for taking pics of cars. Not from a great distance, but rather close? You know the problem with peeps walking in front of you. Normally I use the "EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM" but I am no expert, so I was wondering if there was a better lens?
It really depends on what you want. Wide angle lenses will "bend" the cars, which can yield an appealing image but is often overdone. Telephoto lenses will "flatten" the image, whereas shorter lenses produce shots with more apparent depth. 50mm is pretty good (and you can get nice, crisp, fast prime 50mm lenses for much cheaper than zooms). F4 @ 50mm on the above lens won't be nearly as sharp as a prime. But then again you are stuck at 50mm. No lens will really help keep people out of the frame. You just simply must be conscious of your surroundings and have patience.
Thanks for the info. The problem is when you take pics of F-cars here in DK, you have to be fast as there will be people ALL over the place. It's quite annoying at times. if they are not between the camera and the car, they are all over the background. There is hardly ever any chances of a really good shot :-s
For details 50mm is fine. In fact a fixed 50mm/F1.4 lens is next on my list because I would like less depth of field than I can get currently. And they are cheap. But for full car shots I disagree, you need a wide angle. Not only does "bending" allow for more flexibility in composition, it actually communicates the experience of viewing the car better than a non-distorted view, and if there weren't something special about this experience, there would be no reason to take the photograph. Cars are very interesting as three-dimensional objects and what we often do is walk around, move our heads, subconsciously integrating multiple views into one. And if we are not moving, the car often does or is supposed to. The perspective distortions offered by a wide angle lens are the only straightforward way to show these multiple views. As long as you focus on the fidelity of the experience, not just distort things for a cheap effect, the viewer won't mind. Probably, only lenses below 18mm will cause bending that is overly extreme. For the same reason, full-car shots should have maximum depth of field, so it is not necessary to have a "fast" lens. For the OP I would recommend just using your current lens until you develop your own style and idea about what you want to do. Then you will naturally develop certain tendencies and frustrations and you can go from there.
