Hey I'm New and You Aren't!
Posted on: Mon, 04/07/2008 - 12:37am
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Hey I'm New and You Aren't!
Well, I just finished typing this eloquent long drawn out question for this Forum and then checked a link, and erased the whole thing. So, here it goes again! This site is AWESOME! I love the Alpha, and I love reading about it. Okay here is the deal. My wife shoots alot of the events at our church, faithtempleministry.com not everything on there is hers though. The church has decided to help us start a portrait studio. They are providing the space, advertising(radio and print), an accountant, and an intial investment. So we are trying to spend "the churches money" as wisely as possible. Initially she is going to be doing in studio and off-site portraiture. Then after she makes some money to pay for a second camera(a700) she will be doing weddings. Here is our question. What would be a good piece of glass for portraiture? We like the SAL-1680Z and the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD. We need versatility, thats why we are trying to stay away from a set focal length. Also we are buying an Alienbees set up with two B800's and a Ringflash! Any advice from you older wiser wonderfully gracious and patient photographers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and God Bless!
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Sedlocks
A100
Minolta 50mm 1.7
Tamrom 70-300 4-5.6
I know you're looking for something that isn't a prime, but the 50mm f1.7 in your sig would do the trick if you can live with a fixed focal length. There is also a Minolta 50mm f1.4 and a Sony 50mm f2.8 macro.
Sony A700, Sony A100, Maxxum 7xi
Gotta love Chevy Chase, in his prime, probably one of the funniest guys around.
Welcome to AMW! And thank you for the kudos!
For portraits I was going to recommend a prime as well. The 50.1.7 can be had for a very affordable price (150.00 brand new?). That and the Sony 28mm 2.8 can be had for brand new for about 199.00 which gives you a bit of range in the two lenses and both are nice portrait lenses that are affordable.
The Tamron 17-50 2.8 would probably be your best one lens solution however. The constant 2.8 aperture and slightly soft edges wide open (only) make it a good candidate (just take off the lens hood when using a flash). If I think of any others I will post some. I wouldn't get the CZ 16-80 for portraits honestly, a bit "too sharp" and contrasty for portraits.
What is your budget?
Carl
-AlphaMountWorld Chef
~Serving up Reviews and other little Appetizers~
we actually own a maxxum 50 1.7. my wife is dying for something wider, after our kit lens locked up 3 days before the warranty was up, and we were out of town, so we couldn't get it off in time. That was in november. I think we are gonna get the Tamron 17-50. We are a little worried about getting images printed and blown up larger than 8x10's. Will the maxxum 50 cut it? Thats why we were looking at the Zeiss. I have noticed you welcome everybody. Thats great. It really makes us newbies want to participate. Thanks for your time.
Sedlocks
A100
Minolta 50mm 1.7
Tamrom 70-300 4-5.6