Help me Spend $3,600

MichaelScott

Hi there,

I'm stuck. I've got a bunch of business lined up over the next few months, and basically no camera. Allow me to explain: I managed to get a photography business going over the last year with borrowed and/or rented equipment. I've been borrowing my buddy's D100 w/kit lens, battery grip, and SB-28 for the last couple of years since he got caught up doing video work full time. Every time I have a gig I rent a couple hundred dollars worth of gear: A D2X body (I use this body and my assistant uses the D100 with one of the rented lenses), 17-55 F2.8DX, 70-200 F2.8, 50 F1.4. And Sometimes I borrow my buddy's 20D with the 24-70 F2.8L, but I still rent all the Nikon stuff.

The D100 has seen it's day with over 20,000 actuations; and I basically can't stand to use it after I use the D2X or a D2Hs (the shutter release feels like a marshmallow on the D100). Even my friend's 20D is a joy to use over the D100.

I'm mostly doing weddings and PJ style portrait sessions, and hope to do more youth sports.

I've been waiting and waiting for an inheritance to come through so I can get myself setup. I plan to spend about 10K of it on gear and lighting when it does, but it's about 8 months overdue due to some litigation (I don't even want to talk about it).

So, in the meantime, I'm sick of renting gear, but I've only got $3,600 socked away -- I've been holding off on spending any of it because I plan on going Canon (mainly because you can't find a Nikon lens in stock, and neither the D2Hs or D2Xs are exactly the right body for me), and I was gonna pick up a 1DMk2n or 1DMk3 -- both of which leave me no room to buy anything else.

What I want to do is get as much as I can for the money, and ensure my investment will augment my future purchases of Canon gear nicely. Here's what I have in my B&H cart right now:

Canon 30D Body (to be used as my second camera later)
BG-E2 Battery Grip
BP511A Battery
Canon 24-70 F2.8 L
Canon 70-200 F2.8 L (non-IS -- I never use it anyways)
2x Canon 77mm UV-1 Haze Filter

all for just under $3,600

Mainly what I'm struggling over is the lack of a flash and a 35 or 50 L Prime. Both of these would be items I would still rent when I have a wedding. I always have a flash with me, but I almost never use it; so I'ts hard to drop $500 on a 580EX II, off-shoe cord and bracket. Given my budget, it's either the flash system or the 70-200. The 50 F1.4 Prime I use with my Nikon gear is priceless at weddings given the low light, but it's *almost* replaced by the 24-70 F2.8, so (again, given my budget), it's hard to justify this lense over either of the zooms. Finally, I'm not so thrilled about the 1.6x crop on the 30D, but beyond that it's a damn fine camera and I can't think of a better way to go right now...

I'm looking for advice, opinions, etc. I've put a lot of thought in to my decision process thus far, so even a "I think you're doing the right thing" would be appreciated as a means of helping me build my confidence on this -- it's hard to really change gears when you have your mind set on something else (i.e. a 1D) for so long.

Thanks,

Scott
www.michaelscottphotography.com

sirsloop

Ideally you'd be shooting with a Fuji S5 (nikon) or a 5D... but with budget yeah ...

30d - 1000
24-70L -1100
70-200/4L - 550
580ex - 450
jacobs flash battery - 175
flash bracket - 150
extra batteries - 75
extra CF - 150

... thats pretty darn close...


Can't hurt to get used lenses and save some cash. Granted, you aren't going to be able to cut a lot off the top of that with L lenses on the list. If you manage to knock off like 300-400 off w/ used gear, then you could afford a backup rebel body. Maybe go with a sigma 500 instead of the 580ex. If you are shooting weddings, YOU NEED A BACKUP. OMG, I can't even imagine the shit storm you would be if that 30D decided to stop working 10 minutes into a wedding!!

LiquidAir

If you want a fast 35 and 50 in your kit, I'd suggest getting the 50/1.4 now and getting the 35/1.4L later. I am happy enough with the 50/1.4 that upgrading to the 50/1.2L is very far down on my list. The 85/1.8 is also a stellar lens and a true bargin in the world of fast primes. On the other hand, I think the 35/1.4L is worth every penny.

If you are looking to make room in your budget for either a flash or a 50/1.4 consider getting the Tamron 28-75/2.8 instead of the Canon 24-70/2.8L. All reports I have read of the Tamron have indicated that the image quality is excellent, albeit the build quality is not up to the standards of the L. If you decide to upgrade to the Canon later, I don't think you will have much trouble selling the Tamron.

If I am shooting indoors with available light, the 35/1.4L, 50/1.4, 85/1.8 and 135/2L are my mainstay lenses (this is on a 5D, so the field of view on these lenses will be wider than on a 30D) because I find f/2 to be critical for many available light shots. I rarely shoot indoors with a zoom unless I have at least one flash set up somewhere (usually off camera triggered by the ST-E2). When shooting with a flash, I actually prefer the 24-105/4L IS because the IS lets me drag the shutter more to bring up the room light while the flash stops subject motion.

urbanaries

just want to throw a vote in for the 17-55 EFS. It was my fifth (yes fifth) wide angle zoom for the 20D, I have tried them all. IMO it is the crown jewel in the EFS line. Super sharp, much wider than 24mm on a 1.6 body, and the IS really does help in weddings (even when I'm using flash, it helps to expose the background without motion blur in those dark reception and ceremony pics.)

Also I can't conceive of not having a 580EX. Consider the Sigma 70-200 2.8 Macro to free up enough for a speedlite (spectacular optics, the macro is nice and it's still $3-400 cheaper than the Canon equivalent).

Vizhon

I don't get it.
Wait... Hold up on that. You talk about Nikon experience, talk about liking Nikon Bodies, and have access to Nikon glass, then talk about buying into a completely different and inferior Canon system... Check that idea.

Go with a FujiFilm S5Pro... They are built like a tank, the D200 body, use all the Nikon gear save the Wi-Fi attachment for the D200, and have a dynamic to die for. I know, because I own one, and as a wedding photographer, there's not anything better you can look for. If you can borrow or rent fast glass, do so till you can buy your own, but just start our with the S5Pro, and a couple medium speed Tamron lenses, like the 28-300 which is an amazingly versital piece of glass and what I use most with mine. Mind you, I won't do wedding photography, but I do plenty of low light and night life photography and there's just nothing out there in the price range that can compete with the S5Pro... Go read some reviews on it - It's the dream camera of wedding/portrait photographers, though I simply love it for it's amazing dynamic range (you can pull 13 stops out of it) and how nice it works in lowlight (1600 nearly noiselessly and 3200 that is totally usable, plus in fine testing, it is actually about a quarter stop more sensitive than it's listed ISO in camera).

dangin

the fuji s5 is on my personal wishlist. my only complaint about it is that it's slow FPS; max is only 3 FPS. i camera case for a wedding shoot consists of 2 nikon D200 bodies and a fuji s3 for portraits. i agree w/ vizhon, the dynamic range on the fuji just blows other cameras away (save the new canon 1D mark III).

LiquidAir

urbanaries wrote:

just want to throw a vote in for the 17-55 EFS. It was my fifth (yes fifth) wide angle zoom for the 20D, I have tried them all. IMO it is the crown jewel in the EFS line. Super sharp, much wider than 24mm on a 1.6 body, and the IS really does help in weddings (even when I'm using flash, it helps to expose the background without motion blur in those dark reception and ceremony pics.)

The 17-55 is exactly the right answer if he plans to stick with 1.6 crop bodies, but it is an expensive lens to buy for a body that will eventually be a backup. The 17-55 almost convinced my to buy into APS-C but in the end I went with the 5D and the 24-105.

MichaelScott

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.

I think I'm going to switch to the 17-55 EF-S instead of the 24-70 L. This takes the sting out of the 1.6 crop factor, which is my biggest negative for this camera; and the IS will give me similar low light performance I always like out of a 35 or 50 prime. Obviously the biggest downside to this lens is that it's not going to work on a future 1DMK2N or 1DMK3, but this camera will always get used by my assistant anyways, and since this lens is such a good match for it, it will probably be attached all the time. It also gives me a good excuse to buy an L Prime for the 1D when I pick it up as a wide option.

As for the flash, I'm going to rent a flash for my next couple of weddings, then I'll pick up a 580EX. I still have my D100 with an SB28, and I'll still be renting a lens or two for that body to be used by my assistant (and no, I would NEVER shoot a wedding with just one camera!).

Thanks for your input, you convinced me to switch to the 17-55, but I think I'm sticking with the rest of my decision.

Regards,
Scott

claudermilk

I don't know why people get so hung up on crop factor, but whatever. Remember that IS is not a replacement for fast aperture--the nice thing about this one is you get both.

In general I think you have a nice starting point, two minor thingsto modify: get a Sterlingtek battery instead of an OEM ($20 instead of $50, and it's better), and skip the Canon UV filters--they are unneccesary. If you really have to put filters on there, B+W MRC from www.hvstar.net is better quality and better price.

UP N MTNS

MichaelScott you have a PM.


UP N MTNS

cmason

Heck why not buy a used 20D or heck even a 350D body, and spend your $$ on the lenses? You can safely get by on one of those bodies, especially if you have survived on a borrowed D100 all this time.

Shizam

Quick Note. The original poster mentioned they wanted an upgrade path to a 1D series camera. If you ever ever plan to maybe go to a 5D or 1D series camera do not buy any EF-S lenses, you'll have to sell them as they're not useable on those bodies. Also I highly advocate buying used items, all of my equipment is used and not only have a saved a PILE of cash but when i sell my lenses I never take a hit, sometimes I've even made money on the transaction.

MichaelScott

Thanks again for the replies. I went with my original plan, except I purchased the 17-55 EF-S, and I scraped up the cash to add a 580 EX II. So far I am very pleased with the 17-55 (after about 500 shots). To the posters who wanted to point out the limitations of the EF-S lenses, I'm aware I won't be able to use the lens on a 1D body, but this 30D will become my backup camera, typically used by my assistant, and at that point the 17-55 will probably never come off.

Cheers,
Scott

sirsloop

Good stuff! You have plenty to learn with a 30D, 17-55, and 580! Have fun!