I had a job come up that was a corporate branding project that required a lot of small groups and single person images needing a soft, OOF BG. I was thinking of the EF35 f1.4 and the EF 50 f1.2 but thought I would lack flexibility in what I knew to be a space with lots of smaller rooms.
Then I thought the dazzling 28-70 f2 would give me both the flexibility and soft BG that I wanted.
It arrived yesterday and I promptly took it out and shot a few images to ensure it actually worked. AF is as fast as the fastest of any lens I have used and the sharpness seemed noticeably crisp.
Today the shoot started at 9AM and ended at 5 PM. The lens was on my camera most of the day and performed brilliantly. I was shooting wirelessly to an iPad and the AD was marveling at how image after image was dead sharp.
The lens was a hero today. Sharp, sharp, sharp and contrasty. The colors are great but color from my Canon lenses has never been an issue.
Obvious downside: weight and size. Yes, it is a thumping great lens but in use I really did not notice the weight. I use the 70-200 f2.8 L IS and it is lighter than that so the burden was not onerous.
Less obvious downside: It is too fast. I am shooting indoors with flash. At f 2 or 2.2 or 2.5 even at 1/200 of a second I can get ambient light affecting my exposure. I gel my strobes to match the ambient but I am shooting at ISO 100 with the strobes set at 1/16 or 1/32 power. To be fair it was only a problem is some very well lit rooms.
Bottom line: It is a spectacular performer.
Will I buy one? I am not sure. At $3K it is a no joke purchase. The rental is covered by the client so it is a point of indifference me right now. I will just have to see how much better it looks than my other lenses.
Then I thought the dazzling 28-70 f2 would give me both the flexibility and soft BG that I wanted.
It arrived yesterday and I promptly took it out and shot a few images to ensure it actually worked. AF is as fast as the fastest of any lens I have used and the sharpness seemed noticeably crisp.
Today the shoot started at 9AM and ended at 5 PM. The lens was on my camera most of the day and performed brilliantly. I was shooting wirelessly to an iPad and the AD was marveling at how image after image was dead sharp.
The lens was a hero today. Sharp, sharp, sharp and contrasty. The colors are great but color from my Canon lenses has never been an issue.
Obvious downside: weight and size. Yes, it is a thumping great lens but in use I really did not notice the weight. I use the 70-200 f2.8 L IS and it is lighter than that so the burden was not onerous.
Less obvious downside: It is too fast. I am shooting indoors with flash. At f 2 or 2.2 or 2.5 even at 1/200 of a second I can get ambient light affecting my exposure. I gel my strobes to match the ambient but I am shooting at ISO 100 with the strobes set at 1/16 or 1/32 power. To be fair it was only a problem is some very well lit rooms.
Bottom line: It is a spectacular performer.
Will I buy one? I am not sure. At $3K it is a no joke purchase. The rental is covered by the client so it is a point of indifference me right now. I will just have to see how much better it looks than my other lenses.