What lens can I use with my canon t1i to achieve quality car pictures like these?

J

jessicaa

Member
Joined
May 13, 2008
Messages
57
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I'm new to photography and I see nice pictures of cars such as these all over the place.
(you dont have to look at all of them)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3524/4007708509_0ae82cf88b_b.jpg

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo164/trav_dub/DSC_8600.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2620/3835507687_b3ce0b82fc_b.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii238/ohiodub_995/Mine/3447.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2609/4128977533_40ddf5fa22.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2547/4129746460_e393b50e3d.jpg


I'm just wondering if i can achieve the quality of any of these pictures with my canon t1i I just bought. And if so, do I need a special lens? Thanks in advanced! your help is really appreciated! <3
PS: yes i am a vw golf fan :)
 
Your camera and the standard lens can do it. The ability to go manual settings and choosing the right time of day, weather, or location to get the best lighting is the key to these pictures.
 
Without the EXIF data that is attached to the files straight from the camera, you can't know exactly what lens or lenses were used for those photos. You may already have the right lens. And for what it's worth, most people who post to Flickr do include the EXIF data in their photos. Usually it can be seen if you click the link for the camera used to take the photo under additional information. I can say the apparent depth of field in several images suggests a fairly narrow aperture which means a lot of light or a long exposure was necessary to get some of those shots. The point lurking here is you might also need to get a tripod to duplicate some of these images if you don't own one already..

For what it's worth, I have also learned that more often than not, your final images can benefit substantially from relatively minor post production adjustments for color saturation, white balance, contrast and sharpening. Adobe Photoshop is the standard by which most other editing applications are judged but, it costs as much as your camera. That said, the free Digital Photo Professional software that came with your camera can also be used to do some of the same basic edits And if you don't shoot raw, you can also use your camera's "Picture Style" settings to get the look you want.
 
One, two and four were shot using a long lens, maybe at the end of the 70-200 mm f/2.8.

Three, looks like a normal lens (or at about 35 mm on a 18-55 mm lens)

Five and six look like they were shot with a wide angle lens, although it could be again the 18-55 mm lens shot at the 18 mm setting.

Special lens? Not to get clear, colourful shots, no. Any DSLR with any lens can produce such images if the users has the right skills. Skills like getting excellent exposures and framing their shots well.

Since you picked photos with no EXIF data on them, it is not possible to pick the specific camera or lens used in any of those shots

EDIT: Opps. I just discovered that the shot of the Audi did have some EXIF data on it. It was shot using a Nikon D40 (6mp), aperture f/6.3, ISO 200 with the lens at 200 mm @ 1/80 second (probably the 18-200 mm VR or 55-200 mm VR). The Saturation was set on High Saturation and Sharpness on Hard
 
Your kit lens would be perfect for any of the shots listed. (I'm assuming you've got an 18-55 or something similar with the camera.)

With your lens, the best way to separate the car from the background would be to zoom all the way in and move yourself around to frame the car rather than using the zoom. Make sure the car is a fair distance from the background and shoot in Aperture Priority with the largest aperture available (smallest aperture number your camera will get when zoomed in).

The rest of the shots (wider angle) are simple to achieve.

Good Luck.

PS - What is it about Golfs that makes people like them? Serious question...
 
Back
Top