Japan trip: 24-105mm f/4 and what L prime for 7D?

get the 85L2 and 135L and 24L2.

kara11 said:

I'll be heading off to Japan soon and will be living there for a while. At first I was sure I'd take with me two prime lenses with my new 7D but after a lot of research I've decided on the versatile 24-105mm f/4 L. Although I'm sure this is the lens that will be on my camera for most of my shots, do you guys recommend I take a prime with me as well? If so, which? So far I'm in love with the build and image quality of the L lenses so I'm only really looking at those right now.

The pictures I will be taking are well...anything I find interesting just walking around the streets of Tokyo. I'll also be visiting museums, landmarks, and the countryside so definitely a wide variety of settings.

Thanks!

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I live here and shoot mainly primes and I do lots of low light/available light shooting.

For an all-around lens on a crop I would go for the 35L (or the Sigma 30 1.4 as a low cost alternative). Sigma 30 1.4 & 135L could also be a very good and affordable combo to go with your current zoom..

Those who say an L is wasted on a crop have not tried it themselves. You can often eyeball the difference between a picture taken with a "L" prime and a zoom lens, because the prime offers you much more flexibility in DOF and light as well as better bokeh etc.

Here some prime shots from fisheye to 400mm. Suggest you first and foremost go for a lens that suits your shooting style:

Fisheye:



35L:



85L:



100mm (70-200L IS zoom):



200mm (70-200L IS zoom):



300L 2.8:



400L 5.6:



Good luck with your choice. Japan is great for photography.

maiaibing said:

I live here and shoot mainly primes and I do lots of low light/available light shooting.

For an all-around lens on a crop I would go for the 35L (or the Sigma 30 1.4 as a low cost alternative). Sigma 30 1.4 & 135L could also be a very good and affordable combo to go with your current zoom..

Those who say an L is wasted on a crop have not tried it themselves.

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i think people are saying a 24-70L, 24-105L, 17-40L aren't always the wisest choices on a crop (the 24-70L certainly can be if you need quick AF though) not that L's are a waste on a crop

bronxbombers said:

i think people are saying a 24-70L, 24-105L, 17-40L aren't always the wisest choices on a crop (the 24-70L certainly can be if you need quick AF though) not that L's are a waste on a crop

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Probably just semantics at that point. The L's cost more, you don't use more than 40% of the image circle you paid (dearly) for, and they are bigger than the crop lenses that cover the same area. It's being generous to call that anything but "a waste..." at least where there are alternatives. 2010 is a very different situation from 2005, and the current crop-formatted lenses have tremendous value, beating the L's both optically, and price-wise.

Shooting 70~800mm it doesn't matter, but anything wider than 50mm the crop-designed approach is worth investigating.

--
-CW

よしよし、今日も生きのいい魂が手に入ったな

Chez Wimpy said:

bronxbombers said:

i think people are saying a 24-70L, 24-105L, 17-40L aren't always the wisest choices on a crop (the 24-70L certainly can be if you need quick AF though) not that L's are a waste on a crop

Click to expand...

Probably just semantics at that point. The L's cost more, you don't use more than 40% of the image circle you paid (dearly) for, and they are bigger than the crop lenses that cover the same area. It's being generous to call that anything but "a waste..." at least where there are alternatives. 2010 is a very different situation from 2005, and the current crop-formatted lenses have tremendous value, beating the L's both optically, and price-wise.

Shooting 70~800mm it doesn't matter, but anything wider than 50mm the crop-designed approach is worth investigating.

--
-CW

よしよし、今日も生きのいい魂が手に入ったな

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yes the wide and standard L zooms are a waste on crops but the L primes and long zooms are not is what I was saying

Lens you should be considering is the Sigma 10-20 f3.5 for your 7D. The 24-105mm is a great second lens but very limiting at the wide angle on a 1.6 crop camera.

kara11 said:

hm..didn't realize 24mm wouldn't be wide enough even though it's on the 7D. I don't really feel the need to get huge wide shots and I really dislike distortion in my photos (just personal preference). Do you guys still think I should go for a wider lens?

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Not if you don't. They are your shots and only need to please you. But you asked for advice and a large number of responses say go wider.

kara11 said:

joebloe said:

So, buy a full frame body for them, or at least a 1D.

Otherwise you're spending 2x as much money as you need to.

kara11 wrote:

So far I'm in love with the build and image quality of the L lenses so I'm only really looking at those right now.

--
http://twitter.com/jpaphoto

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Well I already own the 7D so buying a full frame isn't an option for me. What's wrong with wanting only L lenses as a 7D owner?

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Nothing other than closing off a lot of other good options.

That is very true. Especially it closed off all the EF-S lenses which cover the majority of the more desirable wide to normal options for your 7D.

randy jk said:

kara11 said:

joebloe said:

So, buy a full frame body for them, or at least a 1D.

Otherwise you're spending 2x as much money as you need to.

kara11 wrote:

So far I'm in love with the build and image quality of the L lenses so I'm only really looking at those right now.

--
http://twitter.com/jpaphoto

Click to expand...

Well I already own the 7D so buying a full frame isn't an option for me. What's wrong with wanting only L lenses as a 7D owner?

Click to expand...

Nothing other than closing off a lot of other good options.

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17-55/f2.8 IS is versatile and covers a good range for crop. The IS helps get you shots which might need a prime otherwise.

The last time I was in Japan I didn't get have my 17-55, so I took what I had. This list is not really a recommendation, just my review of the usefulness.

• 10-22 - It's a great lens, but I rarely use it. So I don't agree (at least given my personal shooting style) with the recommendations that you get a zoom this wide as the main zoom for the trip. It is great if you just have to fit an entire skyscraper in one shot. But when shooting almost anything else, I reach for another lens.
• 50/1.4 - For shooting people on the street I like this length and I like having the benefits of a prime. Some prefer longer, some shorter lengths than this. Very individual. For me, this is a good default lens.
• 100-400 - There is not much call for a long lens in Japan, but if you're shooting a festival or similar event it can be great.

With the 17-55, I would probably take just that unless I knew there was a festival I was going to shoot.