Lens and External Flash questions (Rebel T1i)

[Thebraino]

I recently got into photography, and have found this website to be -super- useful, I basically went from knowing nothing to knowing average in a day.
I started with a Canon Rebel T1i, with the 18-55mm lens kit. I tried getting some accessories, but have quickly realized they're unsatisfactory.
First, I'm looking for a good portrait lens, and I've seen there's some conversion factor, but I don't know how that applies to the Rebel T1i.
The lenses I'm currently look at are:
Canon FD 50mm F/1.8
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 USM
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

Basically, I'm looking at either a 50mm, an 88mm, or something going at both, and I'm not sure what the pros and cons are.

Second, I'm looking at external flashes, and I'm pretty much set on getting a bounce & swivel, but I don't know if it's worth getting the manual, or to just stick to automatic.

Thanks in advance!

[inkista]

With portrait lenses, the main thing you want to know about is the importance of a len's maximum aperture. Once you read that article I linked to, you'll understand why the lens you picked as 'doing both' isn't going to work in at all the same way as the 50 or the 85.

My general advice is get the 50/1.8 II. It's cheap enough that if the focal length doesn't work well for you, are you find you hate shooting with a prime lens, you won't have spent much money to get that knowledge. Also, the wider lens is more 'general purpose' than the 85, which is going to be more useful for head/torso shots, than full-body. The 50 can do all three more easily.

You'll probably want to read through that full site, actually, as it gives you all the information you want to know about lens features in practical shooting terms.

Secondly, I'm not sure I'd recommend getting a flash, unless you're thoroughly comfortable with the basics of exposure and metering. To really get the most out of a flash, you're going to want to be comfortable shooting in full Manual mode, and swapping stops from iso, aperture, and shutter speed in your head. If you aren't, flash photography can become very very confusing, because you're just going to throw three more things on the pile: flash distance and flash power get throw into the exposure juggling mix, and you also have to consider how you want to balance the flash illumination against the ambient light.

Exposure is even MORE complex with a flash, not less. That's all I'm saying. Get the ambient stuff down first. Walk before you run.

[Vagebond]

Hi thebraino

I'm no real expert but your questions deserve some kind of answer

Crop factor: the Rebel has a crop sensor with a factor 1.6. A crop sensor is smaller than the full-frame sensors that are closer to the size of 35mm. cameras.

A crop sensor takes a smaller portion of a scene (field of view) at any given distance than a full frame sensor using the same lens.
A 50mm lens on a T1i has a field of view of a (50mm × 1.6) ~80mm lens on a full-frame, and an 85mm lens has the field of view of a (80mm × 1.6) ~135mm.

I've heard from experts that 85mm is about ideal for full portraits and 135mm for head and shoulders, so unless you want to cross the street to take them on a crop sensor, the 50mm and 85mm would seem to be what you'd want.

I don't know much about the quality of the lenses you mentioned, but I hope someone else can complete the story here.

And flash? I'm no expert on flash photography either, but most flash units I've seen, and the one I have, are like the camera: you can use both automatic and full manual settings. I like the choice for different circumstances.

Again, I hope an expert/more experienced person will pop in and help you more than I can.

Enjoy photography.

Ah, I see you're already in good hands with inkista. Thanks inkista

[Vagebond]

Here's a post by inkista about the crop sensor, with a picture to illustrate it. The whole thread is interesting reading.

Thanks again inkista

Best Lens For portraits

[Thebraino]

Thanks for the links! The cropping image helped me understand the sensor ratio.

The 50mm is what I was planning on getting, so I'm glad to have confirmation.
I understand the aperture, but I just got caught up on looking for a 50-85 lense that I skipped the f/4-5.6! lol. Thanks for pointing that out.

I've been using Gimp for over 6 years and recently figured the rest of Photoshop out, using them for photorestoration and manipulation, so I had a good head start getting into lighting, contrast, exposure and such.
As far as flashes, I was just wondering if the auto depth/iso/strength units are worth it, but now I see that there are manual ones that can be set to auto.

Thanks for the help!

Edit:
Just got an EF 50mm f/1.8 (didn't realize FD was manual only), thanks again for the help.