Canon 24-85mm f/3.5 or Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8?

Jleda

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Hi guys, I do wedding photography with a friend and she's got a canon 24-85mm which I really like but I've researched lenses recently and learned the 24-70mm is a more popular and probably necessary lens.

Question is, would you prefer the high quality Canon 24-85mm (but higher f-stop) or the less expensive Sigma 24-70mm? Are the lenses much different?

Thanks!
 
canon makes a 24-85 3.5? a quick google search only finds the 3.5-4.5.

Definitely the faster constant aperture of the sigma would be a benefit to you.
 
Sigma without a doubt..... Also look at Tamron 28-75 f2.8 or Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS or Tamron 17-50 f2.8

All pretty decent lenses.
 
Great, thanks! I'll go with the Sigma and do some more research on the other lenses you suggested. I want a lens that produces a good blurry background and I know the 24-85mm does this, but the 24-70mm will do a better job, especially since I mostly shoot weddings/receptions in low light. But I've heard some good things about the Canon 17-55mm so I'll see what that's all about.

And, my mistake, Canon makes the 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5. I didn't know there was a difference if I simply put "f/3.5"!
 
get a Canon 28-70 3.5-4.5 II from KEH for $135 (discontinued) said to be one of the sharpest non-L zoom lenses. Also said to be the 2nd best bang for the buck lens next to the 50 1.8 I have the MK I version that they only offered in 1987 and it is just a liiiiiitle less sharp but it has metal internal gearing rather than plastic, the Mk II was offered from 1988 to 1991 and is the shaper one with plastic internal gearing). both models have distance scales and metal lens mounts. They say that the older 28-70s from the late 80s early 90s are easily 10 times better than the 8 or 9 lenses that replaced them over the years, getting worse and worse (currently the 24-85 III you're looking at)
 
the problem with lenses with a variable maximum aperture is when you are shooting and zoom out, the metering changes. Say you are in a low lit church at a wedding. You take a shot 28mm wide open at f3.5 @ 1/80th. Move out to 70mm and suddenly the maximum aperture available is now f4.5 and your shutter speed has dropped to around 1/50th! - This is too slow for a focal length of 70mm....

Above is just a typical example but if you were shooting with a lens with a constant maximum aperture then it would maintain the same shutter speed throughout the focal length range.

That is the main difference regards metering. Obviously with smaller apertures like f4.5 it becomes more difficult to get the creamy background blur you want. A zoom with an aperture of f2.8 will make a big difference in this manner too.

f2.8 zooms lenses are more expensive for a reason.
 
I had the Sigma 24-70 2.8 for awhile, and actually sent it back. It's something I might buy again in the future, but at the time wasn't right for me.

Anyway, my copy was sharp. The common problem with that lens is that the zoom ring is pretty stiff. The lens feels incredibly SOLID. Also, the 82mm filter size will get expensive :).

Just a few hands-on notes about this. :thumbup:
 
There are a couple reliable lens testing sites that have reviewed the Sigma and a careful comparison will illustrate the Sigma to be sharper than the Canon and wayyyy better priced. Sharpness is only one criteria, but an important one.

http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Canon%20EOS%20Lens%20Tests/45-canon-eos-aps-c/318-sigma-af-24-70mm-f28-ex-dg-macro-canon-lab-test-report--review

http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Can...non-ef-24-70mm-f28-usm-l-test-report--review/

As well as this persons review:

http://www.pbase.com/lightrules/2470exl

For these reasons, i'm saving for the Sigma.
 
I've got the 24-70 and I love it. The zoom ring is a little stiff but I just took it and kept working it back and forth until it broke in a little bit. It's pretty smooth now.
 
There are a couple reliable lens testing sites that have reviewed the Sigma and a careful comparison will illustrate the Sigma to be sharper than the Canon and wayyyy better priced. Sharpness is only one criteria, but an important one...

Thanks for your opinion and these websites! I found them very useful.
 
I've got the 24-70 and I love it. The zoom ring is a little stiff but I just took it and kept working it back and forth until it broke in a little bit. It's pretty smooth now.

This MAY make me get a Sigma 24-70 again, because it was my main complaint.
 
For weddings you'll definitely want the constant 2.8 aperture. I have the Tamron 17-50 2.8 that someone mentioned above. It's a great lens. Sharp and built very well. Don't have any experience with the other lenses mentioned.
 
Sigma 24-70 2.8! I have used this lens (among others ) at every wedding I have shot.
 
My sister uses the Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 on her Pentax K10D for weddings and loves it. I shot with it for a little bit and really enjoyed it. I have the Tamron 17-50 mentioned and I prefer it on the crop sensor, but I like the shots to be a little wider.
 
Like keith204 I also bought and returned the Sigma 24-70 lens due to the zoom ring was stiff. A couple of times the AF would lock up on the zoom end. Had to press the shutter half way to release it. AF was slow too. Ended up buying the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens and never regretted it. This is my main lens and I use the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens if I needed more wide angle shots.
 

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