35L for my daughter birthday party?

I plan on buying a 35L, but i would have to order it next day air to get it for my daughter 1st birthday party this weekend. Would I miss it if I didn't order it next day? or it wouldn't be a big difference between that and my tamron? I'm just seeing if the extra 30 dollars is worth it to you guys!

35L is very nice but last few times I have shot kids birthday party I felt 28mm of my tamron wasn't wide enough. Wish I had 24L. Now most shots will be at smaller apertures and to tell you the truth I find no difference between tamron 28-75 and my 35L when shot at f4.

So tamron with flash and enjoy.

BTW - My daughter will be one in 2 months and I am planning to setup light stands this time.

You could always rent one from lensrental

BryantFC wrote in post #13771479
You could always rent one from lensrental

Nah I plan on buying it, but I miss the 2 days shipping yesterday So i'm debating on ordering next day for $29. I got $25 off through my ups site.

Your 28-75 will do just fine.

I'd save the money. BUT are you saying it will cost you 4 bucks????????????

As bobby mentioned stopping down you'll see little difference. For a bday party you'd want a small group in focus so you'd be shooting smaller apertures and NOT f/1.4 that much.

For me I'd rather buy a 24Lmk2 instead of a 35L. I have to say I actually like using my 16-35L for indoor parties for a UWA angle and then when you want normal perspective the 35mm end works perfectly for bday parties.

I actually tend to do more video for bday parties since the sounds of children's voices changes over the years. Its much more fun watching cute kids babbling than looking at static well documented photos. I think having both compliments one another.

bobbyz wrote in post #13771472
35L is very nice but last few times I have shot kids birthday party I felt 28mm of my tamron wasn't wide enough. Wish I had 24L. Now most shots will be at smaller apertures and to tell you the truth I find no difference between tamron 28-75 and my 35L when shot at f4.

So tamron with flash and enjoy.

BTW - My daughter will be one in 2 months and I am planning to setup light stands this time.

Bobby I guess you want the flash look. Or are you just wanting some up lift of light for the ambiance?

For me I've done alot of Bday parties lately (age group of my kids) and find indoors bounce flash on walls gives superb directional light with zero fussing of light stands.

I have 5D, 28-75 2.8, 35F2 and three daughers. Take it easy.
Tammy and flash you have will serve you beter and will provide adequate IQ.
Don't worry. Congrats on birthday and new lens!

AlanU wrote in post #13771524
Bobby I guess you want the flash look. Or are you just wanting some up lift of light for the ambiance?

For me I've done alot of Bday parties lately (age group of my kids) and find indoors bounce flash on walls gives superb directional light with zero fussing of light stands.

I need to ask some non photographer friend to take some shots. Will be mostly indoors so I was thinking setting some stands in the corner with flash bounce from the ceiling. Then give the camera to someone to shoot. I might have another body with faster lens for some shots by me.

Agree on the wide angle part. 17-40/16-35 are better suited particularly when kids/folks get together near the cake.

What would standard shipping be? Deduct that from the next day cost and that's your real cost. IMO, it's a pricey lens that you'll love using, just pay a few dollars more and have fun shooting at the party.

Standard shipping is free.

ktc1 wrote in post #13771648
What would standard shipping be? Deduct that from the next day cost and that's your real cost. IMO, it's a pricey lens that you'll love using, just pay a few dollars more and have fun shooting at the party.

I just called then and ask to change it to reg shipping, still a nice deal $1229 shipped. I can wait!

For me when I purchase lenses I have to pay shipping all of the time. Also time frame takes aprox 6 days from B&H to my place. (1 day ship from NY to Toronto and after that 5 days from TO to Vancouver.)

OP, Imo I'd put the 30 dollars towards a B+W UV fpro filter. US always gets free shipping in most cases so save money and put it towards something else.

With a 35L you wont see this ultra spectacular difference between a 35L and tamron if you using any sort of flash exposure. Thing is you'll very likely need to bounce flash or you wont have enough light to stop down the lens for the group shots.

My 5 yr old bday party I used my 24Lmk2 and called it a day. The photos turned out great but I kept the apertures from f/2.8 to f.5.6 so in otherwords my other zooms could have worked equally aswell. Mind you this was in my home. If I rented a play room with dedicated area for cake/food I would have used zooms instead of primes for convenience or use two bodies with suitable lenses.

order it, what is $29 in the big picture of things? It's a dinner out at a crappy place to eat.

This is your daughter's 1st birthday? you really are questioning this? will you regret spending 30 bucks or relish that great shot of her 1st birthday for years to come... This is the reason to get that crazy expensize lens if the tamron will work for this situation I would question the purchase of the 35l

I love this forum...so many opinions

I guess I dont think the 35L is the holy lens or people "think" the tamron 28-75 is "meh".

Ya its only 30 bucks to ship which is cheap as heck. Everyone will have priorities an anticipate playing with a new lens......

For me I totally prefer the 24L look compared to a 35L when your using it on a FF. Also its a nice semi wide on a crop body. 35L is a lens that will provide very normal perspective.

My point I guess is the selection of dof and FL versatility using a zoom since you'll be more than likely stopping down the aperture and using flash.

With proper flash bouncing skills using a zoom or prime the results will look excellent. I'd hate to hear a person excited about a fast prime to document an entire Bday party shooting like a "wideopen aperture" junkie landing OOF shots of people in a group. Or another thing is to "test drive" a brand new lens and discover it back focus or front focuses badly screwing up the documentation of an important event......been there done that and this is the reason I do not get excited about buying a new lens before an event without testing it like mad. I messed up an extremely important event and this is the reason I will never ever buy Sigma again (sigmadud 50mm especially) even after testing it several days before the event I discovered it back focused just as your subject is beyond 5 feet (tested probably 10+ sigma 50mm's and thought I found a good one). All of my Canon L lenses are rock solid in AF but my point is I do not "test" a lens at the cost of others or important events. I use my gear in 100% confidence with thorough testing.

If the tammy lands the shots I'd use that lens instead of a lens that is not fully tested.