nammyboy

Well, you have a problem because you want a lens for your full-frame Elan2 and your 1.6X cropped 20D. So while these lenses will be great for your Elan2, they simply won't be wide enough for the 20D.

$250 - Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5

$300 - Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8

$450 - Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6

$950 - Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS

$1000 - Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L

Wide for the 20D:

$100 - EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

$500 - EF-S 17-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

$600 - 17-40mm f/4L

$1000 - EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8L IS

$1300 - 16-35mm f/2.8L

If money is tight, I'd say get the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8. The Tamron is an excellent lens and the 18-55 isn't too bad at the wide end.

If you can afford it, any combination of the four L's will be great.

~Nam

Much better at high ISO. I'd say the 5D images at ISO1600 look better than the 20D images at ISO800 (not not better than 400). Also, the colors, especially the skin-tones, out of the 5D seems better (both processed via Canon DPP). Also, it seems that the 5D is a bit sharper straight out of the camera (a less aggressive anti-aliasing filter, perhaps)? Also, since it is full-frame, you have much shallower depth of field, which I like.

IMO, they all add up to money well spent.

I think Nigel hit it on the head.

It is the same logic as Jamba Juice offering a free smoothie with a $25 gift certificate purchase, or Subway selling their $25 GC's for $20. You pay them up front, they have cash in hand. They make interest off of it, and most people won't use up all the cards.

I have NEVER failed to receive a SINGLE rebate (from Canon or any other retailer). Just follow simple directions, yes? And I've never had to call some number either. I've received a $420 check last year from Canon, and I got an e-mail saying that my $700 check is in the mail this year.

~Nam

The Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 lens will work on the 5D. That might be what you're looking for.

If interested, sigma4less.com has it for $599. I have heard of some quality control issues with this lens, so it may be wise to find a local dealer to test it out before buying.

~Nam

Like others have posted before, you've found a 28-70 at an excellent price. I would make sure that it is a decent copy before buying it. The range may be a bit limiting on the wide end, but you can always just use a kit lens (18-55mm EF-S) until you have enough money to replace it with the 17-40/4L.

~Nam

I used a 17-40mm when I had a 20D. It was pixel-sharp at f/4 throughout the focal range. The colors were outstanding, too. It was the lens that was on my camera 90% of the time, even though I also had a 50/1.4, 70-200/4, 85/1.8, 24-70/2.8.

I wouldn't bother with film tests. I imagine you wouldn't use your film body much, now that you have your XTi. Don't worry about the corners, and let the people with FF worry about it.

~Nam

There are two flashes: one pre-flash while the mirror is still down, and another flash once the mirror has flipped up and the shutter curtains are open. If you look closely through the viewfinder, you can actually see the pre-flash as your subjects light up right before your viewfinder goes dark. But unless you consciously look for it, it is seamless. If you want to make it more obvious, you can set your custom function to 2nd curtain sync and pick a longer exposure time. The 2nd curtain sync will fire the flash right before the curtains close, so you can discern the two flashes more easily.

~Nam

According to robgalbraith.com, the Sandisk Ultra II, Extreme III and Extreme IV all perform within 5-10% of each other. Considering you can buy a 2GB Ultra II from Frys.com for $37.99 with free shipping, this is a no-brainer. On the other hand, the Extreme IV card coupled with the new firewire reader allows much faster downloads than was previously possible.

~Nam

I would recommend the B+W MRC UV filter, along with the B+W MRC KSM Circular Polarizing filter. They're very expensive, but worth it, especially since you will be using it on very expensive glass.

I just like the peace of mind of using UV filters all the time. There were many times when I was thankful to be cleaning junk off a UV filter instead of the front element. Further, many L lenses are weather resistant, and I believe many require a front filter to be completely weather resistant.

~Nam

You will probably need to use Photoshop to extract the maximum quality out of any digital camera. I have some excellent quality 13x18" prints hanging on my wall. They were taken with a 20D with the 18-55mm EFS kit lens! Photoshop goes a long way.

If huge posters are your thing, then I would recommend the 5D. Right now with rebates, you can pick it up for $2119.95 from B&H (item# PPE06003). You'll probably need to pick up a nice lens, and definitely could use a tripod.

~Nam

I used to have a 20D with 17-40/4, 24-70/2.8, 70-200/4, 50/1.4 lenses (until it got stolen many months ago). Here are my thoughts...

As far as the 17-40/4, For landscape/architecture, the 27mm FOV was not wide enough. And as a walkaround, I felt that 40mm was not quite long enough. Otherwise, the image quality was excellent.

As far as the 70-200/4, I didn't use it very often except for closeup/portrait shots. This effectively becomes a 100-300mm with the 1.6X crop, and I used this lens most seldomly. However, the images I got out of this lens are some of my favorites.

50/1.4 is probably the best choice for portraits on 1.6X crop. If money is tight, the 50/1.8 works just as well.

If I were to do it all over again with a 1.6X crop camera, I would probably buy:

10-22 EF-S

17-85 EF-S IS

50/1.8

And rent the 70-200/2.8 IS or 100-400 IS for weekends/events when I'll need it.

The quality out of the 10-22 is quite good, and I've heard good things about the 17-85. It's clearly not an L lens, but it has the best walkaround range for a 1.6X crop. As far as printing on A4 and your purposes, I think it'll suit you just fine.

~Nam

Definitely vignetting. Like the poster above said, try stopping down to f/8 or so. Or get a better lens. Or zoom in a little.

~Nam

Actually now that I recall, the B+W filter that was in front of the 16-35 was the F-Pro version, which is slimmer (I think 4mm) but isn't technically called a slim filter.

~Nam

If you're just looking for a UV filter, you don't need to get slim for either of those lenses (from my short experience with film before I switched). If you're looking for a circular polarizer, get the slim for the 16-35mm. One annoying thing about the slim filters is that they don't have a front thread, so you can't use your Canon lens caps with them on.

Also, spring for the MRC version if you can.

~Nam

B+W MRC or Heliopan SH-PMC are the highest quality filters out there. I personally have B+W MRC on all my lenses. I frequently have to clean the filters, and I like knowing that I've never touched the front element of my lenses from the day I bought it.

~Nam

Hi,

Thanks for the comments. I made the changes for the side-by-side comparisons. They're at the end of the crops, in their own links (since the pictures are rather large).

Also, if you note the title, the Sigma is the newer Macro version.

Jojo: your pictures with your old 24-70mm Sigma was the reason I decided to try it out in the first place. I think I'll stick with the Tamron though, just because it is lighter and quieter, and I don't really need the 24mm. Both of these lenses are so sharp, that decisions as to which lens to keep doesn't come down to sharpness. Any differences seem insignificant.

~Nam

I have both the Sigma and Tamron lenses, and they're both very good

samples, so I decided to do a test. I know people wonder about these

two lenses and new questions pop up from time to time, so hopefully

this will be somewhat helpful.

http://www.geocities.com/namkeunyoon/midzoom

Hope this helps...

~Nam

I only use B+W MRC Filters (MRC = Multicoat). They're top quality, as are Heliopan Multicoated filters.

~Nam

I don't know about the 28mm's, but I did own a Canon EF 24mm f/2.8. It's the older, cheaper body type and doesn't have USM or FTM. But the lens was very sharp and had great colors. Also, I love the perspective of the 24mm, much better than the 28mm or 20mm.

~Nam

Accessories: BP-300 ($65) with Handstrap E2 ($20) and some rechargeable NiCD batteries ($20). It will give your camera a nice balance and will fit your hands better if you have big hands. You can keep recharging your AA batteries instead of buying expensive Lithium batteries (and you can always find a store carrying AA).

Lens: EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM ($250) lens (or if you're more of the telephoto type, the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM ($380)). Throw in the 50mm f/1.8 II ($75) because it's cheap and good for low-light work. Try the classifieds for good deals on used lenses, bhphoto.com, keh.com.

Flash: Speedlite 430EX or the older 420EX.

Film: Fuji Reala, Fuji NPH, Fuji NPZ for print; and Velvia, Provia 400F for chromes. Check bhphoto.com for good prices on film, especially imported film.

Editing: 5000K Balanced lightbox, 4x Mamiya or Schneider loupe. Try to take chromes instead of negatives because you save money and get to see the results first-hand, looking through a loupe instead of some lab-tech's interpretations of your negatives that end up on 4x6 prints. Also, with digital scan labs, its getting easier and easier to get decent prints from slides.

Good luck, and take lots and lots of pictures! At least a couple rolls a week.

~Nam

The typical trusted stores are B&H and Adorama.

But I would also recommend Buydig.com . Typically lower prices than either of those stores, but also very reliable. I've purchased three Canon cameras including my 20D. Same day shipping, 2 days to get from NY to CA. Order it Tuesday, get it Thursday. That's faster than anyone I've ever heard of (all for normal 3-day shipping). And shipping is free.

Also take note of Canon's triple rebate program. You can save a lot of money on the XT if you couple it with two Canon items qualified for the triple rebate (even if you resell those items later).

~Nam

I vote for the 24-70mm. On the 10D, 70mm is long enough (on a full-frame camera, 70mm is a little short for my taste). I'd take f/2.8 over f/4 and IS in this range.

~Nam

I have the 17-40mm f/4.0L lens and it is wide enough for general photography, but I miss the ultra-wide angle capabilities of this lens when I was shooting with film. With the 20D, consider this the standard L-lens (very similar to the 28-70mm L medium zoom lens).

I found mine to be extremely sharp even wide open, only getting lower in quality as I move past f/11 or so. But aside from the sharpness (any good lens can boast good sharpness), I find that the L-lenses have very good color. It's difficult to describe, but the pictures out of L-lenses have a special feeling to it, and all other pictures from other lenses feel flat and as if they have some sort of color cast (other lenses = 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 100/2.8 Macro, 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5).

~Nam

Another vote for Pixelgenius Photokit Sharpener. It's simply amazing.

Also, try Noise Ninja or NeatImage, as you will probably need noise reduction for high ISO images. I personally use Noise Ninja Plugin and it's very easy to use and convenient.

As far as working with B/W, I'd recommend Convert to B&W Pro.

~Nam

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