First Canon, Lenses?

[Tanya Kurnik]

Hello, im pretty excited to try out a Canon. Right now I use Nikon. Im going to be purchasing the 5D Mark ii in a few days. I wanted to get the Nikon D700 but its on back order due to the sunami at the Nikon headquarters. I want to switch to FX and thats what lead me to the Mark ii. I love the weight of it and anxious to learn a new brand. I would like some input on must have lenses and a flash. So far I have picked out the 24-105L IS, speedlight 580EX II, and my bonus lens the 85mm f/1.8. I was up in the air about the 85mm or the 35mm. I dont do much landscape photography. I have done many family portraits, model portraits, and a few weddings. Also I was looking at the Tamron 90mm macro and I thought it would be great for those close ups for weddings such as the rings and flowers etc. But the 85mm can do that. Whats your opinion?

[gturner]

looks like you nailed it. Great combo, you will not be dissappointed

[Tanya Kurnik]

Really? WOW! I got a straight answer finally lol. You have no idea the frustration I have been going through trying to find basic lenses for the Nikon D700. Im very happy with the reviews of the Mark ii. And Canon has way better deals than Nikon. Im getting 3x more for my $$. Besides what im getting, what are a couple more good lenses to have with my Mark? Like I said, I dont do landscape. Im a baby when it comes to Canon. Im starting off crawling, but when I have all what I need and understand the Canon brand, im going to hit the road running

[inkista]

Welll.... 85mm f/1.8 USM is a great portrait lens and you'll love the look on the 5Dii, but it's not a macro lens. The minimum focus distance is 0.95m (I.e., get any closer than a meter to your subjct, and you won't be able to focus). If that's going to work for you, great, but getting closeups of rings or very small objects might not be in the works with that one. You could get a 100/2.8 Macro (non-L) for this, but it won't be as fast or fast-focusing as the 85, and it might look uncomfortably sharp for portrait work. Personal taste, though. You can also reduce sharpness in post.

The 24-105 f/4L IS USM vs. 24-70 f/2.8L USM is a big struggle for most folks. I will tell you that without a flash, f/4 and IS is not going to be as useful for moving subjects as f/2.8 without IS. IS still means you're shooting at a slower shutter speed, and only camera shake blur is mitigated--not subject motion blur. As long as you plan on using the 580EX II with the 24-105 all the time, you can probably get by. But if you were planning on doing available light shooting indoors, the 24-70/2.8L USM is likely a better bet, but isn't stabilized. For a lot of folks, it does come down to a coin toss.

Sounds like a good start, though.

[Tanya Kurnik]

Originally Posted by inkista

Welll.... 85mm f/1.8 USM is a great portrait lens and you'll love the look on the 5Dii, but it's not a macro lens. The minimum focus distance is 0.95m (I.e., get any closer than a meter to your subjct, and you won't be able to focus). If that's going to work for you, great, but getting closeups of rings or very small objects might not be in the works with that one. You could get a 100/2.8 Macro (non-L) for this, but it won't be as fast or fast-focusing as the 85, and it might look uncomfortably sharp for portrait work. Personal taste, though. You can also reduce sharpness in post.

The 24-105 f/4L IS USM vs. 24-70 f/2.8L USM is a big struggle for most folks. I will tell you that without a flash, f/4 and IS is not going to be as useful for moving subjects as f/2.8 without IS. IS still means you're shooting at a slower shutter speed, and only camera shake blur is mitigated--not subject motion blur. As long as you plan on using the 580EX II with the 24-105 all the time, you can probably get by. But if you were planning on doing available light shooting indoors, the 24-70/2.8L USM is likely a better bet, but isn't stabilized. For a lot of folks, it does come down to a coin toss.

Sounds like a good start, though.

What is your opinion on the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX vs. Canon?

[inkista]

Haven't used either, so I don't have any opinion, but generally speaking, any Canon L lens will spank a Sigma on image quality, the Sigma will always cost less. Up to you which one's more important.

[Tanya Kurnik]

Originally Posted by inkista

Haven't used either, so I don't have any opinion, but generally speaking, any Canon L lens will spank a Sigma on image quality, the Sigma will always cost less. Up to you which one's more important.

Image quality of course. Thank you for your help. Ill stick with Canon brand. I dont want to take any chances. I do however like the reviews of the Tamron 90mm for macro. Im going to look into that.