Car Photography Lens

[tweedbean]

Hi all, after some advice from people who know cameras better than me, which isn't difficult. I have an old Panasonic G2 with kit lens which still does the job. Im looking to invest in a new lens for static car photography and was looking at the Canon 50mm 1.8 STM for around £100, as its can be picked up cheaply and dont want to ***** tonnes of money on lens I wont get the best out of. Does this sound like a good purchase?

 

[Raymond Lin]

It's not about the lens, it's about lighting.

Metal is hard to photograph, lighting it is key.

 

[Andy90]

Tweedbean, your Panasonic G2 is a Micro Four thirds lens mount. The Canon 50mm 1.8 STM lens is a Canon EF lens mount. The lens will not fit on the Panasonic body.

What are your intentions? Photographing cars in motor shows, museums or classic car/meet ups outdoors?

Fairly sure there are some good car photography experts on the forums who will be able to give you some good advice on purchasing the right lens for what you want to achieve.

 

[tweedbean]

Thanks Andy, it tends to be outdoor photography at car shows or individual photoshoots again at an outdoor location. Don't really do much if any indoor photography at all.

 

[D.P.]

What is the problem with the lens you have? I would think it is perfect for photographing cars.

And as Andy says, that canon lens won fit your Panasonic camera, you need to look for Micro 4/3 lenses. Moreover, 50mm just would be way to long for a car assuming you are waling up to the cars.

 

[Andy90]

One good way of finding out what sort of lens is being used to photograph certain things, is to do a search of Flickr. The following search is for cars within one of the bigger Panasonic Micro Four thirds groups. Check out the pictures and look at the information as to what lens was used. Will give you a good idea as to what people achieve, often with quite modest lenses.

https://www.flickr.com/search/?group_id=811645@N22&view_all=1&text=cars

Bear in mind the Micro Four Thirds sensors have a cropped sensor, so a 14mm lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera, like your G2 has a 'equivalent' field of view as if you were using a 28mm lens on a full frame camera.

Coincidentally the Panasonic G2 had a nice review when it first came out, which you can read at https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicdmcg2

The following link is for a website called Camera Price Buster, it is a price comparison site. The link takes you to the lowest new prices for Panasonic Micro Four Third Lenses.

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/Panasonic/Panasonic-G-System-Lenses

You can often find some nice bargains second hand from reputable camera dealers as well.

 

[hux]

Generally use my 20-40mm limited, partly as this range gives a nice fov, but also it has a certain look to the images that brings a bit of life to what would be dull images.
But like Raymond says, it's all really about the light.

Overcast says are like natures softbox, and can add drama to the image.

 

[BananaDunka]

As mentioned, time of day and/or controlled lighting is the key to good car photos. You can get amazing shots with even a kit lens.

What kind of car shots have you seen that you want to take inspiration from, can you post examples of them?

 

[.one.]

I shoot mostly motorcycles as said above light is key exhausts tanks & reflective plastic can be challenging.

But you can also go with total darkness as I did below of my own personal motorcycle with simple methods.

The image is over processed for luster print.