Lenses and LEDs.

Q: TWO QUESTIONS. I OWN A 50MM AND A 85MM AND I’M LOOKING FOR A WIDER PRIME. DO I GO 35MM OR 28MM? I SHOOT EVENTS AND PORTRAIT WORK. AND, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON USING LED LIGHT SOURCES FOR LIGHTING? I’M A FAN OF LEDS. I LIKE THE ABILITY TO CONTROL THE LIGHT THROUGH DIMMERS ON THE LED PANEL AND THE EASE WITH WHICH YOU CAN USE ALMOST ANYTHING AS A MODIFIER SINCE THEY GENERATE LITTLE HEAT.

A: The first part of your question is hard to answer because of personal opinion. I personally like a 35mm focal length. Some prefer the 28mm. Borrow one or rent both for a weekend and see which you prefer. You may also find that you prefer a 28mm on a cropped sensor but a 35mm on a full frame body. I can’t say for sure for you. Try them both and you’ll get an idea of what suits you.

As for LED, my thought is this: Light is light. No matter the source. That being said, the issue I have with LEDs is that they aren’t all that bright. Yes, you can shoot great photos with them but a hotshoe flash can do what they do plus 10 times more. You’re not going to chain enough LEDs together to overpower brighter ambient light sources. You’d have to pack a ton of them into a 50″ softbox to get f8 at ISO 100.

The technology is coming along. I’m sure we’ll soon see more advances in LED technology. As it stands now, though, I wouldn’t put any money into it unless I was doing a ton of video. That’s the only place LED beats flash.

You show me a shot that is done with LED and I can do it with flash. Then I can do this, this, this, this, this, and this, and that, and this thing, and on and on. I know that using continuous lights is attractive because what you see is what you get. You can see what the light is doing, meter for it with your camera, and take the shot. The problem is they aren’t that bright. They can only do so much. A solid understanding of hotshoe flash will take you much further down the road. You can also use any modifier you want because small flashes don’t get hot when used in a modifier.