PJ Student: 24-70 or 580EX II?

Until you use a flash, you don't realize how much of a positive difference it can make to your shots. I learned that with all the P&S's I had over the years. I ALWAYS had the flash enabled for outdoor portrait, head and shoulder type shots.

I carried that over that practice to dSLR's... first using the onboard flash (more usefull than you think) and more recently when I bought a 580 EXII. Of course, indoors, a single bounced flash can give you extrememly natural results. The AF assist is also a plus for those times when the light is low and the camera/lens has trouble focussing.

If you don't mind the 28, you can get the canon 28-70 2.8. Works just as well and at a lower cost. 600-800 used

Thanks for the replies.

Verdant - I'd rather not spend that much and hot get a little wider. Although it'd be only 4mm, I'd appreciate the wideness. Plus, that less costs much more than the Sigmas.

I own the 24-70L and love it, but for walking around and doing some PJ work, I've found its not near wide enough for my tastes. On a crop body, 24mm really is pushing it. On the plus side though, the sheer quality of the images that I've shot with it always blow me away. I am lucky and got one with tack sharp focus and the performance in low light is unbelievable. Fast glass is a must for me because I shoot mainly concerts, but last night I used it for my youngest sister's school play and it performed fantastically. Low light is where this lens has really proven itself to me. If you have the money, get some Love.

I don't really have much advice regarding a flash over a lens, but just thought I'd give my 2 cents regarding the 28-75mm versus the 24-70mm.
I haven't used the Sigma equivalent, but I do have the Tamron 28-75mm. Although it's a fantastic lens and creates very sharp images with great color, I find that when I'm in "just decent" to low light, the lens hunts around a lot, somewhat slowly, for focus (I don't know if the Sigma is any better or worse). Compounded with the noisy motor, it can get pretty annoying at times. I've only briefly used a Canon 24-70mm, but I am looking to eventually upgrade to that, as I did find it much better in achieving focus faster and the USM is always a joy. As for Canon L lenses, I use my 70-200mm f/2.8 much more regularly and it is very snappy with finding focus, and it makes me realize more how slow and frustrating the Tamron can be.
When doing photojournalism work, chances are you're in a time crunch and need speed in order to get the shot at certain times. You won't want to be waiting around to get the shot in focus, as by then it could already be gone.

DDCSD wrote in post #6687906
Wow, I came across pretty harsh there, sorry. I forgot to put some smileys in.

I really didn't mean it to sound as bad as It does at second read. I apologize.

I still would get a 430EX before getting a 580. It does pretty much anything the 580 will do, except fire a remote ETTL flash, which when it is your only flash doesn't really matter. When you find yourself needing another flash, then get the 580.

Well, I took DDCSD's advise and got the 430 and 24-60. If I come across any problems, DDCSD will take the entire blame.

BTW, any pointers on using a flash?

nphsbuckeye wrote in post #6858995
Well, I took DDCSD's advise and got the 430 and 24-60. If I come across any problems, DDCSD will take the entire blame.

BTW, any pointers on using a flash?

Yikes, no one has ever listened to me before. I might have to show my wife this.

Here is the best on-camera flash site I've seen.
http://www.planetneil.​com …h-photography-techniques/

Also, have a look at the sticky's at the top of the flash section, they are actually very helpful.

I'm just getting started in using more flash myself, but the first thing you're gonna want to do is get that sucker off-camera. Starting out with a sync cord would be good. It's the one that coils up and attaches to the hotshoe on the camera and the bottom of the camera and stretches maybe 3-4 feet. You can get a non-Canon brand for around $30 or so and it still does E-TTL and all that just fine.

strobist.com is great for learning about off-camera flash, but he especially likes working with multiple off-camera flashes so you'd have to pick and choose what could apply to you with 1 flash

Thanks guys.