lens recommendation for photojournalism

[dilley5]

Hello. This is my first post. Please be gentle. I have a newspaper wanting to use me as a, as they call it, a "stringer" photographer. (weekends, odd jobs ,etc.). I have done mainly portrait and landscape shooting, so this will be something new for me. Question is, should I get some faster lenses? Or maybe just an IS?I mostly use a 70-200f4L and a 28-105 3.5-4.6. I am thinking I may "need the speed" to get shots in bad light situations. I guess I just need opinons from poeple that have actually done some photojournalism so I can use the feedback to make up my mind. I don't like to buy equipment unless I need it. I'm not saying I wouldn't love to just buy everything I want. I just try not to. I shoot with a 20D and 580ex.Thanks in advance :D

[calicokat]

Welcome to the forum...........How much do you want to spend

[dilley5]

Tricky Question. If I find that it is necessary, I don't mind spending what ever it takes, but at the same time, I am a bit of a tightwad. :lol: No seriously, The reason i am doing this job is to get exposure in the community to try and get a studio going and MOST IMPORTANTLY to improve my skills. I need quality shots because people can order reprints from the paper and I get half and I am very critical of my own work.

[calicokat]

The 70-200 F/2.8L IS comes to mind :)

[dilley5]

yes that was one of my first thoughts. I love the one I have now. do you think it would be too long. ?

[calicokat]

yes that was one of my first thoughts. I love the one I have now. do you think it would be too long. ?

Not at all, its a perfect range for most photojournalism

[dilley5]

Thank you for your input.

[vjack]

From other threads I've seen here, it seems like many photojournalists use the 70-200 f/2.8 IS paired with another f/2.8 shorter zoom such as the 24-70 L. The nice thing about that standard zoom range is that you have plenty of less expensive options there.

[SkipD]

I would definitely recommend the 24-70 f/2.8L paired with the 70-200 f/2.L IS. Together, these are the two that are hooked to my 20D the most.

[Karl C]

Keep in mind you're using a 20D with it's associated crop factor. I'm not a PJ but from what I've read, a lot of them use the 16-35L and 70-200L IS; that's the set-up I once had. The 24-70 is a good lens but on the 20D, it equates to a 38-112. That wouldn't be very wide on the low end.

Good luck.

[Benandbobbi]

From other threads I've seen here, it seems like many photojournalists use the 70-200 f/2.8 IS paired with another f/2.8 shorter zoom such as the 24-70 L. The nice thing about that standard zoom range is that you have plenty of less expensive options there.

ditto

[ebann]

Lord Malone does PJ. He vouches for the 70-200 f/2.8 IS.

[AlexMN]

The perfect PJ setup as far as I am concerned is two 1dmk11n bodies, one with 16-35 2.8L and on the other a 70-200 2.8L, then in your pockets a 580 flash and a 50 1.4, with this setup you are pretty much covered for any eventuality, It's getting expensive though!
:lol:
So adapt, realistically the 16-35 could be replaced with the excellent value 17-40, and you should get away with the F4 70-200 you already own, if you are prepared to push the iso, remember noise is not really an issue for newspaper work, and also I suppose at a push the 50 1.8 would save you money on the 1.4 (no personal experience with this lens).

Body wise should imagine that your 20D will work just fine, would be tempted to pick up another for the camera setup listed above, can be had pretty cheaply on the used market... In my experience of PJ work one body will always fail at some point it is just a question of when!

Alex