Wedding lenses Canon 17-55mm or 24-70mm L?

[canonikon]

Which one should I buy next? I already bought the 70-200mm for wedding photography. For about $300 more I can get an L lenses (base on amazon prices). Should I go for the 24-70? or the 17-55? Which one is better for wedding photography? I'm sure 17-55mm is a marvelous lens although it's not a L because I've seen many people complimenting it. So...any input? Would the 17-55mm win over the 24-70mm even if money wasn't an issue in this case?

[Svetlana]

I have a 40D and I LOVE my 17-55, it's wide enough for a crop body and produces amazing results! It may not by an L lense but it sure is a L quality lens.

[zasey]

Which one should I buy next? I already bought the 70-200mm for wedding photography. For about $300 more I can get an L lenses (base on amazon prices). Should I go for the 24-70? or the 17-55? Which one is better for wedding photography? I'm sure 17-55mm is a marvelous lens although it's not a L because I've seen many people complimenting it. So...any input? Would the 17-55mm win over the 24-70mm even if money wasn't an issue in this case?

I've never shot with the 17-55...I did work with something similar (a kit lens a long, long time ago) but I shoot the majority of my weddings with the 24-70 and LOVE it! If you get the 17-55 please let us know how you like it :0)

[Ferris Wheel]

Just purchased the 17-55 and can already tell it's going to be my favorite lens thus far. I have a guy friend who shots weddings and he swears by his 17-55. hope that helps!

[jgoodstein]

+1 17-55

if shooting on a FF then definitely 24-70

[Percen%]

I see that you have a 5d. A lot of people who have FF shoot with the 24-70, on a crop the 24-70 seems to be a bit long.

I just rented the 17-55 from lensrental.com and shot with a 20d and continually got a Error 01, but i think that's because the 20d is 4 years old. (lens rental also warned me about the error not their fault).

But overall i think the 17-55 is labeled as a high risk lens because of it's chance of possibly failure...but the time it was working i loved it :D

[Peacefield]

This question has been asked a million times. The short answer is that people with crop cameras prefer the 17-55, many with full frames (including me) prefer the 24-70.

[Subimatt]

FF - 24-70
Crop - 17-55

[LostShootingStar]

I see that you have a 5d. A lot of people who have FF shoot with the 24-70, on a crop the 24-70 seems to be a bit long.

I just rented the 17-55 from lensrental.com and shot with a 20d and continually got a Error 01, but i think that's because the 20d is 4 years old. (lens rental also warned me about the error not their fault).

But overall i think the 17-55 is labeled as a high risk lens because of it's chance of possibly failure...but the time it was working i loved it http://entertainment-place.info/smile/img/4234/o09a0208gstn/POTNsmile.gifhttp://www.entertainment-place.info/smile/img/3200/n08d1214eybr/1by1.gif

No failures here yet, i love my 17-55

[Valigrrl]

Love my 17-55 toooooo...

[Naturalist]

Another vote of confidence for the EF-S 17-55. Outstanding performance.

[Chris]

Can't go wrong with 17-55. Put a uv filter on it right away and you're golden. Super fast focus, great color.

[slava-slavik]

I vote for 24-70. It's your investment for the future. If you upgrade to 5D (or whatever there will be) the 17-55 will become useless.

I got mine 5 years ago when I used the old Canon D60. D60 is gone, but the lens is still one of my most used lenses.

[canonikon]

I vote for 24-70. It's your investment for the future. If you upgrade to 5D (or whatever there will be) the 17-55 will become useless.

I got mine 5 years ago when I used the old Canon D60. D60 is gone, but the lens is still one of my most used lenses.

what if i'm not going to upgrade to the 5D Mark II until 6-7 years later?

[divinemethod]

I am guessing you have the 50D, and not the 5D as your gear list suggests. My earlier event work, and the main bread bringer was the 17-55. It saved my ass many times over.

[jonwhite]

Buy lenses to suit what body or bodies you have it.

24-70 suits full frame

17-55 suits 1.6 crop

24-70 will always feel like a mismatch on a cropped body.

[johnstoy]

I use the 24-70 religiously on either my 30D or 50D... (Though, it is a bit long on the crop)...

Would love to have the 17-55 IS...

Primarily, for it's F/2.8 with IS, (Image Stabilization)...

Image Stabilization is key, with me.

[device01]

You've got the 5D so therefore get the 24-70. If you have the crop but planning to upgrade to full frame soon then 24-70. However if you have the crop and not upgrading to full frame then go with 17-55 2.8IS. Both lenses are fantastic and i've used both of them.

[colorfoto]

I also vote for 24-70, cause my friend had one and I'm very amaze on it.
http://www.cookiewriter.com/trafficreport/img/3721/j09s0423emrh/a.gif

[tim]

17-55, I have three of them - one totally busted because I dropped it. I have one main, and one spare that my assistant uses. I've had to have one or other of the lenses repaired twice for IS units failing.

[egordon99]

Buy lenses to suit what body or bodies you have it.

24-70 suits full frame

17-55 suits 1.6 crop

24-70 will always feel like a mismatch on a cropped body.

That first line should be "Buy lenses to suit which focal lengths you like to shoot" :)

I'm saving up for a 24-70L on my crop body because 24mm is wide enough for me (and I have the Sigma 10-20 IF I need wider) and I prefer shooting a bit longer.

[egordon99]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=720448

WHICH body do you have? Because if it's the 5D, you should NOT buy a 17-55.

[canonikon]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=720448

WHICH body do you have? Because if it's the 5D, you should NOT buy a 17-55.

yeh i upgraded to the 5D and selling the 50d now

[jonwhite]

That first line should be "Buy lenses to suit which focal lengths you like to shoot" :)

I'm saving up for a 24-70L on my crop body because 24mm is wide enough for me (and I have the Sigma 10-20 IF I need wider) and I prefer shooting a bit longer.

Given that you don't yet own a 24-70 I think you may change your mind when you do own one.

I have used the 17-55 on a crop and I have used the 24-70 on a crop and full frame bodies and even with a 10-22 in my bag the 24-70 felt all wrong on a crop body.

Canons lens line up isn't random, different lenses are more well suited to crop or FF bodies than others are and this is entirely the way they are planned by Canon.

At longer focal lengths it isn't so much of an issue but at the wide end it totally changes how a lens feels and how useful it is in certain situations.

I shot a few weddings with 24-70 on a crop body last year as we were transitioning from crop to FF and it was painful, I lost count how many times I swapped to my 10-22 and definitely felt like I worked harder because of my lens line up.

[egordon99]

true enough, but I shot with a Tamron 28-75 for awhile on a Pentax K10D and it worked fine for me. And 24mm is wider than 28mm (even with the 1.5 vs. 1.6 crop difference)

I recently shot an (almost) entire Bar Mitzvah with just a 30 and 85, so being able to go down to 24 will be nice...

Given that you don't yet own a 24-70 I think you may change your mind when you do own one.

I have used the 17-55 on a crop and I have used the 24-70 on a crop and full frame bodies and even with a 10-22 in my bag the 24-70 felt all wrong on a crop body.

Canons lens line up isn't random, different lenses are more well suited to crop or FF bodies than others are and this is entirely the way they are planned by Canon.

At longer focal lengths it isn't so much of an issue but at the wide end it totally changes how a lens feels and how useful it is in certain situations.

I shot a few weddings with 24-70 on a crop body last year as we were transitioning from crop to FF and it was painful, I lost count how many times I swapped to my 10-22 and definitely felt like I worked harder because of my lens line up.

[huntersdad]

I just shot a weding with a 17-50 Tam. Before any jumps me, hear me out. Of all the shots I took, only a handful were at 17. Most mid-30's to 50. And I would liked to have had more reach. Those that were taken with the 17 could have easily been shot at 24.

My suggestion would be 24-70 but it's your money.

[canonikon]

what about the 17-85mm IS? read it here he said it's good

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1688405/best_canon_wedding_lens_on_the_market.html

[jonwhite]

I just shot a weding with a 17-50 Tam. Before any jumps me, hear me out. Of all the shots I took, only a handful were at 17. Most mid-30's to 50. And I would liked to have had more reach. Those that were taken with the 17 could have easily been shot at 24.

My suggestion would be 24-70 but it's your money.

If 17-50 was your only lenses then its not surprising that you wanted to get closer at times, I wouldnt want to shoot a wedding with one lens, if I had to though and I was still shooting a crop I would choose 17-55 over 24-70 every day of the week for one simple reason.

Generally you can always take a few steps closer to your subject, but quite often when you want to shoot wider you can find your back against a wall with no where else to go..... this will happen more often with a 24-70 on a crop than it will with a 17-55 on a crop.

Each to their own though, my knowledge is just based on a couple of years shooting weddings with crop and FF and I am sure there's others here with more experience that have a different opinion to mine.

[jonwhite]

what about the 17-85mm IS? read it here he said it's good

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1688405/best_canon_wedding_lens_on_the_market.html

Terrible lens imo, soft as hell and quite slow and not something I would personally use for professional work.

[tim]

what about the 17-85mm IS? read it here he said it's good

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1688405/best_canon_wedding_lens_on_the_market.html

I've used two copies. Soft, poor contrast, inaccurate focus, i'd use anything else before that lens. I'd rather shoot an entire wedding with a single prime.

[chukdivad]

yeh i upgraded to the 5D and selling the 50d now
If you have a 5D there is no question to be answered. 17-55 and 17-85 will not work on your 5D. Wasn't that easy?;)

[canonikon]

If you have a 5D there is no question to be answered. 17-55 and 17-85 will not work on your 5D. Wasn't that easy?;)

why not? ok forget the 17-85 since it's a crappy lens. but why can't i use the 17-55mm on my 5d? wouldn't it just make my pictures wider?

[chukdivad]

why not? ok forget the 17-85 since it's a crappy lens. but why can't i use the 17-55mm on my 5d? wouldn't it just make my pictures wider?
EF-S lenses are made for crop bodies only.

[tim]

EF-S lenses are smaller, lighter, and usually cheaper, but they're only for crop bodies. Full frame bodies need a wider area lit on their sensors than the smaller lenses can do.

[bnlearle]

I've used two copies. Soft, poor contrast, inaccurate focus, i'd use anything else before that lens. I'd rather shoot an entire wedding with a single prime.
Now you're talking! :p

[tim]

I'll do it one day, as a 2nd. Sounds fun :)

[egordon99]

why not? ok forget the 17-85 since it's a crappy lens. but why can't i use the 17-55mm on my 5d? wouldn't it just make my pictures wider?

IT WILL BREAK THE MIRROR ON YOUR 5D. DO NOT DO THIS!

[elysium]

There are two sides to this

Vote for the 17-55 2.8 IS because on a crop body, I found that 24mm was not wide enough when a random moment came along at times so something such as this would have been a better option.

Vote for the 24-70 2.8L if you plan to upgrade to a full frame body since 24mm will be wide enough for most situations.

Both are great lenses but personally if you DO plan to upgrade full frame but cannot afford it just now, why not consider the Tamron 17-50 2.8? No IS but I mean cheaper than the 17-55 2.8 IS.

[Maureen Souza]

I just bought the 24-70 for my 5D. I liked my 24-105 very much but I needed the extra stops.

[tim]

I just bought the 24-70 for my 5D. I liked my 24-105 very much but I needed the extra stops.

Stop. Just one. Like raising the ISO from 400 to 800.

[Maureen Souza]

I prefer to shoot ISO 200 or less, fast shutter speed and wide open :)

[tim]

The only time I go below ISO400 is if i'm in direct sunlight.

[silent]

FF - 24-70
Crop - 17-55

yep