This will be my first Christmas with my 30D, and I'm in a bit of a bind as to which lens to shoot with while the kiddies tear up all the giftwrap. I currently have a 10-22 and 50/1.8, and a 580ex. I'm debating picking up a new 1.8-2.0 prime in the 28-35mm range (28/1.8 and 35/2 come to mind) so that I can shoot flashless and go a bit wider than the 50. The goal is to not wash out the lights on the Christmas tree, which seems very difficult to avoid when using flash (I'm of the hobbiest-class and flash is not my forte). Even with a Lightsphere on the 580, I feel the room mood gets lost.
35/2 or Sigma 30/1.4 are good candidates. If you like a bit wider perspective, I use the Canon 24/2.8 like that on a crop body. Not really fast at f/2.8 though. Best for me in these situations is Canon 35/2 or 50/1.8 or 50/1.4 on a full-frame body.
I didn't suggest the 28/1.8 because it has a reputation for softness when used wider than f/2.8, but it's another candidate if you're only planning on smaller prints. Otherwise you're going to be stopping it down anyway, and lose most of the speed advantage the f/1.8 max aperture would have given you.
Note that if you get the Sigma 30/1.4 it is designed only for crop-factor cameras like the DRebel and the 30D. If you want to move up to bigger sensor sizes later on the 30/1.4 won't cover the frame. It is an enticing lens at 1 full stop faster than the 35/2, though.
Wow - fast response! Regarding the 35L: sounds like a great lens based on the reviews, but I really don't want to spend $1100 if I can avoid it. The Sigma 30/1.4 seems to be the popular choice. I'm not concerned with the crop-factor issue - I'll be with the 30D for a long while. I am, however, wondering if those recommending the 30/1.4 have vignetting issues due to the aps-c design.
I will personally be using two bodies, two lenses, and no-flash this year for Christmas with my son.
Those lenses will be the 35L & 85L ll, my 24L may also get a couple of shots in. Actually all of these lenses excel in this situation.
The beauty of the 580EX is that you can turn the flash head aound and bounce off of the wall behind you. Obviuosly you can also point it straight up and bounce off of the ceiling, but the bigger question is what flash settings you use. Lots of guys use M and set the exposure themselves, but the ratio of flash to ambient is really high when you do that. I like to shoot in Av or Tv and monkey a little with the exposure compensation. At EC=0 you are half ambient and half flash exposures, which can be a little slow depending on the strength of ambient. If you dial in a little EC (say -2/3 or -1) the flash gets a little stronger to properly expose the subject but does not overpower the scene in the background. For shots of the tree with it's lights on, go flashless or set flash exposure compensation to -1 or -2.
I would say give it a try this weekend during the morning and see if you get the results you like with the 10-22 and 580ex. I used to always try to go flashless, but the problem is that just purely ambient can give you really bland subjects or harsh shadows depending on the light source. Now that I have worked with the flash more and understand it better, I like the fact that I can fill in the subject and be assured of nice lighting.
dmakogon wroteI am, however, wondering if those recommending the 30/1.4 have vignetting issues due to the aps-c design.
I don't recall noticing any vignetting on my 20D, although admittedly I have shot most of my images at f1.8-2.0.
Back when I had a crop camera, I would always choose my 17-40 for Christmas morning, drag the shutter and bounce the flash. Now I tend to just use my 50 with the full frame, no flash.
Bounce flash is awesome... and if you bounce it off of some colored stuff everything gets some color. I bounced off my red sweatshirt once, and everything was lit with a reddish glow..
I agree, take the time to learn the flash better. It will make your life MUCH easier indoors.
When shooting with flash, assume the flash will always fill in the light to give you perfect exposures. Use FEC to adjust that overall exposure. Think of your exposure controls on your camera as a way to control the RATIO of flash light to ambient. An underexposed ambient exposure when shooting ETTL flash means you get more flash, and vice versa.
For example, lets say you're shooting indoors with your 50/1.8. The correct exposure is f/1.8, 1/100, ISO1600. The picture looks perfect at this setting (although being indoors, the lighting is probably boringly uniform). Now flip your flash on and take a picture. Same settings (using M mode). The flash didn't do much.
Now try f/1.8, 1/100, ISO800. Now you have a bit of flash in the shot. Should be pretty subtle.
Now try f/1.8, 1/100, ISO100. YIKES! There's that harsh flash you were talking about!
Now try the same settings, but instead of firing the flash at your subject, bounce the flash off a wall to the side of the subject, using a wide zoom setting like 24mm. The image should be highly sidelit. Probably too much so.
Now try something like f/1.8, 1/100, ISO400, and bounce the flash off a nearby wall or ceiling. The ceiling will give you diffuse light just like shooting ambient. The wall will again give you sidelighting, but it should look a lot less harsh. Still looks blue, though!
NOW try adding a CTO gel to your flash (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-using-gels-to-correct.html) and reshoot. The blue cast should go away; your flash should be indistinguishable from ambient light. Your flash is now essentially a light bulb you can project onto any light-colored (preferably white/gray) surface.
I hope this helps! As an aside, the 35/2 and 30/1.4 are excellent indoor portrait lenses on APS-C. They aren't a ton wider than 50mm, but they're "wider enough" that you aren't always backing up to take shots in poor lighting.
Personally, I shoot my 28-75/2.8 with my 580EX on my 5D at ISO400 for indoor stuff like this. The 28-75 gives enough control over DOF, and the 580EX makes AF and exposure easy as pie.
