Ericka @Chef PickyKid and MeSince I’ve developed a love of food photography, I’m continuously working on improving my photography skills, and I’ve come to realize that good food photography (or any photography for that matter) requires the right tools. I’ve been trying to take good photos of food for over a year now and have often been frustrated at the results-I can’t seem to get the lighting right, or the angle, or the focus, or the zoom…the list goes on. My initial thought was that I need to get better at photography before I start spending money on equipment, but out of sheer exasperation I decided to buy a few accessories, and low and behold, my photos are getting better! Go Figure!
One thing I’m finding is that it’s important to have a good lens for taking photos; many “experts” say that good lenses are as important, if not more important, than the camera itself. I’ve read and learned a lot about photography and food photography, and I’ve found that there really isn’t a “right” lens to use as it’s all about personal preference, but having a lens that you can really get up close pictures with is important.
Lenses can also be expensive. I would love to have a 100MM lens, but unfortunately a good 100MM lens is upwards of $500, and I’m not making it big enough in food photography to afford that, but maybe someday. 🙂
I have also been longing for a 50MM lens and recently saw a [amazon_link id=”B00007E7JU” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Canon EF 50MM lens [/amazon_link]on sale at Amazon for a very reasonable price, so I decided to buy it. I’ve only had it for a few weeks now, but I love this lens! Since it’s a 50MM you can really get up close and personal with your food, and it takes great close up shots. This lens also has a minimum F-Stop of 1.8; the standard lens that came with my camera has a minimum F-Stop of 4.5. In case you’re unfamiliar with this term, F-Stop is a setting for the amount or intensity of light being let in to your camera.
Why is a low F-Stop important, you may ask? Well, do yo
u like the food photos you see where the featured item is very sharp and clear, but items in the background appear less focused? I love those photos, and the low F-Stop gives me the ability to take those kinds of pictures with my camera! It’s so exciting!
Overall this is a great lens for the price; it takes great pictures and allows me to get better close up shots of food, and also allows me to take the fancy low F-Stop pictures I love so much. It does take a little getting used to because there really isn’t much zoom capability since it’s a small lens, but it means you can get in very close to take pictures, which I love. This product also got great reviews on Amazon and is one of their best sellers for camera lenses. I would definitely recommend this lens if you’re looking to get better food photography and more focus options, and I’m sure it also takes great photos of other things as well! 🙂
The 50mm lens is a good buy, especially at the price you can get the f1.8 for. (the f1.4 is over $1000 still!)
One of the good things about the lens is that if you control the aperture you can get those professional pics where the subject is in focus but the foreground or background is not. Its no suprise the portrait photographers love this lens.
I still prefer the 28mm lens to get closer for doing food shots but thats p a personal choice.