Camera and Equipment Questions

kat123 · June 19, 2009

Hi,
I'm getting back into photograph with the intent to do this full time - portraits, events and eventually weddings. I need upgrade my canon camera and acquire a couple of lenses.

Of course I'm on a budget but would rather make one investment now instead of having to replace again soon.

Here is what I have...
Canon 10D
17mm-35mm 2.8
70mm-200mm 2.8
28mm-105mm 3.5/4.5 (I never use this lens and would like to upgrade)

Here is what I'm thinking:
5D Mark II - ($2699) or 50D ($1199) -
How long will the 50D last?
The value will continue to decrease - should I just take the plunge?
What other considerations for the 5D - CS4, cards and external hard drives, - does it work with aperture or just lightroom?

24-105mm f4 (Is there another mid range all purpose lens I should consider?

I'm open to any and all recommendations, thoughts and suggestions.
Thanks!
  __________________

jmizephoto.com

Nikolai · June 19, 2009

With what you're planning to do 5D2 and 24-105 seems like a very reasonable way to go.

Of course you didn't mention any lighting equipment, and that's where it actually starts getting tricky/expensive...

ziggy53 · June 19, 2009

Judy, welcome to the Digital Grin.

If you do go with the Canon 50D, the principal lens I would suggest is the Canon EF-S 17-55mm, f/2.8 IS USM. It makes an almost perfect standard zoom, quick to focus and works well in low-light.

If you choose a larger format, I still use the Canon 1D MKII for weddings and it does an excellent job focusing in low light. My standard zoom for that is the EF 28-80mm, f2.8-f4L USM, a modern equivalent would be the EF 24-70mm, f2.8L USM. I use an EF 17-40mm, f4L USM for the wide shots and an EF 70-200mm, f2.8L USM for the longer stuff.

I also have the 5D MKII, and it does work with the EF lenses above, but I mostly reserve it for when I need the extra resolution. I do feel that the AF system of the 1D MKII is better than the 5D MKII and it shows especially in low light performance. The 5D MKII does fine when used with a flash with a focus assist light and when there is sufficient contrast.

An EF 50mm, f1.4 USM works great for ambient light ceremony stuff, as would any of the fast primes 85mm-135mm.

There are folks using the EF 24-105mm, f4L IS USM for weddings as well as the EF 28-135mm, f3.5-f5.6 IS USM, but I prefer the faster aperture when possible.

As Nik suggests, be sure to budget for lighting. I use a pair of Sigma flashes as well as a host of other support flashes including studio monolights for the formals.

Moogle Pepper · June 19, 2009

The 12-24 Tokina shouldn't be put onto the 5D2

. It is for a EF-S body.

ziggy53 · June 19, 2009

Moogle Pepper wrote:

The 12-24 Tokina shouldn't be put onto the 5D2 . It is for a EF-S body.

Correct.

The Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG IF HSM Aspherical is a possible full-frame choice and the widest zoom currently available for FF; not the best quality but definitely w.i.i.i.i.de.

kat123 · June 20, 2009

Thanks for the information.

I've seen a couple of postings regarding a new 60D being release later this year. I'm leaning toward the 50D mainly due to price. Sounds like the D50 will last me a while or should I wait for the newer version to come out?

I'm tempted with the 5D MKII but with the other equipment to purchase I think I need to be conservative. It also sounds like I would have to upgrade my Photoshop and convert to lightroom in order to be ready for the 5D MII is this correct?

I think the 24-70mm 2.8L is the lens I'll go with - it seem like the range that I'm missing. I'm hesitant with the others that are not 2.8.

Do you know anything about photogenics or recommend any of the kits?

ziggy53 wrote:

Judy, welcome to the Digital Grin.

If you do go with the Canon 50D, the principal lens I would suggest is the Canon EF-S 17-55mm, f/2.8 IS USM. It makes an almost perfect standard zoom, quick to focus and works well in low-light.

If you choose a larger format, I still use the Canon 1D MKII for weddings and it does an excellent job focusing in low light. My standard zoom for that is the EF 28-80mm, f2.8-f4L USM, a modern equivalent would be the EF 24-70mm, f2.8L USM. I use an EF 17-40mm, f4L USM for the wide shots and an EF 70-200mm, f2.8L USM for the longer stuff.

I also have the 5D MKII, and it does work with the EF lenses above, but I mostly reserve it for when I need the extra resolution. I do feel that the AF system of the 1D MKII is better than the 5D MKII and it shows especially in low light performance. The 5D MKII does fine when used with a flash with a focus assist light and when there is sufficient contrast.

An EF 50mm, f1.4 USM works great for ambient light ceremony stuff, as would any of the fast primes 85mm-135mm.

There are folks using the EF 24-105mm, f4L IS USM for weddings as well as the EF 28-135mm, f3.5-f5.6 IS USM, but I prefer the faster aperture when possible.

As Nik suggests, be sure to budget for lighting. I use a pair of Sigma flashes as well as a host of other support flashes including studio monolights for the formals.

Richard · June 20, 2009

kat123 wrote:

I've seen a couple of postings regarding a new 60D being release later this year. I'm leaning toward the 50D mainly due to price. Sounds like the D50 will last me a while or should I wait for the newer version to come out?

That's all speculation. If you think the 50D will do the job, then get it--there's always a new model in the works.

kat123 wrote:

It also sounds like I would have to upgrade my Photoshop and convert to lightroom in order to be ready for the 5D MII is this correct?

Assuming you are shooting RAW (and you should) you need CS4 or LR2 to handle the 5DII RAW files easily. You don't need both. If you are willing to put up with a bit of inconvenience, you can convert the 5DII files to Adobe's DNG format, which older versions of PS will accept. Or you could use the software that Canon supplies with the camera to convert the files. However, Adobe's RAW converters have become very good, so I think you would be better off upgrading your software. What are you using now?

Manfr3d · June 20, 2009

Depends on your shooting style, there are people who shoot weddings with primes 90% of the time: http://www.jasminestarblog.com/

However most Pro's seem to use the f2.8 zoom gang of three: 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 IS

ziggy53 · June 20, 2009

Either a Canon 40D or 50D has "Highlight Tone Priority" and that has value for wedding photography. The 5D MKII also has it and the 5D MKII also has 2 sRAW files sizes, the first of which has some real value.

I still recommend the Canon EF-S 17-55mm, f/2.8 IS USM as a primary lens for any modern Canon crop 1.6x camera. I could shoot an entire wedding with that lens alone. (I use an older Sigma 18-50mm, f2.8 EX DC to back it up.) The Tamron 17-50mm, f2.8 XR Di II is another very nice lens in this category. The problem with a 24-70mm lens on a crop camera is in wedding photography some churches are so cramped for space in the front of the church, the 24mm setting may not be wide enough to avoid pews for some of the shots.

My 3 lens line up for Canon crop 1.6x/APS-C cameras would be:

Canon EF-S 10-22mm, f3.5-4.5 USM
Canon EF-S 17-55mm,, f2.8 IS USM
Canon EF 70-200mm, f2.8 L USM

Yes, you could substitute the 24-70mm, f2.8L for the 17-55mm, f2.8 but I think you would be changing lenses more often.

I do like the AF section of the Canon 1D/1Ds series of cameras for low-light and ambient light work. The focus speed and accuracy is just splendid.

There are plenty of folks using the Canon xxD cameras for wedding work so they can work fine as well, you just have to be more careful with the AF in low-light especially if you are not using a focus assist of some sort. I recommend extra coverage of critical shots in that case.

kat123 · June 20, 2009

Richard wrote:

That's all speculation. If you think the 50D will do the job, then get it--there's always a new model in the works.
Assuming you are shooting RAW (and you should) you need CS4 or LR2 to handle the 5DII RAW files easily. You don't need both. If you are willing to put up with a bit of inconvenience, you can convert the 5DII files to Adobe's DNG format, which older versions of PS will accept. Or you could use the software that Canon supplies with the camera to convert the files. However, Adobe's RAW converters have become very good, so I think you would be better off upgrading your software. What are you using now?

I'm using Aperture to convert my Raw files.

Moogle Pepper · June 20, 2009

If you want wide with the 5D2 you can get an adapter and Nikon's 14-24... oh lust..

Richard · June 20, 2009

kat123 wrote:

I'm using Aperture to convert my Raw files.

Current versions of Aperture support the 5DII, so perhaps all you need is an update of the RAW converter module.

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