Canon 24-70 f2.8L USM lens - Advice please

[marydoll]

Advice please - has anyone owned, used or had experience of a Canon 24-70 f2.8L USM lens - would it work well with a Canon 550d - I have a Canon 28-135 F3.5 to 5.6 lens, so would this be doubling up?? This 24-70 seems to have a good write up, stating that most professionals have, at one time or other, in their life owned one! I'm far from professional but wonder would this be a good one for a Wedding or would I be better just to invest in a more modern camera!!!!???

Thank you in advance.

[robski]

Hi Mary

I have owned this lens for about 10 years and it is my weapon of choice for product photography work. It is built like a tank with very low distortion and is sharp.

It is slightly wider than the 28mm and 2/3 of stop faster

I took my son's wedding photos with this lens on a 40D

example here

http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...hp?photo=41847

[Ade G]

I have the 24-70 f4l which is a great lens for landscape photography, I would say the f2.8 would be excellent for portraits and weddings as the faster aperture will allow you to do more with the depth of field & work in lower light if you were indoors without raising the iso as much. a bit heavier & more expensive than the F4 but a great lens. I think you would see an improvement over your 28 - 135 plus as rob says gives you a wider lens to be more artistic with

[marydoll]

Many thanks for your help, very much appreciated - I hope to go to look at it tomorrow.

[postcardcv]

It is a very god lens, I still use the previous version (28-70 f2.8) as my workhorse lens for wedding work. That is assuming that you will be happy with 24mm at the wide end, on a crop body that isn't overly wide. If you have any plans to upgrade to a full frame camera then the 24-70 is the way to go,however if you plan to stick with a crop it might be worth looking at the 17-55 f2.8. This is also an extremely good lens but might give a moe usable range of focal lengths to use for weddings. If you do shoot a wedding then you might find that a good long lens is of more use than upgrading your standard zoom.

The 24-70 works very well wide open but for group shots you will be better off stopping it down a bit to improve the depth of field. Nice you have stopped it down to f8 the difference between this lens and your current one will be a lot less obvious (possibly even unnoticeable). I would use a longer lens for most of my shots of the couple, bridal portraits and candids at a wedding. I use a 70-200 f2.8 most of the time and shoot it wide open to get the shallow depth of field that works for portraits, or if possible I will switch to a fast prime (the 135 f2 is stunning).

If you are going to shoot a wedding as the official photographer then it might be worth looking at all of your kit and working out wher you would be best investing. FOr me the kit needed is a good short zoom, a fast long prime or zoom and a decent flash gun. I dearly you would shoot with two camera bodies in case you have a problem with one. If you are going to a wedding and just getting some shots for yourself then I wouldn't both with group shots (everyone will be taking them anyway) but go with a longer lens and try to grab some nice candids of the couple and guests.

[marydoll]

Thank you Postcardcv - this is great advice - the wedding is only for myself, I have a long 70-300mm lens and today I went for the 24-70mm f2.8l USM lens - simply because I thought it'd be good (time will tell) - it is in good condition - so hopefully I will like it once I begin taking pics with it. With going out Aurora hunting last night I didn't check in here to see your comment - so time will tell if I've made the right decision. Many thanks and much appreciated.

[postcardcv]

Originally Posted by marydoll

Thank you Postcardcv - this is great advice - the wedding is only for myself, I have a long 70-300mm lens and today I went for the 24-70mm f2.8l USM lens - simply because I thought it'd be good (time will tell) - it is in good condition - so hopefully I will like it once I begin taking pics with it. With going out Aurora hunting last night I didn't check in here to see your comment - so time will tell if I've made the right decision. Many thanks and much appreciated.

How are you getting on with the 24-70?

[marydoll]

I have posted some photographs in the Gallery, lens shows up my poor skills, I need to research how to use it, find many of my shots are blurry mind you I am using it on a crop sensor camera which is not recommended, plus I have a shaky hand. Recently I've have a virus on a page I am in and it has put me off taking photographs. I tried to write a longer post here but it wouldn't process. Technology and I are at odds at present!!

[sassan]

Glad you got it Marydoll and congratulations.

Its a known fact that (Of course for the Canon fanboy/fangirls) if you are to only take one lens with you, for a top assignment, when nothing is the limit, you need a 24-70 L F2.8 Period. Of course you know there are 2 sister lens in this category, Classic and Mk II. Despite all the advertisement, at half the price, Classic can give you identical image, indistinct from the younger sister, so don't feel bad to go for either. Sigma and Tamron have something very close at much lower price, but if you are not rich enough to by any product, you probably stick to Original Canon L.

Now if you are on same assignment and need to have all the lenses, Considering you should only shoot at Best possible IQ, you need to add a 70-200L to the gadget.
Nothing more.

My best camera sale person (Unusually honest! or so I think) tells me 24-70 F2.8 is the best lens Canon makes and in fact if you are to own only one lens in your lifetime, that is it. Pay once and live truly happy eve rafter.
May be a bit exaggeration but definitely has a grain of truth in it.

The truth that manufactures/sellers don't want you to know is that combination of 24-70L + 70-200L (Whichever sister lens in this category- There are at least 5 of them- that best suits your hand and budget) is all the glass you actually need to perform any assignment at pro level.

Camera body is secondary and don't let that cropped body bothers you.
Its mostly the glass and little to do with body.

[marydoll]

Many thanks Sassan for your advice - the one I now have is the classic (I believe) - without image stabiliser - so far I've been quite pleased with results, although I do have a shaky hand!!! plus just need to practice more with it. Recently I've been using a camera phone and this has been handy for being out and about, however, it encourages laziness in carrying/using an SLR - photography is a journey. Thank you, once again.