Lens Dilema

[markbach]

Ok, I've had the 10d for 2 months, simply love it, but have a lens dilema. Having just switched to digital after 5 years with an Elan II, my lens stable is a bit confused.

20 mm USM 2.8
28-105 mm USM 3.5-4.5
50 mm 1.8
200 mm USM 2.8 L
75-300 mm USM 4-5.6

I absolutely love my 200mm L. Can't sell, (gift from the wife) Almost can tell which photo is taken with it from the thumbnails!

The 20 mm is nice for wide landscapes, and is great on the Elan...

The 28-105 is my most used lens, and on film I had no issue with it; but now, comparing it to the L, I must say I am dissapointed with the sharpness.

So, I want to buy a replacement, and keep the focal length range covered.

I shoot a wide variety of subjects, kids, landscapes, travel photos, etc.

Any suggestions...

...Budget, I'd like to spend less than $1,000

Mark

[danphoto1]

I just recently purchased the 24-70 f2.8 Canon lens and it is the Sharpest lens that I have used to date with a zoom. It is a little above your budget but not much and will be well worth every penny spent. I have a good freind that Is a professional photo Journalist and he is in love with the lens he also likes Canon 28-135 The new Tamron Light weights give excellent results but are not as sharp as canon. a closes second. I have 28-300 to just shoot general with. I think that once you use top of the line Canon you will not be saatisfied with anything else.

Remember the good thing about your D10, if you bring it to a camera store you can Shoot some side by side shots right there. You can a-b your lens and the new lens and take the card home and study it to help you in your decision. A couple of portraits and some general shots in the store should help you with your decision.

[lightandlife]

I had a 28-70mm L, and I thought about replacing it with a 24-70mm L.

You love 200mm L because it is a prime lens.
I would recommend 35mm L or 85mm L. I heard some complaints about 24-70mm L. My impression is that it is a flexible lens, but zoom lenses are sharp only in the middle range. But I never heard any complaints from prime lens owners. Just check if they are available on e-bay. If they are, someone is not happy with them.

85mm L is a great portrait lens. If you have young ones in the family, it would also be great.

Budget? wait till you have the money. Your past selection, while serving some purposes, already shows you want to get rid of something.

[scollins]

lightandlife wrote: My impression is that it is a flexible lens, but zoom lenses are sharp only in the middle range. But I never heard any complaints from prime lens owners.


Forgive me for asking such an amature question, but when you said that zooms are only sharp in the middle range, do you mean that on a 28-200mm that it's sharpest around the 110mm area? Thanks for clarifying.

[cubfan]

The 28-135 is a nice lens for all around photography aand it won't break the bank. I use it as my normal lens and its not as heavy as the L zooms.

[mkaplan]

Go to http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/ and look at the reviews for the 17-40, 24-70.
If you are interested in the 28-135 IS then here are a couple of comparisons:
http://www.kjsl.com/~dave/lenstest/lenstest.html
http://www.stevedunn.ca/photos/writings/eflenses.html
I just recently got the 28-135 but have not yet really had the chance to test it out yet. I hope to do that sometime this week but most people that have the lens say it is their favorite and is the lens that stays on the camera the most as their walk around lens.

[oley]

lightandlife wrote:
You love 200mm L because it is a prime lens.
I would recommend 35mm L or 85mm L.

85mm L is a great portrait lens. If you have young ones in the family, it would also be great.


I would not recommend 85mm L for a digital camera, which 10D is: 85mm becomes 135mm (because of 1.6 crop factor)... and it's probably a little too much for portraiture, unless you are going to spy on your neighbours :)

35mm L is a good idea though, as it equals to 56mm on 10D.

Your 50mm makes a decent portrait lens by becoming 80mm (1.6 crop factor again). This is one nice thing about 10D :)

[lightandlife]

Today, the Internet is so slow. I thought the message did not go through the first time, but it did although the message said "the connection was refused."

[lightandlife]

Forgive me for asking such an amature question, but when you said that zooms are only sharp in the middle range, do you mean that on a 28-200mm that it's sharpest around the 110mm area? Thanks for clarifying.


That is a general statement and I am also an amateur. If a zoom has a range, 28 - 200 mm, it won't be sharp in a small neighborhood of 28mm and also around 200mm. From the series {28, 56, 112, 224}, you see it is roughly an 8X zoom. It won't be sharp at 1X or 8X, but it may be sharp at 2X or 4X. It will be sharp at 3X. Whether they are sharp enough is a personal matter.

On the other hand, you can see from the series {70, 140, (210), 280} that 70-200mm zoom is an almost 3X zoom.

A 3X zoom should be sharper than an 8X zoom throughout. A smaller range zoom should generally give you sharper images. A 10X zoom cannot give sharp picture anywhere.

If you are using either end all the time, then the lens is not the right one. If you are using the mid range all the time, then you should have gotten a prime at that range. If you are using the entire range uniformly, then it is a right one, I think. If you are happy that you got a picture, then the zoom is a good choice. If you are not happy with the sharpness of images, then the zoom is not a good choice. That is how I look at it. If I am wrong, others will correct me.

[ctgoldwing]

I have had my 10D for about 3 months now & have shot several thousand images. They range from a motorcycle trip across country to the Canadian Rockies, pix of my 1st grandchild (1 day younger than my camera, lol) and some closeup flower shots. By FAR my 24-70 is my most used lens. I find it to be a great 'fit all' lens for keeping on the camera. I think its a great lens!

[lightandlife]

Goldwing, Congratulations for the birth of your first grandchild! May you have lots of grand children.

I am also glad that you are happy with the fit all lens.

[lightandlife]

I would not recommend 85mm L for a digital camera, which 10D is: 85mm becomes 135mm (because of 1.6 crop factor)... and it's probably a little too much for portraiture, unless you are going to spy on your neighbours :)

35mm L is a good idea though, as it equals to 56mm on 10D.

Your 50mm makes a decent portrait lens by becoming 80mm (1.6 crop factor again). This is one nice thing about 10D :)



85mm is a particularly good lens for portraints, whether it is used with 10D or not. Remember lenses will outlast all these digital cameras. Most likely, within a year or two we would move to full frame digitals.

35mm is also good, especially for full frame cameras. However, it may not be a good idea temporarily (with 10D), because one would have spent more than $1000 to get 56mm f/1.4L, when you can get 50mm 1.4 for $300.

[scollins]

Lightandlife,

Thanks for the advice. It all make sense. I bought the 28-200mm thinking that it would solve all of my lens needs, but in hindsight, I think I would have gone about it a little different. Until I buy a new lens, the 28-200 seems to be doing a fairly good job on my D30.

Thanks,