Night Photography : Fast Lens or IS Lens?

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SunnyBoi

SunnyBoi

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What do you prefer? A fast prime lens or a lens with IS?

No tripod, only hands.

Yesterday I was trying out both the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS and 50mm f/1.8 in the night. the 50mm was harder to take less blurry pics than the 18-55 with IS. however some pics came out amazing with the 50mm, the 18-55 culd not come even close.

so whaddaya think? :-)
 
You need to use low shutter speeds so hand holding is not possible. Use a tripod.

Remember the 1/f rule if you wanna hand hold to avoid blur.
 
tracerbullet said:
I'd pick up a fast lens with my eyes shut as it would help in many other situations as well.
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Well I kinda have them both and was asking advice which one to use in the night :-)
 
Why not a fast prime WITH IS? Welcome to in-body stabilization from Sony/Pentax/Oly! :D

But seriously, it all depends on what you're photographing:

1. People shots in lowlight: Fast lens anyday, cuz most of your shots would be portraits and the fast lens ensures subject blur is kept out of the question with adequate shutter-speeds. (1/10-1/15 is mostly okay with cooperating subjects). Also, the wide aperture gives wonderfully blurred backgrounds.

2. Landscapes or long-exposure shots: Wide-angle zoom lens with tripod. Obviously, 'cuz this gives you flexibility in terms of focal lengths and the tripod keeps away camera shake. In this case, subject blur is not an issue.

3. Street photography/Mixed shots: Ideally, a fast f2.8 zoom-lens. Gives you most versatility of the lot and is only 1.5 stops slower than the prime lens. Or even a 30 f1.4 kind of lens (Sigma has one of these) would work for this purpose.

As of now, I'm happy with my 17-50 f2.8 and 50 f1.7 both with IS thanks to the great Alpha system! :) Haven't had an opportunity to try out the new Manfrotto monopod yet. :D (Show-off!)

Cheers!
Payne
 
^^ Way to go d_payne ! Lets make those Canikon fans feel bad with their so called advanced camera systems ! :)

Anyways I would take the IS system anyday. I kinda hate lugging around tripods. If you get a good light monopod then it wont feel so bad lugging around.
 
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