Any point in buying both these lenses?

Frankieplus

TPF Noob!
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
I was thinking of buying the EF 24-70mm 2.8L and the 50mm F1.4 Prime lens.

I was reading that the 50mm is a good lens to just have in your kit.

But is there any use? Won't the 24-70mm cover the 50mm range anyway? Am I being silly by having both lenses or is there good reason for the 50mm? Am I ever going to use it?

What are some good reasons to have the 50mm lens if you're also going to have the 24-70mm one.


-Frankie
 
Well they are both great lenses, from all acounts.

Correct me if I'm wrong...but isn't F1.4 about two stops faster than F2.8?
Is it worth it for you to have those extra stops? If so, then there's your answer. If not, well there you go.

The F1.4 is also said to have beautiful bokeh...I don't know about the 24-70.

As far as sharpness, from what I hear, the primes are shaper than most zooms...however the L series lenses are top of the line.

The 50mm F1.8 is 1/3 or 1/4 the price of the 50 F1.4...maybe get that instead. If you find that you use it a lot, then you could consider upgrading to the F1.4.
 
the 50 1.4, as said before, is a terrific prime. It has great low-light capabilities because of the two extra stops from 2.8 and it's image quality (sharpness, contrast, etc.) is also very nice. The 50 1.8 is also quite good, and much cheaper. the bokeh on the 1.8 isn't quite as good as the 1.4, and the it's sharpness at f2 isn't also quite as good (past f4 it's identical). the 1.8 has slightly less distortion too I believe, so you may want to look into that one. I think the prime would be a great lens just to have for your bag, especially as a standard lens with a large max aperture for low light stuff.

what camera body are you using? the 24-70 is great, but really only a nice range for full frame sensors of film bodies. if you have a cropped sensor (canon 300d, 350d, 20d, 30d) then you might want to look into something in the 18-50 or 16-35mm range. if you decided to do that you might want to get a slightly longer prime to compensate (like the 85mm 1.8)
 
I use the 24-70 for the vast majority of my photography and I decided that with L quality glass it wouldn't be worth buying a 50mm prime.

I use it on a 20D so with the 1.6x factor it's the equivalent of around 38-112mm. It's not that wide but for most things it's perfectly adequate
 
thebeginning said:
what camera body are you using? the 24-70 is great, but really only a nice range for full frame sensors of film bodies. if you have a cropped sensor (canon 300d, 350d, 20d, 30d) then you might want to look into something in the 18-50 or 16-35mm range. if you decided to do that you might want to get a slightly longer prime to compensate (like the 85mm 1.8)

Forgot to mention the camera body - Was thinking of the 30D. This whole 1.6x factor has totally screwed my lens decisions now and I don't know what to do.

I was happy with a 24-70mm range but now I'll need a wider lens to compensate for the 1.6x.. I also wanted fast L lenses.. The choices are getting a little limited now.


Confused..


-Frankie
 
darich said:
I use the 24-70 for the vast majority of my photography and I decided that with L quality glass it wouldn't be worth buying a 50mm prime.

I use it on a 20D so with the 1.6x factor it's the equivalent of around 38-112mm. It's not that wide but for most things it's perfectly adequate

Are you happy with your 10-22mm lens? What's the quality of that lens like compared to your other L lenses?

Also, does anybody know where I can find out what all the Canon lettering means? EF-S, USM, L, IS, etc? (I know what some mean but not others)

-Frankie
 
EF-S means it is a lens that is made for a 'cropped' sensor, so it would work great on your 30d, but wouldnt work on a Full frame body if you are considering upgrading in the future. An EF lens will work on both cropped and full frame dSLRs.
USM means Ultra-Sonic Motor, which basically translates to a very fast, accurate focus system. on primes especially, lenses with USM focus extremely fast and very quietly.
'L' stands for canon's Luxury line of lenses. They are very high quality, both in build and glass, but are often quite pricey. Do some research before you buy an L to see if there is another 3rd party or non L canon lens that can perform closely.
IS stands for image stabilization. basically, when turned on, it enables you to shoot at slower shutter speeds without camera shake. It's usually a 3 stop difference.
not sure if there is any other lettering...i hope that helps though!
 
Frankieplus said:
Are you happy with your 10-22mm lens? What's the quality of that lens like compared to your other L lenses?

Also, does anybody know where I can find out what all the Canon lettering means? EF-S, USM, L, IS, etc? (I know what some mean but not others)

-Frankie

If I shoot the same thing with my 24-70 at 24mm and again with 10-22 at 22mm there's very little difference. Any difference isn't visible for most shots under most conditions.
At the wider end you can see some vignetting but that's unavoidable when using a lens at 10mm (16mm in reality)

Overall I'm well happy with the quality and have never had any reason to think it's inferior. The difference is with the f stops. The "L" lens can be fixed at f2.8 while the 10-22 is f3.5-4.5
 
Big Mike said:
How about this? Canon EF-S 17 - 55 mm F2.8 IS

It's wide (17mm), it's fast (F2.8 ) and it has IS. On the down side, it's very expensive...especially for an EF-S lens that will only work on a handful of 1.6 crop DSLRs.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022113canonefs1755f28g.asp

I don't really want to buy a lens that will only work on a handfull of SLRs. Now I'm thinking of getting a 5D with a full size sensor. But then the only lens I'd be able to afford is the 50mm 1.4 Prime lens.

What's a better choice, a 5D with a 50mm prime or a 30D with the 24-70mm and maybe an EFS 10-22mm wide lens.

I'm not a pro photographer, I'm just doing this as a hobby but I like proper equipment. I'm a freelance video camera operator so I know about composition, shots, etc.. I'm learning photography but am not a total beginner. Maybe I can live with a 50mm lens for a while and a 5D?

What do you guys think?

-Frankie
 

Most reactions

New Topics

Back
Top