Best all around zoom lens for EOS

I am about to purchase my first EOS. Probably the 5D. I do mostly

documentary work (conferences and exhibitions), architectural, and

some (although rarely) studio portraits.

At this point I can probably afford 2 to 3 EF USM lenses dependent

on price. In your opinions what are the best wide-angle and

telephoto zooms (I probably don't need more than 200mm)and primes

for portraits, considering sharpness, focal length, speed, noise,

ergonomics etc?

70-200 2.8IS for long work (or f4 version if you want to save money/weight.) Canon 100mm 2.8 macro (or 3rd party equiv) for close and portrait work. If you can afford it, 24-70 2.8 or 24-15 4IS for general range. That's a lot of money, but then that's very good glass. If that's too much scratch to spend on lenses, help us out by giving a more specific budget. BTW these are all suggestions for a full-frame body such as the 5D or a film SLR. If you change your mind and go for a 1.6 or 1.3 crop body then suggestions might be different.

<a href="http://www.mendonphoto.com/tamron28_75.php"><u>Tamron 28-75mm</u></a>

I'd add the 17-40/4L to the wide end. So with either a 1D2N or 5D w/ BG-E4 grip, my

recommended lineup would be the 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L IS, 70-200/2.8L IS plus a 1.4X

extender.<p>I wouldn't worry about the f/4 max aperture on the first two, due to their

good image quality and the

decent high ISO performance of the 5D when needed.

I would definitely buy the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens first, and then shoot around and decide for yourself whether you need more wide or more telephoto. Since it is for the 5D, 24mm is wide enough for most purposes. With more use, you can pick between the 16-35mm f/2.8L or the 70-200mm f/2.8L as your next lens. But eventually, given you have the money, you will probably end up getting all three.

 

As far as primes, since you like architectural photos, you might want to pick up a 20mm or 24mm prime lens, 50mm f/1.4 for low light/portraits. The rest, your f/2.8L zooms can take care of.

 

~Nam

24-70L.

 

Simply the best.

I second that you shouldn't buy all your lenses at once. I strongly encourage you to look

carefully at the 70-200L IS as a primary telephoto zoom. Note that if you buy a 5D, it's

possible that without the 1.6 crop factor, 200mm *won't* be long enough for you.

For a 5D, I'd probably go with the 24-105/4L IS and 70-200/2.8L IS as my zooms, with a couple fast primes like the 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 for low light and portrait work.

General purpose:

 

 

17-40 f4 L, 50/1.8, 70-200 f4 L. About $1400.

 

 

Prime alternative:

 

 

20/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.8, 100/2, 200/2.8L Without looking, maybe $2000.

for shooting indoors (conferences and exhibitions), you will either need to always be able to use a flash, or sometimes need lenses faster than 2.8. if the former, you need money put aside for an external flash unit. even then, you should consider the canon prime lenses that are below 2.8 for indoors. they're all good, just depends on what focal length you want.

>> 17-40 f4 L, 50/1.8, 70-200 f4 L. About $1400.

 

At that price this set is unbeatable. What is your total budget? If you have more money consider the 16-35/2.8, 50/1.4, 70-200/2.8 IS set.

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

For full frame, the gap between 40 and 70 can be significant.

 

I would recommend starting with the 24-70/2.8L. Great all around lens.

 

I would NOT recommend the 24-105/4L-IS at this time: Too new (unclear if the lens is good), and too expensive ($100 more than the 24-70/2.8L? Get real)

 

For telephoto. . .reach for any of the 70-200/L flavors (4L or 2.8L-IS). They are all great lenses.

 

For long telephoto: Start with a 1.4TC. Then get either a 300/4L-IS or 100-400/5.6L-IS.

 

If you want wide angle: 17-40/4L is superb, and a great value. The 16-35/2.8L is very good, but you pay twice as much for the extra stop.

If your livelyhood *depends* on documentary work you absolutely should know that fast lenses are a pre-requisite as it's not always possible to use flash (for various reasons including not being permitted in certain occasions). I would therefore, suggest the following CAnon L lenses:

 

1) if you foresee lots of interior/small spaces get the 16-35 f/2.8L

 

2) if not, get the 24-70 f/2.8L

 

3) the 70-200 f/2.8 IS it's a MUST

 

4) add a 50 f/1.4 for very low light work

 

That's it.

<p>You mention architectural work, and that screams "prime" due to the generally lower distortion of primes relative to zooms (I say generally because many zooms are essentially distortion-free at <em>certain</em> focal lengths, and some primes have more distortion than others). You specifically say EF USM lenses, which rules out the tilt/shift lenses, but perhaps for archtectural photography you should consider a tilt/shift lens, probably the 24mm one.</p>

 

<p>I like the idea that some people have suggested, that you not buy all your lenses at once. For general-purpose use on a full-frame body, the 24-70/2.8L USM would be an excellent choice. If you need wider, the 17-40/4L USM or 16-35/2.8L USM would be good. For a longer lens, which you'd probably mostly use for portraits, see if you need something longer than 70mm and, if so, how much longer. The 85/1.8 USM, 100/2 USM, and 135/2L USM are all excellent portrait lenses, depending on what focal length suites you best; the 70-200/2.8L USM or 70-200/2.8L IS USM are also fine choices if the flexibility of a zoom is worth its cost in size, weight, and price.</p>

17-40 4L, 50 1.4, 70-200 2.8, 4.0

 

the 100mm 2.8 Macro USM is a nice marco and portrait lens, it is considered my many to be one of the sharpest lenses canon makes. I think a FF would make this a much more usable focal length.

Since you mention that a lot of your work will be indoors (conferences and exhibitions), f/2.8 + external flash (580EX) are minimum requirements. Flash may not always be appropriate thus faster lenses.

 

My choices would be all primes but you specified zooms.

 

Zooms with 2 bodies: 24-70 f/2.8 L, 70-200 f/2.8 L IS plus the 35 f/1.4 L and 135 f/2 L for the extra stops that are often needed when flash is not allowed.

I would be very careful about buying anything that is not IS. You can easily get sharper shots hand held with a 28-135 IS than you can with a 70-200 f4 L, even though the the latter is a much better lens but doesn't have IS, just due to camera shake.