Fun camera… but not what I actually do my work with…

Wow. It seems like I just posted my Guide to Food Photography gear… but it’s been almost a year, and I have realized a good chunk of my equipment has changed during that time. Since the number one question I get from readers is what gear do you use, I thought I’d give you a new peak into the studio & camera bags.

Camera

This year, I upgraded to a Canon 5D. Up until the first time I had it in my hands, I was a bit skeptical about upgrading to this body… torn between just squeezing every last little day out of my 20D to save up for a medium format camera, or holding out for a Canon 1Ds III. Well, in June, that changed. I needed a full frame sensor for a shoot, so I rented one locally for the weekend. I placed an order with Adorama as soon as I got back into town… that’s how much I loved it. Yes, the 1Ds III will be better… and one of these days, I really am going to get a digital medium format something or other. But, the 5D is a fantastic camera and it’s going to keep me happy for quite a while.

That said, initially, the 5D has caused me some pain. Because it’s a full frame sensor, the lenses I knew and loved all became wider… and not just a little bit. The wideness is nice, but it often makes you feel like you need to get in closer… which means I’m constantly hitting the minimal focus distance on my lenses. My goto lens for a good chunk of this year has been the 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift, but with the 5D, it just can’t get close enough for a lot of my shots. I started falling back almost exclusively to the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro. But, I missed my tilting and shifting so much, that finally I broke down and bought the Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens. Great lens. Great great lens. I love this lens. If you are shooting full frame, and shooting food, it’s definitely worth getting one.

Of course I’m still shooting quite often with my 50mm f1.4, but I also added the 85mm f/1.8. The drawback of the 85 is a pretty far minimal focal distance.. but it is such a great portrait lens, it’s worth ignoring that part. I love this lens for taking action shots of people and food in the kitchen.

I also still use the 24-105mm f/4L, primarily for a monthly shoot that I do for Seattle Magazine called Chef Test. Each month, I do a portrait of a chef taste testing ingredients, and this lens is just perfect for this (on a tripod, with sufficient light btw). Also in my lens bag are the 200mm f/2.8L and the 17-40mm f/4L, neither of which I use for food photography but both of which are nice lenses for travel.

Remember the Canon EP-EX15 Eyepiece Extender I talked about last year? I still love this… but I must warn you, if you use it, you will likely end up buying many more eye piece cups. They tend to slide off very easily. I’ve gone through about 5 cups now. But, it still nicer than a smudgy display.

I also love my Remote Switch, which lets me take photos on slow shutter speed without having to mess around with the timer. I picked up a little wireless remote a few weeks ago. It was great fun. For one afternoon. Then the battery died. Maybe it was a bad one, so I’ll see how it goes once I replace it.

This shot was taken in my old kitchen, but I still have those same lights.

Lighting

My lighting really hasn’t changed much this year. I still use natural light… south and west facing windows, covered with frosted vellum when it is really sunny out. And, of course, my favorite free thing in the world: a few big sheets of styrofoam board to act as a bounce.

I’m still using the Lowel Tota system, which is a reasonably priced start into studio lighting. The Tota-Pak includes a 750W tungsten halogen lamp with bulb, a stand and an umbrella is regularly $280. The V-Light Pak, which is 500W is on sale as well for about $5 less. The Tota-frame and Assorted Lighting Gel Set for the Tota-lamps are nice too, although I don’t use them all that much.

Maybe it was because I was reading a bit too much Strobist, but I did venture into some off camera flash this year, and picked up the Canon Speedlite 580EX Flash which I can use to create some nice off camera flash when used as a master with my old 430EX Speedlite. When I use the flash, I always soften it with some sort of diffuser.

I picked up the Lowel EGO Tabletop Fluorescent Light for an additional small table top lamp, as well as the Lowel EGO Sweep Table-top Background Support Stand. This is a nice inexpensive setup for tabletop photography.

I also have a very small fresnel light by Mole-Richardson that I use only for special cases that I need just a little bit of extra light in one spot. It’s fairly dramatic lighting, esp with all the accessories you can put on it.

My studio, on day 1 of my move. That whole shelf is full now, as is the closet (below). Those windows, btw, are my main light source.

Props & Accessories

My tripod is a set of Manfrotto legs and a Really Right Stuff ball head. This is a heavy duty studio tripod… the kind of thing you wouldn’t want to throw into a backpack and take with you, but excellent in the studio. I also have a great arm that clamps onto my tripod for holding onto miscellaneous gear like reflective discs.

Look at all that room! Not so much a mere 3 months later…

My prop closet has grown. It’s really not a single closet anymore. It’s at least 2, although one of the shelving units isn’t actually in a closet. It’s scary. We need to get earthquake insurance. I’d try to describe what I have, but it’s really too big at this point. If I could have it, I probably do. And, I’m always picking up new things here and there as I find bargains. The one thing I don’t have is pewter… must get going on that.

White is always a great choice for props.

If you are just starting out, make sure you have a good variety of white plates and bowls, and some simple flatware. Trays (like wooden breakfast trays) are really nice to have too. Forks appear most frequently in my shots, quickly followed by spoons. I tend to use the smaller flatware more frequently, but I also have a couple of interesting serving tools, like a copper ladle and coffee scoop. Ebay, thrift stores, CB2, Cost Plus, Pier One are all good places to go to find inexpensive props. Also, ask at the store if they have a rental program. Many places, like Crate & Barrel do, and you can just rent things for 20% of their cost as long as you bring them back with the tags on and in new condition. This is particularly good if you need something like a table for a shot, but don’t want to pony up the money for a full table or maybe, like me, don’t really have the space for one.

For backdrops, head to your local fabric store. You can get some good deals on cloth paying by the yard. Who cares if the edges aren’t finished when they don’t show up in the photo. Also, hand-made paper found at arts supply stores or card stores makes for some really nice backdrops, esp when you have a working sweep.

For a more finished look, I also have a fairly wide selection of towels and linen napkins that can be folded and placed under or around dishes. I prefer simple patterns and solids, in fairly light colors for these… but I do have the occasional piece that is quite bright and playful. I find most of my linens in the sales racks.

For styling your food, a good set of tools to have on hand are a pair of chopsticks (for pushing, poking or picking things up), tweezers, toothpicks, a pair of manicure scissors, some cotton swabs, a spray bottle (with water) and plenty of paper towels. Joe Glo wipes are also really good for little clean-ups. Also, my new favorite quick clean stuff are the Method wipes.

Computers & Software

In my last post, I talked about software, but didn’t talk about my computer at all. If you’ve been reading the blog and comments, you might have seen a Mac vs PC debate going on. You won’t get me going too much on that kind of debate. I know people have personal preferences that make them very passionate about what OS they use. I’m fine with that. If you have something you love, great!

As for what I use, I have a MacBook Pro. I like it. It’s pretty. It goes pretty fast. It has all the apps that I need. It annoys me sometimes too. But, that is true of any computer. My next computer will be a desktop Mac with one of those gorgeous Apple Flat-Panel Displays, which will be color calibrated all the time and more storage space than I can pronounce. Hopefully, this will be soon.

For image editing, I’ve upgraded to Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Design Premium. It’s really, really expensive (I had a bit of a discount through a friend), but it has Photoshop CS3 along with web design, illustration and print design tools. If you don’t need advanced editing, just go with Photoshop Elements. If you outgrow it, Adobe is generally pretty good with giving upgrade discounts. Or, if you are really just getting started, you can always go with iPhoto on the Mac or Picasa on the PC without any outlay of cash.

That said, I almost exclusively use Phase One’s Capture One Pro now, and only go into Photoshop if I need to do something like clean up a wrinkle or a crumb (or, ack, sensor dust!). Capture One is a raw workflow tool that lets me shoot tethered to my Mac. I have a long USB cable that connects my camera to my Mac, and as soon as I take the photo, it’s on my laptop and I can see it full res to make sure that I’m getting what I wanted. It’s completely changed the way that I shoot and edit, and I couldn’t be happier about it. But, it was a serious expense. Unless you are going pro, there is no reason to pay that kind of money.

I also still just use Adobe Bridge for my “organization.” It’s fine. It’s kind of lame. This is an area I really need to improve on, so expect a post on that sometime in the next several months… or sometime after the new Mac gets bought and installed.

For other software, my blogs are powered by WordPress. I use a client editor called Ecto. I’m currently using Firefox for browsing, in support of their recent announcement to start respecting image colorspace info (Ya-hoo!) I also use an app called FileChute, in conjunction with my .Mac account, to help me get files to my clients. It’s kind of nice because you just drag the files on, it zips them up for you, posts them, and gives you a URL. Then, you just email the URL to your client and they can download the photos. You can even password it if you want. Neat.

So, that’s it! Well, I’m surely forgetting something… but that probably means I don’t use it all that much.

If you have a favorite gadget or must-have piece of gear, please feel free to leave it in the comments!

Camera

I’m still shooting with a Canon EOS 20D for most of my shots. I love this camera… it’s a great size and produces beautiful shots. Of course, the Canon EOS 5D is on my wishlist… but I think it’s still many months off.

In the studio, I shoot with one of three lenses almost exclusively: the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro, the 50mm f1.4 and the 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Before I got the tilt-shift, I used the 50mm quite frequently… but it’s so close to the 45mm, that I rarely use in the studio anymore. 75% of my shots are now with the 45 T/S. It is an amazing lens.

Outside of the studio is a different story. For shooting on location with minimal gear, the 50mm 1.4 is a must have. Nothing else handles low light like this lens (ok, the 1.2 version would, but can anyone afford it?). I also love to take the 24-105mm f/4L, which is a great lens for well-lit shots and gives a bit more flexibility for framing. Just the little bit of zoom handles most of the shots I want to take. If I’m up for bringing a 3rd lens with me, then it’s the 200mm f/2.8L , which is my favorite telephoto lens… cheaper than the 70-200 2.8 and a bit crisper.

I also have some accessories. My favorite is the Canon EP-EX15 Eyepiece Extender, which lets me look through the view finder without always smudging up the display on the camera. Such a simple little thing, yet it makes me so happy.

I also love my Remote Switch, which lets me take photos on slow shutter speed without having to mess around with the timer. Of course, I’m sure I’d also like the Wireless Radio Remote too.

Lighting

A good portion of my lighting is free, or nearly so. Big windows and french doors that face south and west. I’ve covered the southern windows with a frosted vellum that is available at art supply stores by the roll. That, and a few big sheets of styrofoam board are my lighting solution for about 75-80% of my photos.

When I don’t have enough light, I use the Lowel Tota system, which is a reasonably priced start into studio lighting. The Tota-Pak includes a 750W tungsten halogen lamp with bulb, a stand and an umbrella is regularly $280, but I just noticed that it is on sale for $194 on Amazon right now. The V-Light Pak, which is 500W is on sale as well for about $5 less. I haven’t used them yet, but I recently got the Tota-frame and Assorted Lighting Gel Set for the Tota-lamps as well.

I also have a very small fresnel light by Mole-Richardson that I use only for special cases that I need just a little bit of extra light in one spot. It’s fairly dramatic lighting, esp with all the accessories you can put on it.

Props & Accessories

My tripod is a set of Manfrotto legs and a Really Right Stuff ball head. This is a heavy duty studio tripod… the kind of thing you wouldn’t want to throw into a backpack and take with you, but excellent in the studio. I also have a great arm that clamps onto my tripod for holding onto miscellaneous gear like reflective discs.

White dishes are my most frequently used, but I have quite a few solid color things as well. And some dishes with Asian prints. But, if you are just starting out, make sure you have a good variety of white plates and bowls, and some simple flatware. Forks appear most frequently in my shots, quickly followed by spoons. I tend to use the smaller flatware more frequently, but I also have a couple of interesting serving tools, like a copper ladle and coffee scoop.

For backdrops, head to your local fabric store. You can get some good deals on cloth paying by the yard. Who cares if the edges aren’t finished when they don’t show up in the photo. Also, hand-made paper found at arts supply stores or card stores makes for some really nice backdrops, esp when you have a working sweep.

For a more finished look, I also have a fairly wide selection of towels and linen napkins that can be folded and placed under or around dishes. I prefer simple patterns and solids, in fairly light colors for these… but I do have the occasional piece that is quite bright and playful. I find most of my linens in the sales racks.

For styling your food, a good set of tools to have on hand are a pair of chopsticks (for pushing, poking or picking things up), tweezers, a pair of manicure scissors, some cotton swabs, a spray bottle (with water) and plenty of paper towels. Joe Glo wipes are also really good for little clean-ups.

Software

I reference Photoshop CS2 for most of the articles on Still Life With. It’s really, really expensive but it’s also just about the only tool that you can use to do advanced editing. If you don’t need advanced editing, just go with Photoshop Elements. If you outgrow it, Adobe is generally pretty good with giving upgrade discounts. Or, if you are really just getting started, you can always go with iPhoto on the Mac or Picasa on the PC without any outlay of cash.

My newest software necessity is Phase One’s Capture One Pro. It’s a raw workflow tool that lets me shoot tethered to my Mac. I have a long USB cable that connects my camera to my Mac, and as soon as I take the photo, it’s on my laptop and I can see it full res to make sure that I’m getting what I wanted. It’s completely changed the way that I shoot and edit, and I couldn’t be happier about it. But, it was a serious expense. Unless you are going pro, there is no reason to pay that kind of money. That said, I’ll have more info on shooting tethered in an upcoming post.

BTW – I’ve been thrilled to get so many mails asking me my opinion on this stuff. I’m very happy to help… so if you have other questions, do feel free to shoot them my way!

Technorati Tags: camera gear, Food, Food Styling, Photography, shopping

A few weeks ago, I posted about a new rental lens service called Ziplens. Unlike Rentglass, Ziplens had the two lenses in stock that I was hoping to try, so I placed an order to rent them for a couple of weeks. The lenses have come and gone back, and I must say, the whole process was amazingly simple and effortless.

The lenses came well packed, with simple instructions on how to return them. Both lenses were in great condition, clean and free from any knicks or scratches. Returning was even simpler… just pack the lenses back in the same boxes, wrap up in the enclosed plastic wrapper, making sure to place the return label on the top, and then, the really sweet part – leave them at the door for the postman to pick up. No calling for a UPS pickup or having to make a trip to the post office. I received both a prompt return reminder and a notice when the lenses reached home. I also learned that while I enjoyed shooting with both lenses, I’m glad I didn’t buy them.

The two lenses I tried were the 60mm 2.8 macro and the 24mm Tilt/Shift… both are quite pricey lenses. The 60mm was a nice lens, but for some weird reason I found it had a bigger noise problem than any of my other lenses.

The 24mm Tilt/Shift lens was a different story. This is a brilliant lens, and I really fell in love with it. Here’s an example shot:

But, I really need something a little less wide for my food shots. You can’t tell, but I’m about as close as I can get to the glass here. Since returning the 24mm, I’m borrowing the 45mm Tilt-Shift from a friend, and it’s pretty much ideal. While I’m still trying to figure out the whole tilting and shifting thing, it’s fun to play with. More on that lens in future posts.

Technorati Tags: camera gear, Food, Photography

I’ve got a couple lenses on their way to me now, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

[via PhotoDoto]

Technorati Tags: Photography

Lens come with prepaid return shipping and label (you ship back in the same box) to make the whole process as easy as possible. Plus, your “week” doesn’t begin until the package is delivered… something they can tell with USPS tracking.

If you live in a city with a specialty camera store, you probably already have access to lens rental… but this is a great service for those who don’t have that luxury. And, be sure to compare the prices of Rentglass with your local shop… one local shop rents that same Canon 24mm TS lens at $30 per day or $120 a week!

[from Photodot]

Technorati Tags: Photography

I’ve always loved photos that had extremely narrow depth of field (DOF), and marry a sharply focused subject with a creamy soft backdrop. It simplifies the photo and makes it both pleasing and understandable. Looking back through my photos, especially my food photos, a great number of them are shot with an aperture of 3.5 to 1.4.

However, I had never heard of bokeh or given much thought to how the blur looked until someone left a comment on one of my flickr photos inviting me to the Bokeh: Smooth and Silky group on Flickr. Now I am hooked and have started to look at my photos in a new light.

To understand bokeh you need to understand depth of field. Photos with a medium amount of depth of field feel natural to us because that’s our eyes see. Only the immediate subject is clearly in focus, and our peripheral vision is gently fuzzy. With a lens, the amount of blur is determined by the size of the aperture. There are lots of great technical descriptions of depth of field available, but I start yawning as soon as I start reading them and looking at the little diagrams of triangles pointing at each other.

All you really need to know is that depth of field is a combination of the aperture setting on your camera and the distance you are from the subject. If you are further away or you are shooting with a high f-stop (f10 or greater) you will have a wider depth of field, and more of the overall image will be clear and in focus. If you are closer or are shooting with the aperture wide open (f9 or below), you will have more background blur. Lower number, more blur. Higher number, more clear.

The best way to understand the variations between the stops is to shoot a lot and pay attention to the data when you are reviewing your photos. You won’t be able to tell whether you got what you wanted on the LCD on your camera. Shooting more photos is free and you will quickly learn what your preferred f-stop is with practice.

As a general rule in food photography, shooting with a greater depth of field is typically used most often for packaging. I tried to find one of my food photos that was shot at something higher than f8, but failed. I just never shoot food that way. But, here’s an f11 outdoor scene to give you a sense of greater depth of field.

Editorial food photography (ie, photos used for magazines, etc.) is typically shot with a medium to narrow depth of field. This is where bokeh comes into play, and is the difference between a good photo and a great one.

So, how do you get good bokeh? Unfortunately, the best way is to use the best lenses. Some lenses give better bokeh than others… of course, those tend to be the higher quality, more expensive lenses. If you are interested in understanding exactly how lenses create good and poor bokeh, check out this article.

Another is to play around with the aperture settings as you are shooting. Take lots of shots at slightly varying f-stops. I almost always take 3 to 4 shots of the same photo with aperture settings between 6.3 and 2.8 (or 1.4 if I’m using my 50mm) so I can select the one that looks best to me. More blurry doesn’t mean better bokeh… it’s about finding the best blur to balance the subject.

And, if you haven’t done it recently (or ever!), take your lenses and camera in to be cleaned. SLRs get dusty very quickly, and if you get dust on your sensor, it will show up in all of your photos and ruin a perfectly smooth background. If you are in the Seattle, I highly recommend Camera Techs in Ballard. They do a great job for very reasonable prices… only $39 to clean a digital camera sensor.

You also need to make sure you are focusing precisely on your subject. For macro photography of any kind, I have given up on autofocus. It just doesn’t allow me the control that I need. If you can, switch the camera into manual focus mode for anything that you shoot within a foot, and slowly adjust back and forth until you get just the right spot in focus.

If you want to attempt to smooth out your background after the fact, there is a great Lens Blur filter in Photoshop CS. It won’t give you 100% natural looking blur, but it does a decent job of adding bokeh in shots that you can’t retake or that could use just a touch of smoothing. There’s a great tutorial on using the Lens Blur to make an artificial Tilt-Shift effect which is basically what you need to do to simply blur the background. Instead of using the cylinder gradient, just use a straight dark to light. You also won’t want to use the same brightness settings suggested in that tutorial as it will make it look more artificial.

To get a better feel of bokeh, spend some time looking through the photos in these Flickr groups:

Bokeh
Bokeh: Smooth and Silky
Bokeh Galore
Fake Bokeh (for photos that use software to add their blur effects)
Watashiwa Bokeh

Technorati Tags: Macro, Photography, Tips

Focal Length

Technically, the focal length is the distance between the lens surface and the image sensor (or film) measured in milimeters. The greater this distance, the greater the magnification of what you are shooting. A smaller number gives you a wider-angle, so you end up capturing more of the scene. A larger number magnifies the image, allowing you to fill the frame with a small object from a greater distance. The example above uses my 180mm, 100mm and 50mm respectively all from the same distance, about 4 feet away. Most food photography is fairly close, detailed work, so you rarely need a wide angle lens. I’d recommend sticking within the 50mm to 100mm range.

You may sometimes hear people talking about prime lenses. Prime simply means it’s a fixed focal length, and not a zoom lens. Zoom lenses support multiple focal lengths, so with one lens you can zoom in or out to get a range of sizes. Typical zoom configurations are 28-80mm or 100 to 300mm. You will pay more for a zoom lens and it won’t be as fast, but it does offer greater flexibility. For food photography zoom is unimportant. It’s easy enough to move your camera closer or further from the subject. If you are investing in a general purpose lens for all your photography it may be worth the extra cost.

Aperture

The camera’s aperture is the opening that lets light in, and it gets bigger or smaller depending on the lighting conditions and the desired look of the photo. It’s a bit weird, but the lower the number the bigger the opening. So a 2.8 might be “wide open” on your lens. When your lens is wide open, you are able to take photos faster (less shake, sharper pictures) and with a narrower depth of field. I’ll talk more about depth of field in another post, but a narrow depth of field basically means that only a small amount of the image is super crisp, and the rest (typically the background) is beautifully blurry… giving the eye a clear sign of what to focus on. In the example above, I shot the left image at f7 and the right image at 1.4. Neither is right or wrong… it’s all about what look you are going for. A lens with an aperture that only goes to 5 still might meet your needs, but it will be harder to get this kind of image.

Just about all lens today offer auto-focus. However, for food photography, I’ve stopped using it completely. The mechanisms for auto-focus when dealing with the lighting conditions and soft shapes of food often get tripped up, and it’s just faster and more accurate to manually adjust. I’ll talk more about how to manually focus in a later post.

Macro

Lenses need a certain distance between the end of the lens and the subject in order to focus. A macro lens simply lets you get really, really close to the subject and still focus. Think an inch instead of a foot. Combine that with a bit of telephoto (100mm or 180mm), and you get just the smallest slice of your subject in great detail. Things look much different from this point of view, and you can bring new life to just about anything. You definitely need a macro if you are shooting food.

There are lots of other specialty lenses available that do all kinds of wacky things… tilt-shift lenses let you keep the camera body perpendicular to the subject and shift the lens up, which is great for correcting perspective of wide angle shots. It’s critical if you are shooting a lot of architectural shots, but a lot of pro photographers really like a tilt-shift for food photography as well. I haven’t ever shot with one, but I’ll rent one sometime in the coming months, and let you know how it turns out. A fisheye is just an ultrawide lens (usually 15mm) that has a characteristic convex appearance that corrects natural distortions you would get with a standard wide lens. Neither of these are needed for food photography, but if you are looking to do something different, you might play around with them. More interesting is the Lens Baby which lets you play with different selective focusing methods and blurs. Check out some of the lens baby photos on flickr… I don’t have one yet, but I want one!

Image stabilization (IS on Canons, VR on Nikon) helps dampen vibrations and shake which can lead to blurry photos. This is incredibly helpful when you are shooting with a lens of a higher focal length (200+), and you aren’t getting the fastest shutter speeds. If you are using a tripod (and you should be… more on that in a later post), you should turn it off. But, when you are purchasing lenses, it is a nice feature if you can afford it.

Each lens manufacturer uses their own special designators for different classes of lenses and different features that effect scary sounding things like chromatic aberration. For Canon, the EF means electrofocus, and any EF lens should fit any EOS Canon camera. Some newer Canon camera bodies also support EF-S lenses, but make sure yours does before you consider buying one of these lenses. The “L” means luxury as if that helps. It basically means it’s their highest class of lenses. You will definitely pay more, but you will also have a lens that you won’t quickly outgrow. The rest of the acronyms? You really don’t need to worry about them.

Most digital SLRs have a smaller sensor than a 35mm film camera. But, they use the same lenses. The result is that a photo taken with a digital SLR will not show as much of the scene as the same shot taken from the same lens and distance as a film camera. It’s slightly cropped or more zoomed in, depending on if you are a half-full or half-empty kind of person. This really won’t affect your shooting much, as you can generally make up the difference simply by moving further away from your subject and what you see in the view finder is still what you get. So, unless you do a lot of switching back and forth between film and digital, you’d probably never notice. While there is a lot of talk about new digital lenses that are more suited to the sensors in digital SLRs, the primary difference is that they “correct” for this discrepancy and make the lenses a bit wider. There’s really no need to upgrade to these digital lenses if you are happy with the image quality of lenses you already own.

On the Canon side of the house, I whole-heartedly recommend both of the lens I use – the 50mm 1.4 and the 100mm 2.8 macro. The macro is a bit soft but that works well for most macro work. I actually prefer it to the 180mm 2.0L, which technically is a better lens. I’m less familiar with Nikon lenses, but this site offers in depth reviews of Nikkor lenses.

If you are on a budget, try looking for used lenses. However, don’t buy one unless they offer a reasonable return policy. A good test to look for flaws (after it has been cleaned) is to shoot a solid color, usually white or grey and look for any abnormalities. The other main thing to look for with used lenses is how smoothly the focus rings and aperture rings turn. A sticky ring will drive you nuts and may be hard to fix.

Technorati Tags: camera gear, Photography