Zoom vs Primes?

[RLPhoto]

RLPhoto, sorry if it was taken out of context. My response was to risc32 though, not you, so I didn't mean to imply that however you are doing things is wrong. Just that I personally prefer to be overpacked rather than underpacked and agree with his post.

I agree, I'll have a set of strobes in a roller case and extra accessories. My OP was that I wouldn't want all that extra weight of 2.8 zooms in my camera bag all day during a wedding when I'll still have to carry my primes anyway.

 

[MichaelHodges]

Here's what I prefer after years of shooting:

Scenario A - Nature Travel: Zoom all the way. Good luck driving ten miles in a blizzard to get closer to that mountain range. Or that rainbow, or backing up to get those stormy skies and that river. The 24-105 L is IMHO, on both crop and FF, the greatest nature travel lens you can buy.

Scenario B - Urban shooting: Prime. Faster when the buildings block the sun. Light, portable, inconspicuous.

Scenario C - Indoors: Prime. There's no substitute for 1.4 -2.0.

Scenario D - Wildlife: Prime. If Canon's 200-400 is as sharp as the 500 or 300, I'll change my mind. For whatever reason, wildlife photos just look richer with a good prime lens. Also, I'd much rather shoot at F4 than 5.6 when you get into those dark shrub/forest backgrounds.

Scenario E: Wide angle landscape: Zoom. I know the primes give better detail, but shooting this way is a pain. Nikon showed you can have amazing wide angle sharpness, hopefully Canon can match. I love prime lenses, but I really dislike shooting landscape with ultra wide primes. Lots of tripod maneuvering, adjusting, cropping, cloning, etc.

Best of luck with your decision. You may want to consider renting a couple primes and zooms to help make your decision.


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http://michaelhodgesfiction.com/

 

[MichaelHodges]

Actually, you can be outside the mountains, and have a clear view of the peaks and your immediate surroundings, then drive ten minutes into the mountains and be in blizzard conditions. Happened to me several times this fall/winter in Glacier National Park. Weird, but true.

This was my first year with the 24-105 L, and I can't praise that lens enough. Wonderful travel lens, but I do prefer it more on crop than FF. It just sings on crop. Really takes abuse, too. I know Canon is releasing a new 24-70 IS, but I don't see why I'd switch.

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http://michaelhodgesfiction.com/

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

The 24-105L is a great travel lens. It is really hard to top it's versatility. If I were shooting crop only, though, I would go with the 15-85mm. It gives up very little to the 24-105L in IQ (if any), and is pretty much a perfect focal length on crop with a more compact size for travel. It's IS is better.

The only thing it gives up is weathersealing. It was tough for me to let it go when I switched to FF. That extra 31mm of reach is pretty huge at times for travel.

On FF, though, the 24-105L is a fantastic, versatile tool. It's not a sexy choice, but it does most things pretty well. I have been debating back and forth between taking it or my new 24-70mm Tamron, but the deciding factor in favor of the 24-105L has been my extensive filter collection in 77mm. I only have a UV and a mediocre CPL in 82mm so far, and I find my square filters (Cokin P) vignette TERRIBLY on 82mm.

 

[Dylan777]

That 50L looks so sexy on the 5D III ....I might have to pull trigger soon.

It performs on the 5D3 superbly and is now my fave goto combo on that body and the 1DX. Get it!!! DO IT !!!

I just did, through Crutchfield with my all time fav B&W Clear filter. All items will be here this friday

Sweeeet !!! I love that combo.... looking forward to hearing how you do with it.

Lens arrived today. This copy seems to have back focus issue. I haven't run through FoCal yet, but at f1.2 the lens seems to be very sharp when adjust to -8 AFMA

So far... the 50L has been one of the few lenses that always needs a AFMA. On my 7D (-6) , #1 5D3 (-2) , #2 5D3 (-3). I usually dial it in for f/1.4 at about 6-8 feet, once there... it's dead nutz OHN!!!

Hope your enjoying you new baby

Ran through FoCal, setup at 2500mm(8.2ft).....at f1.2 FoCal showed the lens is best at -7 AFMA. My eyes were off by one(-8), not bad for an old man. This will be used for super bokeh shots and extreme low light.

I still think 24-70 f2.8 II is a better lens over all and it will remain on my 5D III as a main lens

 

[ChilledXpress]

Great lens... I'm so torn these days... love the 50, love the 70-200 II, and now 24-70 II... and then , and then... Love to see some images with the new rig when you get the time.

 

[Dylan777]

Great lens... I'm so torn these days... love the 50, love the 70-200 II, and now 24-70 II... and then , and then... Love to see some images with the new rig when you get the time.

Here are couple shots of 24-70 f2.8 II under normal and low light - no flash of course. Nothing special, just family photos.

2nd photo got cropped almost 70%, one of the reasons I shoot raw

 

[Dylan777]

Great lens... I'm so torn these days... love the 50, love the 70-200 II, and now 24-70 II... and then , and then... Love to see some images with the new rig when you get the time.

And here is my new lens 50L before AFMA. I took thic pic inside the church last night. The lighting was quite bad. Here is shooting info f1.2 1/80 ISO2000, you can guess the lighting now.

 

[ChilledXpress]

Great lens... I'm so torn these days... love the 50, love the 70-200 II, and now 24-70 II... and then , and then... Love to see some images with the new rig when you get the time.

Here are couple shots of 24-70 f2.8 II under normal and low light - no flash of course. Nothing special, just family photos.

2nd photo got cropped almost 70%, one of the reasons I shoot raw

Honestly... no finer use of a camera than shooting for the family. The 24-70 ooks great, and beautiful family!

 

[7enderbender]

I don't want to invest in a lot of money in glass until I hear from other photographers. I do a lot of photography in the streets with my canon 5D mark ii ( got from eBay at a amazing price!) . I don't have any lens at the moment. I'm thinking about the 24-70 mark 2 or should I just go for some primes for my work? What do you recommend me?

50 1.4 with the lens hood permanently attached. It's going for a good price at the moment and if you don't like it you can always get rid of it again without much of a loss.