Image Comparisons T2i VS Mark II; 85mm 1.2 vs 50mm 1.8 vs Kit Lens

A hot topic in the photography world is does better equipment = better photos? I started on the Canon Rebel XSI + kit lens (18-55mm), acquired a similar-quality telephoto  lens (55-250mm), acquired the 50mm 1.8, upgraded cameras to the T2i, then upgraded to the Mark II 5D, and got the 85mm 1.2L lens. I started with the lowest end equipment and now have the highest end and I can tell you something interesting I’ve learned: overall, your knowledge and experience matter more than the equipment itself. I still have my T2i.. I use it as my backup camera and for when I need a telephoto lens (it is not compatible on my 5D and I don’t own a telephoto for the 5D). Needless to say I rarely use the T2i. So after a few questions I saw in some photography forums (regarding if they should upgrade lens or camera body and which will improve photos more etc), I got curious about how the different lenses would act on different cameras and how noticeable the differences would be so I picked up my T2i for the first time (for taking a non-telephoto photo) in almost 2 years. When I started I was wanting to learn for myself if the lens or camera body made a bigger difference but the biggest thing I ended up learning was not what I expected:  (overall) knowledge and experience mattered more than the gear being used.  Images I was making on the 50mm + T2i body were turning out awesome! Way better than they ever had before I upgraded. Like WAY.  Clear focus on the eyes, nicely, evenly lit images, nice overall quality to the images. It is the exact same body and exact same lens I’d always been using but what has changed is my knowledge and experience. I honestly thought that there would be a significant or noticeable difference between all the cameras and lenses but the only thing that showed noticeably worse quality is the kit lens. I got great, crisp images on the 50mm + T2i and I get great, crisp images on the 5d 50mm and I get great images on the 5d + 85mm.  (Not to say they are the “SAME” but just not as significant as many believe). I am going to post some image comparisons here with a note of which camera and lens they came from. I left most of them 95%-100% unedited and didn’t edit anything essential to the overall image like sharpness – just edited like if there was something on their face :).  Over half of them are images I took just for this blog post and my kids got burnt out on getting their photo taken so please just pay attention to the “image quality” and not the facial expressions/background etc :p.. look at the overall quality and its potential.  In the previews some of them look a little fuzzy, you have to click on the photos to see the full quality and clear sharpness of them.  I have a blog post dedicated specifically to showing unedited photos from the  T2i + 50mm, though a lot of the images are in this blog post but it is a more focused topic if you want to check it out the purpose of it being to show that you should focus more on acquiring your knowledge than your equipment. I should note one more thing too.. while there may not be much regarding “image quality” differences, upgrading camera bodies was beneficial in many ways beyond simply image quality (such as faster and easier to change settings while shooting in manual mode). I’m not saying equipment “doesn’t matter” I’m just saying it may not matter as much as you think.. and if you work on practicing and learning you can get sharp lovely images on “starter” equipment!  :). We’ll start our way at the top with the Mark II 5D + 85mm and work our way downwards all the way to kit lens and point-and-shoot camera. Mark II 5D + 85mm Lens:

^ Mark II 5D + 85mm lens *click to see more detail*  ^  ^ Mark II 5D + 85mm lens *click to see more detail*

^ Mark II 5D + 85mm lens *click to see more detail*  ^  ^ Mark II 5D + 85mm lens *click to see more detail*

^ Mark II 5D + 85mm lens *click to see more detail*  ^

^5D + 50mm 1.8 lens – click to see sharpness ^

^5D + 50mm 1.8 lens *click to see more detail* ^

^5D + 50mm 1.8 lens *click to see more detail* ^

^ T2i + 50mm lens unedited *click to see more detail*

^ T2i + 50mm lens unedited *click to see more detail*

^ T2i + 50mm lens unedited *click to see more detail to see the full detail and sharpness* ^

^ T2i + 50mm lens unedited *click to see more detail*   The eyes are much sharper in the full view mode.   ^

^ T2i + 50mm lens unedited *click to see more detail*   The eyes are much sharper in the full view mode.   ^

^ T2i + 18-55 Kit Lens ^

^ T2i + 18-55 Kit Lens *click to see more detail*  -This image turned out nicer than the rest I took – most of them looked more like the one above this but it still goes to show the kit can produce okay images :).

^ Point And Shoot Camera – Canon Powershot Elph href=”https://christineannphotos.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/powershot-1stamp.jpg”>

^ My point-and-shoot – Canon Powershot Elph – unedited ^. In my opinion the photo quality doesn’t start looking questionable until you get to the kit lens + point-and-shoot photos. The best quality overall is on the 5D + 85mm lens however I don’t feel like the difference is hugely substantial or that I couldn’t get similar images on the 5D + 50mm. As I said earlier, I could definitely NOT have intentionally have gotten images like this a couple years ago on the t2i + 50mm when I was regularly using it (I did get a few lucky ones! But would not have been able to get them on purpose). My knowledge is just much deeper now.. and I bet if I pick up the same camera + lens in 2 years they will be even more improved (stay tuned :D!).  I do wish I had gone all out and set up a more studio environment but all I was trying to portray at the start of was image quality, not stunning professional wall hangers :).  I wanted to leave these mostly unedited so that you would know exactly what came from the camera and lenses and not left to wonder what was done in editing.. but do note that once I edit these they are taken to a whole new level and can be far more stunning than straight out of camera.. editing can do a lot to an image! My conclusion on all of this is: no – your lens or camera are not causing your images to be fuzzy.  No – getting a more expensive lens/camera body are not going to instantly transform your photos into perfect images.  I remember the day my 5D came in the mail and I thought my images would finally look the way I had always wanted them to.  The bokeh was increased since it’s a full-frame sensor, however they did not finally look the way I had always wanted to!  In fact, it took another year and a half of using it constantly to finally get to where I have wanted to be all along, and I got there through practice and learning, not owning the camera (though I do so love my camera haha).  This knowledge comes from practice, studying, and more practice. Imagine if you’re terrible at painting and don’t understand how to paint well, you will not create a beautiful painting, even with an oversized high quality canvas + high quality paints and paintbrushes and likewise if you understand painting well, you could create a wonderful image on less nice paper/paints. I hope my point here makes sense :). You have to understand lighting, composition, framing, angle, crop, your in camera settings and which to use in which situations, posing, props, focusing, where to “set up” and why you choose that spot, editing, your equipment and what it can do and how to make it do what you want.. etcetc.  There are lots of good reasons to upgrade (beyond image quality) and I’m not trying to discourage anyone from doing so but I just hope to inspire people to make the best of what they have and not question equipment for less-than-perfect images. :).

 

-Christine Ann

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