My two cents - the 24-70 f/2.8
I'll toss in a vote for the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L.
I could not be more impressed with the sharpness, contrast and color saturation. I'm using this on a Canon 1D4, so I'm dealing with a bit of a crop factor, too.
It's not cheap, but, as many people in this thread have commented, good lenses will never disappoint you.
I have rounded out my everyday lenses with the 16-35 f/2.8 L II and the new 70-200 f/2.8L II. Again, not cheap, but I think you save money in the end by buying what you really want, rather than getting something that you'll just trade up from later.
You asked about processing. I used Ap for a couple years, then checked out LR. I know you're on a PC, so Ap isn't a possibility for you, but I prefer LR anyway. Tight integration with PS, well-designed editing controls . . . When I really, truly care about the RAW conversion, I'll process in Capture One first, then export to LR for its image management qualities, but 90% of the time I stick with LR, and I'm completely happy. Best of all, you can try it for 30 days free so you can make up your own mind.
Comments
I'll toss in a vote for the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L.
I could not be more impressed with the sharpness, contrast and color saturation. I'm using this on a Canon 1D4, so I'm dealing with a bit of a crop factor, too.
It's not cheap, but, as many people in this thread have commented, good lenses will never disappoint you.
I have rounded out my everyday lenses with the 16-35 f/2.8 L II and the new 70-200 f/2.8L II. Again, not cheap, but I think you save money in the end by buying what you really want, rather than getting something that you'll just trade up from later.
You asked about processing. I used Ap for a couple years, then checked out LR. I know you're on a PC, so Ap isn't a possibility for you, but I prefer LR anyway. Tight integration with PS, well-designed editing controls . . . When I really, truly care about the RAW conversion, I'll process in Capture One first, then export to LR for its image management qualities, but 90% of the time I stick with LR, and I'm completely happy. Best of all, you can try it for 30 days free so you can make up your own mind.
Hope these opinions help!