Need help with picking new gear ! !

I'm a concert photographer from NYC and I'm slowly transitioning into video making, Ive been making it work with what I have but now I got some money saved up and I wanna buy a new lens/body.

Im torn between getting a sigma 24-70 f/2.8 or a sigma 18-35 f/1.8, I normally get a photo pass so I'm always near the stage. I'm also open to any other suggestions !

as for the camera body I've been looking into a 70D or t6s, my overall budget right now is about $1600

hopefully someone can help !

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.
What is the equipment you currently work with? I assume you use Canon? Which lenses do you have?
For me video is more about movement than lenses and cameras. Sliders, gimbals, Steadicam, jibs and the like - if you have the permit to use these on stage. Maybe you can use the camera you have and get something to bring some action to your videos.

 

I rented that Sigma 18-35 just to check it for a future project. Amazing sharpness, even wide open at the 18mm mark. I was really impressed with this glass. I decided to just use my Sigma 17-50 as I can't justify the purchase but it (18-35) has better sharpness and clarity. Amazing piece of glass for the money.

 

What gear do you use now?

 

I see you live in NYC. I don't know about where you're at, but I don't know if many places here in CT that are mom and pop spots anymore. I know there's a camera shop called K&M which carries a variety of gear, angel is very nice there. I would go try some cameras out first before you buy. I currently shoot with a Canon 80d and stm lenses for video, great setup. Canon has refurbished 80d in the 800$ range which would give you another 800$ in accessories and lenses. Refurbished just means not right off the show room floor but if you put them side by side to a brand new one you'd never know. They aren't "used" per se. I buy my lenses refurbished. Anyways, find a local shop and try some camera bodies out. You may find that you like one so much you will want to save a bit more and be happy with a purchase you didn't "settle" on. Good luck!

 

Hey! So I've been working a T5 and 50mm f/1.8 which I absolutely love cause it does an awesome job at lowlight, my only problem with it is the lack of versatility. Thank you for helping out, I haven't put much thought into gimbals and other accessories but I'm really just trying to get my camera set up more advanced

 

Thanks for the feedback! I checked out the 18-35 today and I'm really leaning towards that lens right now, I'm also looking into a canon 17-55 f2.8 just a bit worried about its lowlight performance

 

Ive been working with a Canon t5 with a 50mm f/1.8 and the kit lens

 

Hey!
I actually just got back from taking today to go around the city and visit a bunch of camera stores,(B&H,42nd Street Photos,Adorama,K&M) K&M is actually my go to camera store, they're all super nice over there and extremely helpful! When I was trying out all of the camera bodies I felt super comfortable with the 80D, I'm most likely going to end up getting it!
Thank you so much for your feedback!

 

You won't be sorry. I moved up from my 10 year old digital rebel xti and the 80d was refreshing. Some may scold me but i didn't shoot as much as i did in the beginning because i felt the camera couldn't keep up with my needs. Some may say you can shoot with anything if you're a "real" photographer but i disagree. I've owned my 80d now for 2 months or so and i have used it almost daily even if just taking some quick shots in my house. It's hard to put down. I feel like i have more control over my photos as well as having a camera that will grow with me. Get yourself some quality lenses with that body and you'll have a great kit. My only advice is buy one quality lens rather than buying a few lesser lenses. Look at sigma, they have an 18-250 which is a great all around lens. That covers two of the lenses i have in my kit in one lens. And it goes down to f3.5. You can get them for around 300$. Look at the battery grip the bg-e14 as well, i love mine. I recently took photos with a 60D that was laying around and i felt lost without the grip. Plus it doubles your run time! If you don't have a tripod i would get a quality tripod as well, i paid 170 for my mefoto roadtrip and i love it. That's how i would spend my 1600 and you may even have some left over. Invest in a quality card too, i just picked up a sandisk extreme pro 32gb which reads at 300mb/s and writes at 260mb/s for 60$ and it's a killer card. Probably the only card i'll ever need, but i also have a lexar professional 1000x 150mb/s read and 40mb/s write in 16gb as a backup. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask!

 

Just purchased a "returned" (actually never even used) Canon 80D with the 18-135 and can't talk it up enough. Granted I moved from a 10D to this, but so far I've been able to push it in low light at ISO 2000 with very little noise. Shot a dinner event in a hanger Sunday night and son's riding lessons tonight at the barn, in both I took my nifty 50 with me, but never had to put it on. Manual f4, 1/40 sec, ISO 2000 and shot away. Few shots were too dark to use when I get into corners, but other than that its absolutely the best "kit" setup I've seen out of the box. Watch the bargain bin or ebay, they do come up for less than $1k. Don't have much online yet, but latest shots from VB are from the 80 Check out jdarling 's profile