Which Wide Angle to buy for 5D for Moscow

[Andre Belmont]

I am going to be visiting Moscow, Russia for 3 weeks and will do quite a bit of shooting there. I will take a 5D there with my 85mm 1.8 prime and am looking for a good relatively inexpensive wide angle zoom lens to buy to complete my kit there.

I have almost convinced myself to buy Canon 17-40L lens, and would rather not to exceed $600 that it would cost me. But I am a bit concerned about its reported corner softness on 5D.

Here are some of the things that are important/unimportant to me:

1. Important: sharpness and image quality
2. Not Important: Lens that is faster than F4 (I hardly ever use it)
3. Not Important: Fast autofocus, but accuracy of the focus is very important.

4. Not Important: brand or looks, but must have autofocus so no manual solutions like Ziess/Russian made glass

I am currently considering the following WA lenses:

1. Canon 17-40L F4 $600
2. Tamron SP AF 17-35 F/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical $500

Are the two below wide enough for city/landscapes?

3. Tamron SP AF24-135MM F/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical (IF) Macro $400
4. Sigma 24-60mm f2.8 EX DG Lens $400

I am considering all 4 but the Canon 17-40 and Tamron 24-135 appeal the most to me. Tamron stengthes for me are: range, macro, price - but is the image quality/sharpness as good as Canon 17-40L? And is it wide enough for city/landscape shots on 5D at 24mm? The $200 difference between the two is not critical to me, and I want to have only one wide angle zoom and not have to upgrade in a few years...

Comments on these lenses and suggestions on other lenses I am missing are very welcome, thank you!

Some older images I took on 10D with 85mm 1.8:



and even older:



More of my images at: http://www.andrebelmont.com

 

[DuxX]

Couple of days before I shoot some pics with 5D and 24-105L and I'm not noticed any corner softness. 17-40L is better choice and 24-70 f2.8L is far better than both.
I personally think that 24mm is wide enough for FF.

I'll strongly recommend you to go with L glass if you choose FF.

Let's to wait and see what others will say about that.Best regards,
--
Dusko Jovic / DuxX /

 

[Peter Berressem]

2/35, 28mm or even a 24mm - I'd prefer a prime. (old fashioned ? ;-)
--
Kind regards,
Peter B.
(English - not my native tongue)

 

[ChrisDM]

I already owned the 17-40 for my 20D, and just bought a D. This lens is a dream on this camera. Highly recommended...
--

Chris
http://www.imagineimagery.com

 

[ioannis]

TS-E 24mm f/2.8
--
Yiannis
Sing with me, sing for the year
sing for the laughter and sing for the tear
sing with me if it's just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away

 

[Andre Belmont]

Peter,

I have 2 primes right now:
Canon 85 1.8
Canon 50 1.8

and one canon zoom - never used it as it came from an old rebel kit.

I love my 85 1.8 on 10D (ordering 5D shortly), but 50 1.8 on 10D is not a very good lens - it is a poor performer at 1.8 - 4.0.

As far as zoom vs primes for a trip I would like to take only two lenses and I am taking 85mm one so 17-40 or another zoom would cover a lot of the useful range and be very convenient. Tamron's 24-135 range would be awesome, but I am not sure how that zoom would perform on 5D, plus I think for some Moscow Subway images 17 would come in very handy...

Primes are probably the best in terms of image quality, but convenience and range are things that cannot be ignored in my case.