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I use Sony a5100. My factory lens is a f3.5-f5.6, 16-50mm OSS lens. I am thinking if it is worthwhile to get a "fast" lens.
The lens I see that are reasonably priced, most have 2.8 max aperture. A few can go down to 2. Is it worth getting a separate fast lens (the money, the hassle, etc)?
In another word, is the difference -- 0.5 stop to 1.5 stop -- big enough for this to be worthwhile in your view?
It really depends on what you are photographing. If you are in daylight, or don't need narrow depth of field, the 3.5-5.6 may work fine for you. But bear in mind, many of the "kit" lenses are not as sharp or have as good glass as the 2.8 lenses. If you find the edges of your images to be soft, color variances or other distortions, you might want to trade up to a better quality lens.
One of the problems with the "pro" type lenses is that they are substantially larger and heavier than the "kit" lenses. That is something to consider.
Unless you have a Specific reason to buy a lens, a real need.. then don't.
I'm also on the Sony e-mount lens cameras (Nex 5-r currently, looking for a reasonably priced used 6500 though) ~ the first lens I bought was the SEL35f18, so I have a f1.8 lens, and it's even my primary lens. I shoot 90% with that lens and love the depth of field, its also an amazing portrait lens (well, for me as an amateur with limited experience). The other lens I always carry and use most of the rest of the time is the SEL16f28, which is the wide-angle-ish offering. I do a fair bit of landscape photography so that comes in handy.
I never use the kit lens or the 55-210 zoom I also own. Wish I would have simply bought the bare camera body and skipped the big zoom, but I didn't know.
The point is, unless you have a specific reason for a lens, don't bother. I do think there is a little better quality out of my 35mm vs the kit lens at roughly the same settings, but it's also a $500 lens vs the kit's ~$200 price
The kit lens (16-50) is kind of convenient for most situations -- portrait or group shot/landscape. Plus, I have been able to achieve satisfactory bokeh with it, that's why my question.
Is bokeh the more the merrier? I guess I can always use 1-2 stops of faster shutter, since I hate flash shots.
Bokeh is like HDR, some people like a ton, some don't like any at all and I'm in the middle somewhere. While I often max it out, I *always* take multiples of shots with steps coming up from the bottom F-stop. Nearly never is my focal plane so shallow as what a 1.8 allows, it just doesn't happen. But 2.2~2.5 seem to be about right for most things (single flower in a field).
If the money isn't a problem, fire away. Actually, I'm pretty sure you can rent these lenses online (possibly in person given you're in CA). Spend the ~$50 and give one a go, see if it makes sense for you.
Just to clear this up a bit, bokeh actually refers to the quality of the background blur and not the amount. Some lens can be super sharp but produce rather bad bokeh and vise versa. You can google examples on what's considered good bokeh and less desirable bokeh. Striving for this quality will be entirely up to you.
The amount of background blur is affected by the aperture, focal length, and distance between subject and background. If you just have the slow kit lens but want more background blur, either increase the distance between your subject and the background or if possible use a longer focal length. With a fast fast lens this becomes much easier as you can keep the other two variables constant and just use a larger aperture.
A fast lens is also desirable not only for getting shallow DOF but also helping in low light situations. Shot wide open a fast lens will allow more light in, help keep your shutter speeds up to reduce blur and keep your ISO down to reduce noise.
I like the fast lens for street photography. I like to take night time shots and capture the smallest rays of light and reflections. So for my use case, I want a fast and sharp lens. I'm actually considering a fixed lens as I can almost always frame my shots by using my feet.
I would suggest you rent a few lenses and see what the results are before settling on a decision.
I'd suggest a faster lens IF you intend on shooting more shots in low light.
...OR if you intend to take family portraits where narrow depth of field would be nice: a large aperture can create narrow depth of field which helps the subject stand out as it blurs distracting elements in the background. If this is news to you I'd suggest NOT buying the lens.
Most inexpensive lenses even at f/3.5 is not as sharp as say a lens selling with f/2.8 if you compare the same aperture. There's a reason why certain lenses are cheaper than others to keep the cost down. Expensive lens are manufactured with better flare control, accurate auto focus (including image stabilization if it's offered), etc and have bigger and more elements usually that drive up the cost.
With that said, sometimes even professional lenses can start out at f/4. You don't need a super fast lens for certain application nor someone will shoot say architectural photography at f/1.2 either.
I use my Canon 135 f/2L lens for headshots and 1/2 body portraits. Very sharp wide open but will often shoot at f/2.8 to make sure every part of the face (for the most part) is in focus. All depends on the subject distance and the background of course.
But if I'm shooting landscape with my wide angle, I'll stop down to f/5.6 to f/8 and up to f/11 sometimes. Just all depends on what you're looking to do and if you need a fast lens
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