EF24-70mm f2.8 L USM - Nice but out of my budget!

[amit parmar]

I need help!

 

Hi, I have a Canon 300D lens kit, the other lenses I use along side this are

the 50mm f1.8 II and a 70-210 3.5 4.5 USM.

 

I love shooting and always have, but recently I�ve taken the art a little more

seriously and would like to make some money from it. I enjoy taking

photographs of people and would like get into fashion photography maybe even

weddings. Anyway the lens kit 18�55mm f3.5-5.6 performs well outdoors and

where light is available, but in lower light conditions it does not seem to

function very well, especially when AF in turned on.

 

I�ve read reviews on the Canon EF24-70mm f2.8 L USM � all of which rate it

with very high marks, unfortunately I�ve not got that kind of money to play

with - more like �350 and that�s pushing it. A few people have told me to

stick with canon lenses due to compatibility and performance issues, but I�m

open to your suggestions and am more than happy to experiment with a third

party lens.

 

In a nutshell I need a fast walk around zoom lens for mainly portraiture work.

 

Thanks

[ci_p]

I just got a 24-70 last week and it's really cool. Having a long lens hood and extending the lens at the wide end is inspired. And it is big any weighs a ton, which is just how I like it. Anyway, the point was to replace a tamron 28-75 which was great in all respects apart from AF speed. It is the sort of thing I suggest you look at. By the time it is cropped by your sensor, it will turn out at about 40-115 which will cover a lot of portrait scenarios. The other ones you might think about are 70-200 f4 and 80 f1.8.

[marcin berduszek]

Amit,

have You considered tamron AF SP 28-75 f/2.8 XR Di LD IF Macro?

its lither, and 3-4 times cheeper than 24-70, and tests are ok.

read this -> http://www.photo.net/equipment/tamron/28_75_Di/index.html

 

I saw the comparsion between 24-70 and this Tamron, and tamron was better. It is somewhere on this site, but I can't find it now.

[roger pfister]

As the above poster says get the Tamron AF SP 28-75 f/2.8 XR Di LD IF Macro. I have one and it is a good as my two L's. It does a great job on both my 300D and my 5D.

 

--

Roger

[quynh_nguyen]

What's about the new Tamron 17-50mm F2.8?

<br>

This will give you the same range as 28-75 (on a fullframe) and will make a great walk-around lens. In term of performance, I have not touched it, but kept hearing a great deal of good thing about the lens.<br>

[ci_p]

Size comparison.<div></div>

[yakim_peled1]

The one with the red ring... :-)

 

To the OP, also consider the Tokina 28-70/2.8.

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[hjoseph7]

For 350, you might try the canon 28-105mm Macro lens. This is a very good every-day lens which takes some great pictures, If your'e not going to blow-up anything over than 11X14. The lens is well made and is one, if not the most popular lens in the Canon, midrange(pro-sumer) lenses. I had mine for 3 years and am very happy with it. One ofthe lenses virtues which is not mentioned in any spec reviews is that the lens is discreet. The 28-70mm sticks out like a sore thumb which might not be good in certain situations. Plus you can always rent the 28-70 if it comes down to that.

[ralph_jensen]

Another vote for the Tamron 28-75. Some photographers who can afford the Canon 24

-70 still opt for the Tamron instead; I'm very happy with mine.

 

I say that because you suggest the long end of the 24-70 is more important to you

("mainly for portraiture"). Should the wide end be more important, the 17-50 would

obviously be a better choice.

[e._r._averitt]

Hi Amit,

 

For Canon 1.6x cameras the 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM is a good compromise too!

 

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_2485_3545/index.htm

 

One example is here;

 

Good luck, E. R.

http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4370973-lg.jpg

[steve_crist]

"As the above poster says get the Tamron AF SP 28-75 f/2.8 XR Di LD IF Macro. I have one and it is a good as my two L's. It does a great job on both my 300D and my 5D"

 

How do you use a Tamron 28-75 on a 5D? This lens is only designed for small sensors.

[phyrpowr]

The Tamron 28-75 is not a "digital only", it's full frame coverage

[delwyn_ching]

I would rather carry the one on the right.

[quynh_nguyen]

Steve, <br>The Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 is a ff lens whereas the new 17-50mm F2.8 is digital only.

<br>The major problem with tamron is their infamous QC, though I am happy with all of my Tamron lenses.

[steve_dunn2]

<p>I can't help you with the third-party lenses, as I'm not familiar with them. There are a few Canon lenses you might consider, though as I don't know what currency you're using (it shows up as a lower-case y with an acute accent) I don't know if they'll fit your budget.</p>

 

<p>Be careful with the previous recommendation of Canon's 28-105. Canon makes two 28-105 lenses, one of them an above-average consumer zoom, the other one comparable to your kit lens. You want the 28-105/3.5-4.5 USM.</p>

 

<p>Someone else suggested the 24-85/3.5-4.5 USM, which is another above-average consumer zoom. There's been an ongoing debate for, oh, the last decade or so as to which one is better, but it's pretty safe to say they're both in the same ballpark.</p>

 

<p>If your budget will stretch to the 28-135/3.5-5.6 IS USM, it's worth considering. Optically, <a href="http://www.stevedunn.ca/photos/writings/eflenses.html" target="_blank">it's a bit better than the 28-105</a>, and if you like to shoot handheld, IS can do wonders.</p>

 

<p>None of those are as fast as the 24-70, of course, nor are they as good optically. The only way you'll get a Genuine Canon lens that's optically better, and faster, than these is to go with primes. I know you said zoom and walkaround, and as someone who usually shoots with zooms I understand that. But you also said mainly portraiture, so perhaps you should be considering whether there are any primes you could add to your kit which would do the job. You already know, from using your 50/1.8, that you can get primes which are fast and sharp.</p>

[marknagel]

In your price range, if you want high quality, you might consider a couple primes: Canon 85mm f/1.8 $315 and Canon 28mm f/2.8 $169. If you need a zoom, I liked the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8EX.

 

That said, I had 4 Tamron 28-75/2.8 lenses, 1 Sigma 24-70/2.8 and 1 Sigma 18-50/2.8. I got rid of them and got the Canon 24-70/2.8. In my mind and tests, there is no comparison with AF accuracy, sharpness, color and contrast. Out of the above 3rd party lenses, I liked the Sigma 18-50/2.8 best. Here was a comparison I did with all the above lenses plus the 50/1.4, all 100% crops.

 

http://www.nagelhome.com/Test%20Final.jpg

 

 

Mark

[m_barbu1]

<p><i>For Canon 1.6x cameras the 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM is a good compromise too!</i></p>Uhm, no it's not! ...at least not given the original poster's constraint of "lower light conditions". He already has a zoom lens that has a dynamic aperture range of f/3.5-5.6, and has already decided that's not good enough. That means he needs to look at lenses that have a constant aperture of f/2.8 or better. :-)

[amit parmar]

Thanks to all of you for your help on this post!

 

The Tamron 28-75 f2.8 has been a hot topic of suggestion � I�m going to try one out this weekend � the 17-50 f2.8 version sounds good, but for what I want the focal range of the 28-75 will be more suited.

 

While I�m there I�ll try out the Canon 28-105 f3.5-4.5 USM as well as the Canon 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM

 

The Sigma lens mentioned doesn�t cover the range I would like but thanks for your suggestion, the post about primes is a plus and has been overlooked but I�ll bear it mind

 

By the way � post for CI P, I would like the one on the right, just not got enough paper for it yet, maybe one day!

 

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge - Much Appreciated! -

 

I�ll let you know how I get on � at the moment the Tamron seems to have taken my fancy :D

[awindsor]

As usual I find myself agreeing with Mark. The 28-xx zooms don't work for me on a 1.6x crop factor camera (I use a 20D) as walk around lenses. For walk around and event photography my current choice would be a Tamron 17-50/2.8. Especially at the lower end the third party lenses offer considerable advantages over Canon's own lens offerings.

 

Portrait photography, fashion photography, and event photography are different beasts.

 

For events you end up using the wide end of the lens for group shots when you cannot back up due to the crowd. The wide end of the 17-50/2.8 on a 1.6x crop factor body is equivalent in FOV to a 28mm lens on a full frame body. Not very wide but wide enough. Most of the current crop of these zooms are not stellar at 17mm but improve quickly. The wide end of the 28-75 on a 1.6x crop factor body is equivalent in FOV to a 45mm lens on a full frame.

 

For portraiture the 28-75/2.8 covers a nice range though I would go for faster primes rather than the zoom.

[phyrpowr]

BTW, My Tamron 28-75 and my Canon 28-135 IS are for sale, email me if interested

[geoffm]

Does this help? :-)