Trying out the 28-135mm IS USM

[gnelson]

I have the Canon 28-135mm IS USM lens and decided that I don't use it nearly enough. I am hoping that my focus and exposure is good here, because it's tough as nails to really see what's going on in the camera without eyeballing the histogram after every shot. Every moment you have with a mobile infant is precious, so I tend to shoot shoot shoot and think later.

This is my daughter. We took these shots in my front yard this evening only as a test. Clearly I didn't think about the yellow blanket clashing with her pink clothes, but it works for testing purposes.

ISO 200, f5.6, 1/250, 85mm


ISO 200, f5.6, 1/250, 60mm


ISO 200, f5.6, 1/250, 127mm


At that point I realized from the viewfinder that she had gotten her hands on some grass and decided to chew on it like a tiny cow. Soooo, the camera was promptly turned off in favor of fishing grass out of her mouth.

Does it look like I did alright with this lens, or should I favor the 50mm f1.8 II for all portraits?

[pjflan7]

My guess would be that the 50mm will probably give you your best portraits given the fact that you will encounter a number of not so great lighting situations but the longer range of that lens is also helpful in capturing your baby and not be a distraction. With a 50mm, you tend to be right in their face and they give you that inquisitive look..."what in the world are you doing?" Both have their uses....

[DavidWayne]

these are great...and what a cutie you have for a model!!!! the second one is my fav!

[gnelson]

Patrick, yes that's the issue I'm encountering not only with my own daughter, but the children of friends as well. The 50mm requires me to shove this huge camera into their faces and they don't like that at all! They want to play on the slides, or run around the park. I can't go chasing after them with my eye shoved into the viewfinder, lord knows I'd probably trip and break something!

That's why I'm trying to hone my skills with the zoom lens, because it lets me photograph children without forcing them to sit still, pose, and hopefully not feel put off by this weird camera in their face.

David, yeah that picture is awesome. She has this "I DIDN'T DO IT! IT WASN'T ME" look going on!

[lputman]

This is a very adequate lens to use for portraits. In conjunction with OCF you will have good photographs. This is a slower focusing lens when using auto focus. Your daughter is a cutie and you've taken some excellent photos of her.

[gingle]

Very nice shots No 2 is my fav

I have the same lens it makes for a good comparison.
The only issue I find is it can struggle if the lights not good.