Lens Recomendations

skruf88

Hi,

I'm using a canon 24-70 L2.8 lens as my walk around. I love the lens.
I'm looking to add another and I'm finding that this lens doesn't perform so well when it's fully zoomed out...the focus is a bit soft. When it's zoomed in to around 50mm it's amazing.

My use for it - want to be able to capture a model in studio or location from head to toe with sharp clarity... so I'm leaning toward a wider angle lens that is as fast as this one.

Any recomendations?

Thank you

joe

ChatKat

Soft?
I love that lens. My copy is a crisp as it comes. Have you sent it to Canon for Calibration?

That being said, I also have the 24*105 4.0L is. I shoot with the 5d and depending on what I shoot, I alternate because I might was just a touch longer. That being said, the third most often reached for lens in my bag o' tricks is the 70-200 2.8is...

skruf88

ChatKat wrote:

I love that lens. My copy is a crisp as it comes. Have you sent it to Canon for Calibration?

That being said, I also have the 24*105 4.0L is. I shoot with the 5d and depending on what I shoot, I alternate because I might was just a touch longer. That being said, the third most often reached for lens in my bag o' tricks is the 70-200 2.8is...

I actually LOVE that lens as well. It perfroms really well for me as long as it's not zoomed out so I might just send it in to make sure it's calibrated. Right now I'm using the canon rebel, and have finally settled on my upgrade - EOS 5D. Will be getting that this week. It might make a huge difference in how the lens performs.
That being said, I love the 24-70 for more close up portraits, but for full body I'm thinking about a wide angle and fast for low light studio work. This is the lens i'm circling - canon EF 16-35 2.8 L
It's pretty steep in price.

I'm open to suggestions if there's anyone out there who knows of solid, fast lens with very little vinetting in lower light. Just curious as to who's had some great and not so great experiences with thier lens.

Thank you for your comment

Lovesong

If you're looking for that lens that will capture a model from head to toe, excel in low light, and be sharper than a 24-70, you're talking about primes. On a 1.6 FOV rebel that lens is the 35mm L. Brilliant.

gryphonslair99

skruf88 wrote:

Hi,

I'm using a canon 24-70 L2.8 lens as my walk around. I love the lens.
I'm looking to add another and I'm finding that this lens doesn't perform so well when it's fully zoomed out...the focus is a bit soft. When it's zoomed in to around 50mm it's amazing.

My use for it - want to be able to capture a model in studio or location from head to toe with sharp clarity... so I'm leaning toward a wider angle lens that is as fast as this one.

Any recomendations?

Thank you

joe

By chance are you also shooting at f2.8 when you are zoomed all the out? This lens is known to be a bit soft at 2.8 expeciall at the low end. At 24mm f4 mine is sharp enough to cut with. Darn near equals my primes.

LiquidAir

skruf88 wrote:

I actually LOVE that lens as well. It perfroms really well for me as long as it's not zoomed out so I might just send it in to make sure it's calibrated. Right now I'm using the canon rebel, and have finally settled on my upgrade - EOS 5D. Will be getting that this week. It might make a huge difference in how the lens performs.
That being said, I love the 24-70 for more close up portraits, but for full body I'm thinking about a wide angle and fast for low light studio work. This is the lens i'm circling - canon EF 16-35 2.8 L
It's pretty steep in price.

I'm open to suggestions if there's anyone out there who knows of solid, fast lens with very little vinetting in lower light. Just curious as to who's had some great and not so great experiences with thier lens.

Thank you for your comment

Switching to a 5D will make a difference in sharpness because of the lower pixel pitch.

On a 5D, I rarely take people pictures wider than 35mm, so the 16-35 wouldn't be on the top of my list. While I am sure it is a good lens, I doubt it is any sharper at 35mm than the 24-70. If you want sharper than the 24-70 for full body shots on a 5D, the 35/1.4L is a good bet. If you have a larger studio, the 50/1.4 can also work for 1/3 the price.

skruf88

LiquidAir wrote:

Switching to a 5D will make a difference in sharpness because of the lower pixel pitch.

On a 5D, I rarely take people pictures wider than 35mm, so the 16-35 wouldn't be on the top of my list. While I am sure it is a good lens, I doubt it is any sharper at 35mm than the 24-70. If you want sharper than the 24-70 for full body shots on a 5D, the 35/1.4L is a good bet. If you have a larger studio, the 50/1.4 can also work for 1/3 the price.

Thank you everyone for the excellent advice. I try not to shoot at f2.8 if I can help it but sometimes the shots require pretty low light. It's at the lower f-stops that the softness and soft foucs is at it's worst. Will have to rethink how I light those shots in the studio to get the same effect.

Also thanks for the advice on the prime lens. I've only begun to dig in to those options. It might be the way to go.

Good news! I picked up my 5D today! I'm in love with it already. Can't wait to get into the studio to see what it can do.