Lenses for animal photography- Canon L series or generic?

Joined: 05 Jul 2005 Posts: 11

Hi there,

In the next few months or so I plan to spend 1500-2000 on lenses..I primarily plan on doing animal/pet photography with some automotive and landscape shots as well.

The two lenses I am thinking of is the Canon 70-200 2.8L, and possibly the Canon 50mm 1.4.

Do you think that they would be sufficent for this kind of photography? Should I save and get the IS version? Would 80mm 1.4 be better for portraiture, or is it negligible between the two?

Are there any generic brands that are similar that still offer good performance?

Thanks for reading.

-Erika

Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:15 pm

Lots of questions and options here.
What kind of camera do you have?

I would start by looking at what lenses you need - which is based on the images you want to capture. Don't start by picking an amount to spend.

You say "I primarily plan on doing animal/pet photography with some automotive and landscape shots as well."

Here are some things to think about:
- How big are the animals? Horse and kittens are very different sizes, and could require different lenses.
- Do you want studio or environmental portraits? Studio may suggest a portrait type lens, 80-135mm. Whereas Environments may suggest a wider lens.
- What types of automotive shots? Racing, parked, whole vehicle, engine details? For details you may want a macro lens.
- Landscapes are usually wide angle but not always.

The lenses you list are nice lenses - but think about the above suggestions and questions, the answers would help to choose the correct lenses.