85mm 1.8 OR 24-105mm 4

Hi,

First I am thinking about buying another lens for taking outside/inside portraits, but mostly outside. I will list my current equipment I have now.

40D with 50mm 1.8 MK1 (probably used 95% of the time for portraits)
5D with 17-40mm f4 (I use this for all my landscapes and if I have a family of 5+ for portraits)

I have been debating on getting a 85mm 1.8 and putting it on the 5D. My thoughts are the 50mm mk1 is the same focal length on the 40D. Is the 85 1.8 on the 5D going to be a noticeable improvement over the 50 mk1 on the 40D?

I do a lot of senior photographs, single portraits and usually families of 4-5.

I was thinking the 24-105 would fit my needs, but I don't think the bokeh would be as good at the 4 aperture though.
I will also be replacing the 40D later on with a 5D mkII, but it will be a year or so.

What are your thoughts? Grab a 85mm 1.8 and put it on the 5D and put the 17-40 on the 40D to do larger families?

Thanks,

Kevin

Well, we're in a similar situation with regards to lenses and cameras.

FOV-wise, the 5d + 85mm and 40d + 50mm are quite similar. I'm tempted to say that for nearly everything else, the 5d and 85mm combo will outperform the crop camera.

But, is that really important? You're going to replace the crop camera with a full frame one, so you'll need an 85 make those same shots. An f4 lens is great but keep you DOF in mind.

I wouldnt recommend the 17-40 on a crop camera for anything but f8-f11 work. The corners on my 60d and 17-40 unacceptable at f4 and improve until f8 where they are pretty good. I'd recommend the 24-105 on the 5d for larger families.

If you have to stick with one... I'd suggest the 85mm and the newest STM kit lens for those group shots. You can sell the 40d and kit lens when it's time to upgrade.

I had an 85 1.8 and it performed well beyond its price point.
I have only ever used it on an aps-c sensor and not full frame but i'm sure someone will be along in a minute who has.

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestions all. I went ahead and bought the 85mm 1.8 for $330. Since I will be replacing the 40D later on I'd need the 85mm anyway. Now I will need to figure out which lens to purchase next 90% of the shots taken with the 17-40L was used for landscapes between F8-11

Thanks,

Kevin