Your advice needed on Lens

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I am thinking of adding a 17-55mm 2.8 nikon lens to my business. My question is this, "Since I shoot people on their moving horses would there be much distortion?" and "Is there anyone who can tell me the pros and cons of this lens thru their personal use of it. Thank you all so much, Rita
 
Hi Rita,

Although I've never used that particular lens, everything I've read about it says it's great. Here's a review of it by Thom Hogan: 17-55mm AF-S DX Lens Review by Thom Hogan

What I'd do is rent it for a week before you drop that kind of money down on it. If you've never rented before, try LensRentals.com. I can't recommend them highly enough. Great customer service, great rates, and quick shipping.
 
I love mine! It is a shame that I will be selling mine when I upgrade to full frame.

Why are you wanting to go this wide for horse ridding action shots? I would think that your 70 - 200 is perfect. Do you get that close to the action that you need the 17 - 55? I would think that the 24 - 70 would be a better range for you...

Just my thoughts.
 
I hadn't thought about the 24-70 before. I read all the info on Nikon's website but the information a photographer needs really comes from another photographer. Using my 70-200 is good in alot of situations but sometimes it's a bit tight and I have to let my husband take the photos. I hate being limited in tight situations. Could you tell me about the 24-70?
 
The 24-70 is an awesome piece of glass. That's it. I use mine on both crop and full-frame bodies and couldn't ask for a better daily-use lens. Lightning fast focus, no appreciable distortion anywhere (unless you want to get into 100% pixel-peeping, and even then it's pretty darn good) excellent colour rendering. In short, the single best lens that Nikon makes right now IMO.
 
I have a 17-55 for my crop sensor bodies and it's a lens I love to hate. Why: I am shooting where there are often vertical lines in the image and the barrel distortion forever gets me into trouble. I'd much prefer to use a 24-70 f/2.8. Otherwise? I LOVE the range.
In your situation it may not be an issue at all-if you are shooting jumping horses etc there is usually no buildings or vertical lines directly around them. It also depends upon how close you are able to get physically to the rider. That's a pretty wide focal length and just a SLIGHT bit of zoom at the long end. Is it enough? For me? I'd probably be using my 70-200 in most situations, but I am in love with that lens and I default to it more often than not for just about everything. I know when I shot rodeo I that's the lens I used and it was perfect for me.

I guess what I am wanting to know more is WHY? why is this the right lens for you? It might just be the right lens for what you need! What are you lacking that this lens is the solution to?
 
Group shots is what I'm not telling you About. Alot of times we will have a group of riders come up and want a group shot. The 70-200 lens will not do group shots. I want a lens that will photograph a group of 15 riders and not be incredibly small when printed out. Also, when shooting a group with a lens that's not developed for groups the photo looses alot of it's integrity when bringing the photo up close. I feel that having that wide angle lens will help with the quality of the shot as well as bringing the subject in closer.
One thing I don't really know about the 17-55 lens is this, "Is it a fast lens for movement"?
 
It'd probably be perfect for what you are needing. It's been argued as one of the best lenses in Nikon's lineup at times. Your biggest red flag would be if it were macro capable-those are generally much slower to focus. It's not, so you should be good. I am shooting Canon, so I can't vouch for the Nikon lens.

The only other consideration is are you ever going to go to a full frame camera?
 
Thank you all so much for your opinions. I just purchased a 17-55 for a great price and later I will get the 24-70, that is if I can get it at a good price too.
 
The 24-70 is an awesome piece of glass. That's it. I use mine on both crop and full-frame bodies and couldn't ask for a better daily-use lens. Lightning fast focus, no appreciable distortion anywhere (unless you want to get into 100% pixel-peeping, and even then it's pretty darn good) excellent colour rendering. In short, the single best lens that Nikon makes right now IMO.

+1, mine is the workhorse of the bag and is used more on the 70 end than the low end =)
 
My 24-70 is on my camera 90% of the time.
I cant express how I love this lense. Almost
as much as my 70-200
 
You might consider the tamron 17-50mm 2.8 instead, its a far better value. Youd be hard pressed to find anything better about the 17-55
 
I would say go with the 17-55. its a good lens. The tamron 17-50 is nice too and costs less. As for distortion, that is caused by your angle and not so much by the lens. But you can use distortion to your advantage if you know how to achieve it.
 
I read all the info on Nikon's website but the information a photographer needs really comes from another photographer.
Not if the other photographer is clueless, and you have to factor in Confirmation Bias. Confirmation bias - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You also have the option of the older Nikon AF-S 28-70 mm f/2.8D and the newer, still in production AF 24-85 mm f/2.8-4D too.

If you used all 3 lenses to shoot the same scene, in the same light, at the same focal length, and aperture it is doubtful you would be able to see the any differences in the images between the 3 lenses.

Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Nikon 24-85mm f/2.8-4.0D IF AF Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Nikkor Wide Angle Zoom Lens
 
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