Switching Out Gear

[H0LLYW00D]

I have been shooting for about 4 years but don't get alot of time to spend doing it. I have been looking at getting a new body and or new lenses. I want to shoot landscape, candid mostly but I want to play with macro and action shots as well. I have been looking at the Canon 5D MK II to replace my Rebel xTi. For lenses I have been looking at:

New:
Canon EF 16-35 F/2.8L II USM
Canon EF 24-70 F/2.8L USM
Canon EF 70-200 F/2.8L IS II USM
Canon EF 100 F/2.8L Macro IS USM
Canon EF 12 F/2.8L II USM
Canon EF 50mm F/2.8L USM

I currently have:
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM

So my questions is are the lenses I have picked going to match what I want to shoot and does the body fit my subjects. Also is it worth replacing my current macro and 50mm lenes for the L versions? I also want to add 2 430EX Canon speedlites to my 580EXII to play with lighting both on location and in a "studio" setting.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Overread]

50mm f2.8L? I think you might have mixed up a few 50mm lenses and created something new there. Far as I know there are two 50mm L lenses the 50mm f1.4L and the 50mm f1.2L Of the two the f1.2 is a more specialist lens for people that really want the razor thin depth so field it produces, otherwise its AF performance is lesser than the others.
The 50mm f1.4L canon is a good option, though optically speaking it is weaker than the current Sigma f1.4 lens (though a revision of the canon is likely to happen considerings canons current move to upgrade their lens line, but it is anyones guess as to what year they'll release it)

Otherwise that is a very solid list of top range lenses you have picked out, though I would add a 1.4TC (M2 or M3) and a 2*TC (ideally M3, but M2 does well also) to your setup for use with the 70-200mm. I say this because you'll miss the longer reach of the 70-300mm for action type photography and doubly so when you increase your field of view when moving to the 5DM2.

Otherwise you might want to slip the 100mm macro L lens to the end of the list if you have a purchasing order since whilst its IS functionality is a noticeable upgrade the optical performance is still very close to the original lens that you currently have.

 

[Derrel]

Overread....you too created something new...a 50mm f/1.4 L-series Canon that doesn't exist!!!

 

[Corbin Lane]

I have been shooting for about 4 years but don't get alot of time to spend doing it. I have been looking at getting a new body and or new lenses. I want to shoot landscape, candid mostly but I want to play with macro and action shots as well. I have been looking at the Canon 5D MK II to replace my Rebel xTi. For lenses I have been looking at:

New:
Canon EF 16-35 F/2.8L II USM
Canon EF 24-70 F/2.8L USM
Canon EF 70-200 F/2.8L IS II USM
Canon EF 100 F/2.8L Macro IS USM
Canon EF 12 F/2.8L II USM
Canon EF 50mm F/2.8L USM

I currently have:
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM

So my questions is are the lenses I have picked going to match what I want to shoot and does the body fit my subjects. Also is it worth replacing my current macro and 50mm lenes for the L versions? I also want to add 2 430EX Canon speedlites to my 580EXII to play with lighting both on location and in a "studio" setting.


Thanks in advance.

It's an awesome list and the people above have corrected the only problems. The only thing that I'd remember is that a better camera and lenses don't actually mean better pictures so I just don't want you to come back and play the "I have all this nice gear but my pics look like -ish" card.

Otherwise, go for it!

 

[Overread]

Overread....you too created something new...a 50mm f/1.4 L-series Canon that doesn't exist!!!

you know this is the first time I've realised that the 50mm f1.4 isn't an L graded lens!

 

[H0LLYW00D]

ya those should be the:
Canon EF 14 F/2.8L II USM
Canon EF 50mm F/1.2L USM

 

[Ken Rockwell Fan]

I'd get the lenses first and worry about the body later.

 

[Overread]

I'd get the lenses first and worry about the body later.

That is the normal approach to advice that I give when a user is upgrading to a camera body with the same sized sensor/film as they are currently using. However when the user is changing the size of the sensor/film (eg from crop to fullframe) I encourage them to upgrade the camera body as early as practically possible.
This is because it makes a big change on the field of view and thus how select lenses will perform for the user and how their shooting style will be defined. This is a big change and the last thing you want is to build and use a lens set around one sized sensor/film and then (intentionally) change to a larger or smaller film/sensor size. Because suddenly those lenses might be too long or too short for the users style of shooting.

I'm not saying that its the only way to do things nor that its impossible to adapt at a later stage, I'm just saying that (in my view) its a lot easier to change earlier and build around that sensor/film size than it is to do so later.

 

[AverageJoe]

I'd trade out the Canon EF 12 F/2.8L II USM for the new Canon 8-15mm Fisheye zoom. I also might skip out on the 16-35, 16mm is really wide on a full frame body.