Help deciding on going full frame

LovePhotography

Texas Not Taxes.
Aug 24, 2014
263
13
Rob-downunder said:
Thanks for your replies so far. To answer one question - yes I shoot in raw and process in Lightroom. My ideal solution would be a 24-105 mkii with equivalent sharpness to the other recent releases from Canon, but it doesn't seem likely this is going to be released. Purchasing the 6D with 24-105 plus the 16-35 f4 will cost in the vicinity of $4000 aus, which I am prepared to pay to get the quality if the 24-105 on FF will deliver significantly sharper images than the 18-135 STM on crop. However if this isn't the case then I can probably do a 7d mkii body and keep the rest of my kit for around $1500 aus (guessing at the price here).
I accept the 24-104 won't be in quite the same league as the other 2 L zooms, but will it be significantly better than what I have now?

I have a 6D and Sigma 24-105 f/4 Art lens. Considering it's a zoom, it's almost as good as a prime at any focal length you choose. I little post processing for barrel, pin cushion, vignette, and- BAM! You've got a real keeper. Sharpness is excellent, and there's no way to correct an unsharp photo.
 
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Rob-downunder said:
Decided to bite the bullet and have ordered the 6D, 24-105 and 16-35 f4. I should have delivery in a couple of days and am looking forward to playing with my new toys.
Congrats and I think you'll love your new gear. I haven't used the well-regarded 6D or 24-105 lenses, but I can tell you that the new 16-35 is a fantastic lens and will really show you the benefits of a FF sensor.
 
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Rob-downunder said:
(also the wife doesn't really like hanging around whilst I swap gear adjust settings etc - sounds of "can't you just take the picture and lets get going").

Instead of replacing the lenses/camera, how about replacing the wife?

(my wife is standing behind me)

SMACK!!

Only kidding honey, only kidding! Kinda....

SMACK!!!

You should put the camera away and spend quality time with your wife ;D

Phew.
 
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Rob-downunder said:
Hi All,

This is my first post, although I have spent quite a bit of time looking at older threads and gained some very useful information. I am currently considering going full frame and would like some input from those that have gone before me. I currently own the following equipment:
Canon 550D
Canon EFS 18-55
Canon EFS 55-250
Canon EFS 10-22
Canon EFS 18-135 STM
Canon EF 50 1.8
Canon EF 85 1.8
Canon EF 70-300 L (on order awaiting delivery)
Canon 430EX flash
Manfrotto Tripod
Sounds like a lot when I write it all down. So a bit of background. I started with the 2 kit lenses (18-55 and 55-250) and quickly found that when I was out walking around on holidays taking pics I didn't want to be carrying multiple lenses and swapping them out all the time (also the wife doesn't really like hanging around whilst I swap gear adjust settings etc - sounds of "can't you just take the picture and lets get going"). So I got the 18-135 which suits me just fine in terms of a walkabout lens. This lens is on my camera most of the time for holiday type pics (50%) and the other 50% of the time if I go out to spend some time doing creative photography (without the wife in tow) I will take additional lenses and will use them as needed.
With the current setup I have been a bit disappointed with the sharpness of the 18-135, think the 10-22 is a good lens, don't use the 18-55 and 55-250 really, and use the 50 and 85 when I want to do shallow DOF or low light stuff (not often).
I also tend to take a fair bit of low light stuff with my 18-135 when doing holiday pics - an hour either side of sunset - usually when doing these pics I am not wanting to carry multiple lenses.
So my current issues are:
1) I want a general improvement in the sharpness of my pics as I tend to like having them printed reasonably large and I think the current EFS lenses just won't give me the image quality I would like.
2) Shooting around dusk with my 18-135 walkabout (even in dark shade sometimes), I am either getting blurred photos due to having to drop the shutter speed to low (even with IS) or bumping the ISO too high and getting unacceptable levels of noise.
I have been purchasing my recent lenses with a view to eventually going full frame (can't wait to play with the 70-300 - my first L lens)
My thoughts have been to upgrade to a 6D with a 24-105 as a walkabout, use the 70-300L as my long lens, a 16-35 F4 as my wide angle and keep the 50 1.8 and 85 1.8 for portraits and shallow DOF as well as low light. The 6D will solve my issues with noise and ISO whilst the L series lenses will solve my sharpness problems. I have read about the 6D AF issues, and don't think that will be an issue for me as most of my shots are static and for the odd shot of action I can use the centre point and crop later.

The area I want some feedback on is the 24-105. From all that I have read the newer 24-70 is lots better, but I won't go with that lens as that would give me a similar range on FF to the original 18-55 on crop that I found too limiting initially. I know that the 24-105 will be shorter than the 18-135 (equivalent approx. 216 mm), but I think I could live with 105, but definitely not 70 on the long end. I have read plenty of reviews and opinions on the 24-105 to believe that as an L lens it is pretty average and has a lot of distortion at around 24mm.

So my questions are:
1) Will the 24-105 provide a significant IQ improvement when used on FF compared to using the 18-135 STM on a crop. I am not interested in using the 24-105 on a crop camera, so many of the comments I have read which compare using both on a crop camera are not applicable to my scenario as in that case they would only be using the centre of the 24-105 not the full view.
2) Should I stick with the 18-135 STM and wait for the 7D mkii which I expect will also have significantly improved noise / ISO and will solve that problem for me, but will then still leave me with the image quality issues from the EFS lens, as I don't see any better quality walkabout lens that will suit me if using a crop sensor. (The 24-105 would not be wide enough for me on a crop).

So what do you think - 6D, 24-105, 16-35 F4, 70-300L or 7D mkii, EFS 10-22, EFS 18-135 STM, 70-300L.

I can't see any other scenarios that would give me the walkabout options that I want and also achieve the IQ I want.

Sorry for the long post - I thought too much info is better than not enough. I look forward to hearing your thoughts especially if you have been down the same path as I am going.

Rob

I don't see any disadvantage in getting a 6d and 24-105 kit. You can always sell the lens easily. It's better that you compare the IQ yourself rather than relying on other user's opinion. My guess would be that you'll like the 24-105. Build quality alone is a huge difference from your EFs lenses. IQ is average or above average depending on who you ask. You need to see for yourself whether the IQ meets your needs. It may be good enough for you.
 
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It sounds like you want the convenience of an all-in-one zoom but the quality of primes or tighter zooms. Unfortunately for all of us, you can't have both.

I'm with the camp who suggest you don't overlap your focal lengths so much (ie. 16-35/24-105) and go with the 16-35, 50, 70-300. You said you didn't want to be swapping lenses all the time. But I guess if you don't mind carrying all that around, it's still the most flexible. You'll enjoy the 6D I'm sure. You've traded convenience for quality.
 
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Perhaps your camera/lens combination is not giving you the sharpness you think you should have because of bad calibration? This is what a 40D with a EFS 18-135 can produce:

_MG_6762_zpsdfa1ba6c.jpg


Not bad at all I guess, specially for an amature who won't print big.
 
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It sounds like you want the convenience of an all-in-one zoom but the quality of primes or tighter zooms. Unfortunately for all of us, you can't have both.

I'm with the camp who suggest you don't overlap your focal lengths so much (ie. 16-35/24-105) and go with the 16-35, 50, 70-300. You said you didn't want to be swapping lenses all the time. But I guess if you don't mind carrying all that around, it's still the most flexible. You'll enjoy the 6D I'm sure. You've traded convenience for quality.

-------------------------
Sorry - I am not sure how to paste previous comments (above) properly.

My intention is to have a good quality walkabout all in one solution when on holiday etc with the wife. Pickup the 6D and 24-105 and off we go with no need to swap out lenses. I am hoping to see a good IQ improvement over the 550D and 18-135 STM.

Then when I want to go off on my own and enjoy doing some more creative photography I have the 16-35 f4, 70-300 L, 50 1.8 and 85 1.8 in addition to the option of the 24-105.

Hopefully this setup gives me the best of both worlds.

And if I get crappy photos I can't blame my equipment!!!!!
 
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9VIII said:
With full frame costing less than $1,500 now (used or on sale), I can't think of any reason to stay on crop unless your budget is under $1,000.

Even if your budget is under $1000, a used 5D Classic goes for around $500 and is a much better option than pretty much any crop camera in that $500-1000 range in my opinion.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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Rob-downunder said:
Decided to bite the bullet and have ordered the 6D, 24-105 and 16-35 f4. I should have delivery in a couple of days and am looking forward to playing with my new toys.

Let us know what you think.

Format a used CF card in a computer just before placing it in the new camera. Otherwise, the image numbering will pickup from what was on the old card, and its nice to have it start out with a low number on a new body. If its a new card, no issue.

I use Reikan Focal almost immediately to adjust the AFMA of all my lenses. I have all my targets printed out and setup in preparation for receiving the camera. I first verify operation of the camera with a few shots, but do not try to photograph anything seriously until I've calibrated the autofocus. Normally, most of my lenses fall within +/- 5 points which is the Canon tolerance, and being off by 5 points is not a huge issue. However, some lenses exceed the 5 points, and then AF accuracy is a issue.

AF accuracy can be a camera issue, a lens issue, or both. If, for example, the body is in spec at -5 and the lens is in spec at +5, the results will cancel out. But, if they are both +5, then the result will be a AF issue, and a -10 needed to adjust it. That's a extreme case, bodies tend to be very accurate, but it happens and is easy to adjust.
 
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ecka

Size Matters!
Apr 5, 2011
965
2
Europe
www.flickr.com
PepeSilvia said:
9VIII said:
With full frame costing less than $1,500 now (used or on sale), I can't think of any reason to stay on crop unless your budget is under $1,000.

Even if your budget is under $1000, a used 5D Classic goes for around $500 and is a much better option than pretty much any crop camera in that $500-1000 range in my opinion.

I'm not sure about the $500 5D, but no crop can beat 40/2.8STM on FF :).
 
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Vivid Color

CR Pro
Dec 7, 2012
437
2
To the OP:

I have the 6D and recently took it with Canon's 24-105L to Hawaii. I also had my 100L macro and 40mm pancake with me. The 24-105 was on the 6D about 98% of the time. I used the macro only for a few hours one day (that may have been the biggest surprise of the trip for me) and the 40mm not at all.

I also have the 70-300L which is a fantastic lens, but left it home as I wanted to go lighter on this trip.

I also plan to get the 16-35 f4 later on this fall/winter.

So, consider my post to be post-purchase reinforcement.

Cheers,

Vivid
 
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I avoid recommending gear that has not been released yet, so based on what you've stated, the 6d is a better option for you. If you were open to considering other bodies I'd say go with the 5DmKIII.

The EF24-105 should be removed from the L line. It's mediocre at best. So if you can tolerate it's weaknesses, it should suit you fine. Or, if 105 is not important, but IQ is, I'd recommend getting the 24-70 F4 or 2.8L II.
 
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nc0b

5DsR
Dec 3, 2013
255
11
76
Colorado
I use my 6D or 5D Classic about 80% of the time over my 60D or 40D for general photography. The crop bodies are most useful to me when shooting wildlife where the extra reach is helpful. If a new or used / refurbished 6D is not in your budget right now, consider the 5D classic. I just captured some fantastic shots of a lone antelope in my yard with my 5Dc and a 300mm f/4 lens. If buying a 5D classic, try to select one with a serial number that starts with 2 or 3. They have a better rear display from a color rendition standpoint. I do see 5Dc bodies on Craigslist for $500 on a regular basis. I bought mine almost two years ago for $900, and have no regrets. Except for wildlife or birds, I prefer the focal length of my zooms on a full frame body.
 
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