Which lens should I buy for car pics?

SROC3 · 11-30-2015, 12:17 AM

This was taken on my D5200 w/ my 35mm Prime lens

With some good positioning and framing you can get the shot you like. I did, however, have a lot of space to move around my car in the open parking lot.

DSC_0172 by P.L. L, on Flickr

This was taken on the same camera using a Sigma 70-300mm, Macro lens. I was pretty far away, but I use this lens to practice my zooming and get a bigger choice of backgrounds to add to my final frame. Then I edited out the pieces I didn't want (basically by zooming in).

DSC_0064 by P.L. L, on Flickr

On these 2 shots I used my Sigma 10-20mm wide angle. The tricky thing about using wide angles for shooting cars is that if you are too close and are not at the right vantage point, you will "bend" the car (or the object closer to the lens). If you are, however, at the right point, you'll get to take in a good amount of background and still get a clear shot of the car.

Zuma Beach Shoot by P.L. L, on Flickr

dcstep · 11-30-2015, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SROC3

...

On these 2 shots I used my Sigma 10-20mm wide angle. The tricky thing about using wide angles for shooting cars is that if you are too close and are not at the right vantage point, you will "bend" the car (or the object closer to the lens). If you are, however, at the right point, you'll get to take in a good amount of background and still get a clear shot of the car.
...

I like the last shot best. Still, I would have moved the car deeper into the lot, to get rid of the tire-stops and lines in the FG, or clone them out. Given the wide angle, you could have move the car deeper and just avoided the extra work. Also, there's some busy stuff on the left end of the image that I would have cropped out.

It's still important to get the sensor-plain perpendicular to the subject, but Digital Lens Optimization will remove most of the curves resulting from using a wide angle lens. I use DLO with all my lenses, but notice the most obvious improvements with the wide-angle zooms.

BTW, I like your wide crop-ratios.

Dave

11-30-2015, 12:17 AM	#45
SROC3 The limit of adhesion is my home. 1731 Rep 3,778 Posts Drives: Like a Boss. Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: three.one.zero iTrader: (1)	This was taken on my D5200 w/ my 35mm Prime lens With some good positioning and framing you can get the shot you like. I did, however, have a lot of space to move around my car in the open parking lot. DSC_0172 by P.L. L, on Flickr This was taken on the same camera using a Sigma 70-300mm, Macro lens. I was pretty far away, but I use this lens to practice my zooming and get a bigger choice of backgrounds to add to my final frame. Then I edited out the pieces I didn't want (basically by zooming in). DSC_0064 by P.L. L, on Flickr On these 2 shots I used my Sigma 10-20mm wide angle. The tricky thing about using wide angles for shooting cars is that if you are too close and are not at the right vantage point, you will "bend" the car (or the object closer to the lens). If you are, however, at the right point, you'll get to take in a good amount of background and still get a clear shot of the car. Zuma Beach Shoot by P.L. L, on Flickr Zuma Beach Shoot by P.L. L, on Flickr __________________ 2019 X3 xDrive30i Glacier Silver \| Cognac w/ Fine Cove \| MSport \| Premium \| Dynamic Handling PKG \| Drive Assist \| HK w/ Bavsound Upgrade \| Last edited by SROC3; 11-30-2015 at 12:28 AM..
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