Choosing lenses, need help (money not too much of an object!)

DL.Photography wrote in post #10337349
Do you get to keep the equipment or will it be company property?

Do you have a budget, If not I would go all out with:

1D Mark IV
5D Mark II
16-35L II
24L II
35L II
85L II
135L II
70-200L f/2.8L II
Flashes

I just said "Gawd damn" silently while reading this post. I'm sure some real successful pros or well off hobbyists have this list. But a college student here can only dream

I smell something odd about this situation...

lot of DoF = more in focus, little DoF = less in focus, shallow DoF, more seperation from foreground/background.

I'd suggest to the OP that you don't verbally over-deliver to your client.
How about you shoot the first few projects with what you have, and if he's pleased with them, you can add that more investment in gear will get him even better results.

I think for Sports Photography, there's no better camera than a 1D Series + you will need two bodies if you are shooting for him permanently anyway. Maybe you can pick up a used 1D Mark III? couple it with a 70-200 f/2.8L IS with a 1.4x teleconverter. Those long 300/400mm lenses would be nice, but expensive and not really versatile for your golf photography

Interior Room Photography - 5D2 with a 16-35 (good to have 2.8 just in case)

Weddings, 16-35, 35, 24-70 70-200

So we're looking at about..
1D3 - 2300
5D2 - 2200
16-35 - 1450
35 - 1380
24-70 - 1300
70-200 - 2300

Oh, and I am jealous...you lucky son of a...
Congrats on landing such a awesome job!

setsuken wrote in post #10337377
ok right might have to start again.

1. There is a reasonable budget (meaning i cant be buying a CRAP load of stuff)
2. I get to keep them, yes.

that list is far too excessive, there is no need for a 1d mark 4 (considering its not even a FF camera!)

5d Mark 2 yes agreed.
35 agreed
24L ive read is a poor lens,they even reccomend the 17-40 over it (soft in the corners, even with a prime!)
70-200 isnt enough range IMO needs to be more, but a prime isnt going to be useful either!
135 is making things more expensive now i feel

setsuken wrote in post #10337377
ok right might have to start again.

1. There is a reasonable budget (meaning i cant be buying a CRAP load of stuff)
2. I get to keep them, yes.

that list is far too excessive, there is no need for a 1d mark 4 (considering its not even a FF camera!)

5d Mark 2 yes agreed.
35 agreed
24L ive read is a poor lens,they even reccomend the 17-40 over it (soft in the corners, even with a prime!)
70-200 isnt enough range IMO needs to be more, but a prime isnt going to be useful either!
135 is making things more expensive now i feel

24L is one of canon's best primes.

setsuken wrote in post #10337377
ok right might have to start again.

1. There is a reasonable budget (meaning i cant be buying a CRAP load of stuff)
2. I get to keep them, yes.

that list is far too excessive, there is no need for a 1d mark 4 (considering its not even a FF camera!)

5d Mark 2 yes agreed.
35 agreed
24L ive read is a poor lens,they even reccomend the 17-40 over it (soft in the corners, even with a prime!)
70-200 isnt enough range IMO needs to be more, but a prime isnt going to be useful either!
135 is making things more expensive now i feel

5D mk2 great
35L great
24L just as good as any of the other L lenses, don't know where you got poor reviews.
70-200- depends on your use
135L great

1dMKiv or even MKiii, don't underestimate this camera. It does everything the 5D doesn't do. Especially focusing in low light, or focusing at all. Shot one at 12k(?) Iso in complete darkness and still got stuff on the LCD screen.


I suggest you write up options since you are dealing with your new boss. Management loves making decision even if they have no clue what they are choosing, other than the $$ figure.

write up a Option A as EVERYTHING you can get, dream gear.

Option B is a mid level, things you know you can get by with

Option C, cheapest crap that you highly don't recommend..

or just variations.. and bring it in to the boss with short reviews on each setup and what they can do. Don't need to be lengthy since high-up's don't like reading.

Just makes you look good. Who knows, maybe you'll get the dream option of everything!

(end thoughts of a college student)

Down_Shift wrote in post #10337510
5D mk2 great
35L great
24L just as good as any of the other L lenses, don't know where you got poor reviews.
70-200- depends on your use
135L great

1dMKiv or even MKiii, don't underestimate this camera. It does everything the 5D doesn't do. Especially focusing in low light, or focusing at all. Shot one at 12k(?) Iso in complete darkness and still got stuff on the LCD screen.


I suggest you write up options since you are dealing with your new boss. Management loves making decision even if they have no clue what they are choosing, other than the $$ figure.

write up a Option A as EVERYTHING you can get, dream gear.

Option B is a mid level, things you know you can get by with

Option C, cheapest crap that you highly don't recommend..

or just variations.. and bring it in to the boss with short reviews on each setup and what they can do. Don't need to be lengthy since high-up's don't like reading.

Just makes you look good. Who knows, maybe you'll get the dream option of everything!

(end thoughts of a college student)

This options idea i think is the way to go, nice one. Sorry yes i got terms confused, thanks for clearing that up. I can assure you that nothing is 'up', and yes this is a dream job for me (been a LONG time in the making as well, considering the efforts ive put in for many, many years)

Ok so lets do some option lists, of A, B and C like you say


Option A - highest quality
............
............
............
............


Option B - medium/stuff i coudl potentially cope with
............
............
............
............

Option C - rubbish stuff (well not really but stuff that isnt going to give the desired results)
............
............
............
............

But keep things as reasonable as possible! for example: the 5dmark 2 is most likely a no brainer because its FF and i would consider a mark 4 which has video but no FF! the 1ds mark 3 has no video (correct?) meaning its useless we NEED the video (but is FF?) the 1d mark 4 has a lower MP count than the 5D... but DOES support video? but its not FF and i know i would much prefer the FF (better DoF, wider, better for video so ive read and so on)

Hope that helps?S thanks so far guys!

setsuken wrote in post #10337581
This options idea i think is the way to go, nice one. Sorry yes i got terms confused, thanks for clearing that up. I can assure you that nothing is 'up', and yes this is a dream job for me (been a LONG time in the making as well, considering the efforts ive put in for many, many years)

Ok so lets do some option lists, of A, B and C like you say

Option A - highest quality
............
............
............
............

Option B - medium/stuff i coudl potentially cope with
............
............
............
............

Option C - rubbish stuff (well not really but stuff that isnt going to give the desired results)
............
............
............
............

But keep things as reasonable as possible! for example: the 5dmark 2 is most likely a no brainer because its FF and i would consider a mark 4 which has video but no FF! the 1ds mark 3 has no video (correct?) meaning its useless we NEED the video (but is FF?) the 1d mark 4 has a lower MP count than the 5D... but DOES support video? but its not FF and i know i would much prefer the FF (better DoF, wider, better for video so ive read and so on)

Hope that helps?S thanks so far guys!

5D is better, if the shots are in focus or not hunting in the dark. I had a 40D before the 5Dmkii. 40D was better at the AF thing

Down_Shift wrote in post #10337626
5D is better, if the shots are in focus or not hunting in the dark. I had a 40D before the 5Dmkii. 40D was better at the AF thing

Thats cool, one other thing to bare in mind guys is that there will be little low light 'church' stuff i will be doing.... its all going to be in the one place, which will be at worst lit pretty well (f2.0 will be fine i feel minimum, with an iso of no more than 800, so dont worry about ISO performance etc so much)

So the 'hunting' around in low light is not a problem here, i do like more AF points the 1ds seem to have but i feel the 5d might be enough (unless im wrong about the 1d stuff i mentioned)

Zooms are a necessary evil on occasion. Since you already have a 30D and intend to get the 5DII the solution is fairly simple.

The 16-35/f2.8 and the 70-200 ( f/2.8 MkII if you want to splurge or you can keep the one that you have) are decently fast and have good IQ (by zoom standards). With an FF body and a 1.6 crop, you'll get coverage from 16mm -> 320mm (in 35 mm equivalent) with only a minor gap around 60mm.

For the rest go with primes. I can't recommend the Zeiss ZE line enough. The quartet of the Distagon 21/2.8, Distagon 35/2, Makro Planar 50/2 and Makro Planar 100/2 will basically cover most things.

Can anyone help me out with the 3 options thing? its good because i can print it out and give to him so he can review things at his lesuire! and offering a choice, is ALWAYS good!

setsuken wrote in post #10337303
Erm well the price difference from the sigma to the 85 L is over a grand! its a bit much....

I like there to be a good deal of background blur, it gives a lovely quality to images, weddings especially. The 5dmk2 will help with that anyway but something with a large apeture in a lens will help even more. The 50 has a greater DoF than the 35 (the 35 however will be useful for video) im also looking at a decent tripod as well, preferably a monfrotto

Then thats less depth of field. more depth of field is more area in focus.....

5DII-24-105L Kit
accy battery grip
85 1.8 EF
17-40L
70-200 2.8L MKII
1.4TC
580 EXII

I think the new 70-200 MKII is so good that you can now use it with the TC with excellent results.

can anyone comment on my suggestions?

i still need a option list, 3 of them:

one being uber expensive
one being expensive but reasonable
one being a bit poo

or perhaps all very expensive ones but a mixture of options? i need this REALLY soon guys!

The 85L may be a grand more than the 35L but the picture quality is just magic (at least in my opinion.) The 24L and 35L certainly aren't bad lenses either though.

I personally would consider the 1DmkIV over the 5DmkII; the ISO capabilities are about the same, and the AF on the mkIV is much, much better. The only downside to the 1.3x crop is the lack of true wide angle lenses besides the Sigma 12-24. But the 24-70L is still massively popular on the 1D bodies for a good reason.

Personally, I think a good setup would be something like the 1DmkIV, 24-70L, 70-200L IS (II?) and a 1.4x extender, and a prime, maybe the Sigma 50mm 1.4.