Best lens for shooting FOOD

[happenin2you]

Hi,

I have a Sony NEX 5-R and, I believe, an 18-55 lens. I want to start using different lenses and am hoping to find something that I can use to take amazing photos of all the delicious food I will encounter during my ten days of Deluxe Dining Plan in two weeks.

I'm learning through experience and research about photography and recently upgraded to this camera from a point and shoot. If there is any advice you care to offer me, I am very welcoming of it.

Thanks so much!

 

[havoc315]

Hi,

I have a Sony NEX 5-R and, I believe, an 18-55 lens. I want to start using different lenses and am hoping to find something that I can use to take amazing photos of all the delicious food I will encounter during my ten days of Deluxe Dining Plan in two weeks.

I'm learning through experience and research about photography and recently upgraded to this camera from a point and shoot. If there is any advice you care to offer me, I am very welcoming of it.

Thanks so much!

As restaurants tend to be lower in light, you are looking for a fast lens (preferable a prime lens with an aperture of 2.8 or larger). You are also looking for a lens with a pretty close minimum focusing distance, so you don't need to stand up and back away to photograph your food!

A macro lens lets you get closest, but isn't absolutely necessary.

These shots were taken with a Sony dSLR, with a 35/1.8 lens:

diver scallops.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

Poached White Tuna.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

lobster crepe.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

Grilled wild king salmon.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

salmon special.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

Arguably, I could have gotten away with a smaller aperture. The restaurant had a good amount of light, and a smaller aperture would have brought more of the picture into focus.

 

[fractal]

Following up on Havoc's excellent advise, these are the prime lenses I'm most familar with available in E-mount ( native for NEX cameras ) but first let me preface by saying I take terrible food shots.

Sony E 16mm 2.8. This is a pancake lens that can be picked up cheaply used. Not a terrible lens - pretty decent in the middle which may suit your needs. I don't find myself using this lens often.

Sigma E 19mm 2.8. I own the "older" version of this lens - paid $100 for it. Again, not the best lens in the world but worth the money. I shot this with my NEX-7 and the Sigma at f/4. It's not a great shot but much of that blame has to go to the several beers I had for dinner. Being small and light, it's also not a bad lens to have on the camera just to carry around. Again, it won't give you super creamy bokeh ( background blur ) but it gets the job done.

Sony Zeiss 24mm 1.8. I don't own (thinking about it) this but the reviews and results I've seen from this lens make it the best prime you can buy for the NEX system ( it's also $1000 +/- ).

Sony E 35mm 1.8. A relatively expensive prime from Sony ($450). It offers in lens stabilization and a fast aperture. I own this lens but I wish I would have paid up for the Sony Zeiss 24mm. Some love this lens and the focal length would still work for food shots. It would also work for you in dark rides. Here is a shot at f/2.8 with the lens...

Sigma 30mm 2.8. I also own this lens ($100). Very similar to the 19mm Sigma but different focal length.


Sony E 50mm 1.8. This is my favorite lens but because of the focal length, it's not the greatest for food shots. This did not deter me from tying some during our dinner at Citros. It can be done but requires moving back from the table and/or some flexibility. It's pretty good for taking shots of other people's food though. The lens is $299 new. Here are some samples...

 

[photo_chick]

The lens specs that will help you have already been covered. Another thing is to pay attention to the lighting. Sometimes just pushing the plate to one side of the table or the other, or reorienting yourself to it, can make a huge difference in the final image.

 

[happenin2you]

Thank you so much for your responses! I'm going to practice with the lens that I have for now, and I'm going to eventually supplement with a macro lens.