Best Canon L Series Lens Suited for Portait Photography and Action Shots of Children and Family.

Hello everyone, I was hoping you could give some advice to someone who needs to learn a lot more about photography in general. I have owned a Canon T4i with a standard Canon 18-135mm Lens and just recently decided to purchase a Canon 7d Mark II with a Canon 100mm F:2.8 L Series Macro Lens. However, I was looking for suggestions regarding a non prime Canon L Series Lens that would be a suitable all around lens for portrait photography of my three boys and my wife when we are out and about. Any suggestions and tips would be helpful.

The whole line of 70-200mm lenses.

Well for portraits, the 24-105 f4L is a good 'entry' priced L lens. I have hired one in the past and in the studio it covers pretty much all the ranges I like to cover, unless I am in a giant studio and I can use the 70-200, and most of the time I usually leave it at around 90mm on F8, and adjust the lights to suit.

But for sports, this lens is not really ideal. The F4 is less than stellar for sports and the reach could be limiting as well. If you have the money, the 70-200 f2.8 L would do you for both sports and portraits, although unless you are working in a large studio you probably won't use the lens beyond 110-ish, depending on how close you like your close ups to be but out in the field, for sports, you would love it, and with an extender you would do even better. And being a 2.8 the stop or two you would lose from an extender wouldn't impact you as much.

Of course the 70-200 2.8 L is a might expensive lens!

So there's that!

The 70-200 is very long on a crop camera. I would agree with the 24-105 recommendation, it's a fantastic lens.

Agree on the 24-105. You'll probably never take it off your camera

I know you specifically asked for "L" suggestions, and I would agree with the others on the 25-105, however, the Tamron 28-75 2.8 is worth looking at. I know you said you have the 100L already and the 28-75 Tamron is a gem of a lens and can be found for $250-300 pretty easily. I own a 70-200, 85L, and 50 but I use the 28-75 most (85L is still my favorite by far)

The 24-70mm f2.8L II, used with my 7D mark II has produced some great candid and portrait shots, using either natural light or bounced flash.

The focusing speed & accuracy of this lens, its image quality & aperture mean I consistently capture those great moments with my very young & fast family, with very little editing required.

It is a heavier camera & lens though compared to the T4i with 18-135mm lens, which is worth considering if you are planning on walking around with it all day.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm still learning how to use the camera and the lenses. So don't stone me in front of village square for asking this. But the F measurement is how much light can be let in through the lens? So the lower the number the more light the better the picture?

Yes, the lower the f stop (it is a ratio), the more light that comes in, doesn't necessarily make a better photo. Normally you use the f-stop, shutter speed and/or iso to make adjustments for the style of photo you are looking for.

Here is a fun simulator that will let you play with these 3 settings, and see how they effect the outcome of the photo.

http://camerasim.com/a​pps/camera-simulator/

Edit: Meant to mention, (again, normally) the lower the f-stop the more background blur you will get.

Ron

Actually, the 100-400ii takes nice portraits if you are outside and have the room. It's also great at action shots. It might not be ideal for portraits but it can work in a pinch.

And it's almost like the 7D2 and 100-400ii were designed for each other. What a combo.

JaysLittleOcean wrote in post #17617799
Hello everyone, I was hoping you could give some advice to someone who needs to learn a lot more about photography in general. I have owned a Canon T4i with a standard Canon 18-135mm Lens and just recently decided to purchase a Canon 7d Mark II with a Canon 100mm F:2.8 L Series Macro Lens. However, I was looking for suggestions regarding a non prime Canon L Series Lens that would be a suitable all around lens for portrait photography of my three boys and my wife when we are out and about. Any suggestions and tips would be helpful.

No brainer for me. Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 Art.

Agree with the 25-105 suggestion. The Swiss Army Knife of lenses. If you ever decide to get rid of it (and why would you ), you can get practically all your money back for it on the used market.

24-105 is my go to for all around kid chasing...

Not an L, but much more useful on a 7DII is the 17-55 2.8 IS. One big problem with limiting your choice to L lenses is that canon does not make L lenses in the ef-sformst. Ef-s lenses allow for a wider sngle of view on an aps-c sensor like the one in your camera. But really dont buy a new lens until you get a better grasp of the terminology and why things do what they do. Invest in a copy of understanding exposure, a book by bryan peterson. It will help immensely.

24-105 is my walk around lens, but action is often at a bit more distance, so my 70-200 f/2.8L is what I use when I know my kids are going to be on the move.