Making large Canon purchase: need tips and advice

solenoid · Mar 9, 2010

Hi everyone, I came here seeking some finishing touches to my new camera system. Any feedback would be most welcome.

To the stuff: (My budget is ~10k, hence the BH prices)

Base setup:
Canon 5dMKII $2,499.99
Canon BG-E6 Hand grip $239.00
Canon LP E6 Battery $62.09
Canon 50mm f/1.2L AF $1,279.00
Canon 70-200 2.8/L IS $1,799.00
Canon Hand strap $24.95
Lexar CF Reader(FW800) $59.95
Manfrotto 405 Pro geared head $480.00
Gitzo*GT2541EX legs $674.89
4x Lexar 8GB 300x CF cards $270.00
Dell Ultrasharp 2711 (monitor) $1,099.00
Gary Phong Lightsphere $39.99

Stuff that I have not decided on, and need good advice on:

Canon 16-35 f/2.8L II -or- Canon 17-40 f/4L -- this is a really hard decision, and while getting the 16-35 eats away at other potential items, I would like to get the lens that makes overall better pics. (even at 2x the price)
Teffin/Hoya/B+W clear protect filters -- should I bother with filters at all? These are all 60+ dollars, and for the wide angle zoom, filter height/thickness is an issue (no problem mixing and matching brands)

I own a considerable amount of other accessories (this is replacing my 20d and a set of not so great lenses), hence not a lot of them on this list, but any advice on something crucial I am missing here would also be great.

Thanks in advance, back to perusing the MB.

gsgary · Mar 9, 2010

You don't need hand grip and hand strap, because you will have to pull your hand out of the strap to shoot vertical and its a pain in the arse much quicker without, i shoot 1dmk2's and 5dmk1 and i prefer the 5D without a handgrip. I would also ditch the Gary Phong lightsphere not worth the money

Big Mike · Mar 9, 2010

Welcome to the forum.

There is a lot of good stuff on that list (although I not a fan of the Lightsphere for $40).
It might help if you expand on the gear you already have and maybe what type of photography you do.

One thing to note is that there is a new version of the 70-200mm F2.8 L IS, which should be out fairly soon. Some photographers have been using/testing them at the Vancouver Olympics. Probably a bit more expensive than the current version though.

As for the 16-35 II vs the 17-40, that is a tough one. The 17-40mm is a highly regarded wide angle lens...a favorite of many landscape photographers...and the price is great for the quality that you get.
I've heard that the new version of the 16-35mm is significantly better than the older version, so I'm sure it's a great lens. If overall quality is your highest priority, I'm thinking that the 16-35mm might be the better choice, but I can't speak from experience. I have heard that several people don't like the flare characteristics of the 16-35mm, so if you like those into the sun type shots, you may not want this one.

Personally, I don't use protection filters. I use solid lens hoods which offer pretty good protection against most things. But I don't often shoot in situations where stuff is flying around and would gum up the front of my lenses.

solenoid · Mar 9, 2010

Clear filters - At least having them in the kit might be a necessity, as beaches comprise a nice chunk of my portrait work when the weather gets nice.

Gary Fong - Is there a recommended flash defuser that people like? I mostly want it for wedding and quick-and-dirty (ebay) product photography.

70-200 - $700 might b hard to justify... does anyone have a link to a first hand report on improvements? If I waited for the new one, I most certainly would have to go with the 17-40L

inTempus · Mar 9, 2010

We've had several good threads about the usefulness of the Gary Fong products. You can see some test pictures I've posted in this thread:

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...llery/191337-lighting-bounce-diffusers-2.html

In essence, save your money. It really doesn't do much for you over what a properly used bounce flash will do. It's a gimmick and a waste of $40 IMHO.

Big Mike · Mar 9, 2010

Clear filters - At least having them in the kit might be a necessity, as beaches comprise a nice chunk of my portrait work when the weather gets nice.

Yes, shooting on the beach might be a good situation to have protection on your lenses.

Gary Fong - Is there a recommended flash defuser that people like? I mostly want it for wedding and quick-and-dirty (ebay) product photography.

There is nothing essentially wrong with the Fong Dong (besides the price). The problem is that it's really only useful in certain situations....like indoors, in a small or medium sized room with good bounce surfaces around you. If you take it outdoors, it's just throwing light in all directions, wasting most of it which slows you down (recycle time) and kills the batteries. It doesn't really soften the light when there is not bounce, because it only barely increases the size of the light source. So as long as you know when to use it, and when not to, it can be a decent accessory...but there are plenty of similar flash accessories. I like the Demb flip-it products because they are easy & quick to adjust on the fly.

DScience · Mar 9, 2010

LOL ok, he's dropping 10k on camera gear, and you all fuss about wasting $50 on a light diffuser? :er:

Overread · Mar 9, 2010

Gotta look after the small cash as well as the big - a listtle mistake is still a mistake - make a few and you have a big mistake and possibly a big cost.

Out of interest why the Manfrotto 405 Pro geared head over the 410 version? It's a good chunk of money more in cost and yet the junior should be more than up to the task of working with the glass and camera bodies you list there.

solenoid · Mar 9, 2010

Manfrotto Head: My old head had a hard time with body+large lens+battery grip, wanted to not have that happen if I borrow something even more ungainly then the 70-200. I also will be throwing a mamiya 645 with 300mm lens on it to shoot film.
If its still overkill, its not hard to talk me down. (weight considerations played almost 90% in to my tripod/head purchase)

Small cash - it adds up FAST. If something is unneeded, ti can go to something bigger/better, imho

Derrel · Mar 9, 2010

I think the red flag is the 50/1.2-L instead of the 50mm 1.4 USM, not the $40 Lightsphere. I think the $1279 on the 50mm/1.2 is questionable in light of the lens's actual performance, as well as its price-to-performance ratio. Buying it instead of the 1.4 model is costing you (as an opportunity cost) two other fine lenses, like a 100mm f/2 and an 85/1.8, or the 135 f/2-L and another lesser lens.

THere was a lin k to a revieww postr here just yesterday, from the H2H or Head-2-Head review web site,comparing the 17-40 against the new 16-35 2.8-II lens. The 17-40 offers extremely close performance to the 16-35. IMHO, the 17-40/4 is the better choice in terms of value. Regardless of what you buy, I hope you enjoy your new anon set-up!

Big Mike · Mar 9, 2010

I think the red flag is the 50/1.2-L instead of the 50mm 1.4 USM, not the $40 Lightsphere. I think the $1279 on the 50mm/1.2 is questionable in light of the lens's actual performance, as well as its price-to-performance ratio. Buying it instead of the 1.4 model is costing you (as an opportunity cost) two other fine lenses, like a 100mm f/2 and an 85/1.8, or the 135 f/2-L and another lesser lens.

Good point. I thought that when I first read the list, but when I got to the Fong Dong, I got distracted :er:

NateWagner · Mar 9, 2010

that and 62 dollars for an extra canon battery, when 3rd party ones are typically just as good and a heck of a lot cheaper.

I also think I would get the 50 1.4 and use the money saved to get the 70-200 II

oh, I guess that was my 1000th post, yay to me, it took me over a year and a half to get there.

nathanlegiehn · Mar 9, 2010

get a 35mm 1.4. discustingly awesome lens

Chris of Arabia · Mar 9, 2010

You could save yourself a fair bit on the Lexar card reader with something like this - [ame="http://www.amazon.com/PQI-USB-2-0-CompactFlash-Reader/dp/B000W4T9KG/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1268159516&sr=8-9"]PQI USB CF Card Reader[/ame]. I've got an SD version and they're a really convenient way of accessing card data. Bear in mind though, that you don't get the automatic hook-up into the Canon software that you get when plugging the camera itself into your computer.