Originally posted by: paulney
Can anyone explain to me the benefit of having a lens with an f < 2.8? HTF do you focus on anything with the aperture that wide?
Exactly what are you shooting at f1.4?
Lenses with an aparture of <2.0 are used primarly for available light photography. That is to say, evening shots and concerts and stuff.
I guess you could use it for artistic purposes but as you said I can't imagine needing anything more than f2.8 to isolate a subject.
Portraiture is another use as it helps to throw the background out of focus. But f/1.4 is getting a little extreme for that purpose. I think f/2.8 is plenty in almost any portraiture situation.
And as for macro lenses, macro photography already limits DOF and I really can't imagine why you would want such a small DOF with a macro lens. In fact just to get things half in focus you usually need to shoot at around f/8. It's takes f/16 or f/22 to get the whole picture in focus. That is why a tripod is almost a necessity for most macro photography.
So I would say 90% of the use of such a lens of for low light photography where you do not want to have to use a flash or get grainy picutres from using a high iso. Personally I never use a flash if I can help it. I think it looks un natural.
And the only time I use a flash is OUTDOORS for fill flash where there is already plenty of light. I hate using a flash indoors at night it looks so unnatural. Even if you bounce it off the walls I much prefer the look of using available light and a really fast lens.
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