.

I love the sooc color output of my Oly cameras. I rarely rarely have to fool with my color. As long as I nail the WB, it is all good. I may punch it up with actions, but, I am going for a specific look then
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