new 5dii and value primes

[harold1968]

hi,

I am getting a new 5dii for portraits, indoor work, landscapes and fairly wide walk about.

I want some good value primes. this might sound silly as the 5dii is not cheap, but I have done my sums and getting the 7d with a couple of good zooms would cost more

the difficulty I have is sorting out the best ones from all the reviews. I don't mind corner softness under f2.8 and don't mind average build quality. I do want tack sharp centre and broad sharpness by f2.8/4

I have a 50mm f1.8 and it seems to be about the same optically as the f1.4 bar worse bokeh, so I will probably keep for now (unless anyone has a contrary view).

I was thinking of buying the 28mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 initially.
maybe in a year or two I might treat myself to the 16-35mm ii.

what do you folks think about this and any suggestions welcome?!

 

[Mentor_1]

Why put second rate lens' on a first class body? It would make more sense to put a first class lens on a lesser body. The lens and the light are key to good photography. 1 of my primes is the Sigma 50 1.4 and I love the images I get with it. It's great on my 5D2 and I love using natural light whenever possible

hi,

I am getting a new 5dii for portraits, indoor work, landscapes and fairly wide walk about.

I want some good value primes. this might sound silly as the 5dii is not cheap, but I have done my sums and getting the 7d with a couple of good zooms would cost more

the difficulty I have is sorting out the best ones from all the reviews. I don't mind corner softness under f2.8 and don't mind average build quality. I do want tack sharp centre and broad sharpness by f2.8/4

I have a 50mm f1.8 and it seems to be about the same optically as the f1.4 bar worse bokeh, so I will probably keep for now (unless anyone has a contrary view).

I was thinking of buying the 28mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 initially.
maybe in a year or two I might treat myself to the 16-35mm ii.

what do you folks think about this and any suggestions welcome?!

--
May the light be with you
Stop global whining
Stupid should hurt

 

[harold1968]

I agree

however I understand the 28mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 are quite good optically. Do you think different ?

I did hear good things about the sigma 50mm f1.4. I was thinking about it until I read the review on photozone.de, where they said it doesn't shine on FF.

"...However, it's not quite as convincing on full format cameras. The center quality of the lens is certainly fine and even great from f/2 onwards. Unfortunately the border & corner performance is rather disappointing. It's downright soft at large apertures and never really better than good even at the very best setting (f/8)...."

Why put second rate lens' on a first class body? It would make more sense to put a first class lens on a lesser body. The lens and the light are key to good photography. 1 of my primes is the Sigma 50 1.4 and I love the images I get with it. It's great on my 5D2 and I love using natural light whenever possible

hi,

I am getting a new 5dii for portraits, indoor work, landscapes and fairly wide walk about.

I want some good value primes. this might sound silly as the 5dii is not cheap, but I have done my sums and getting the 7d with a couple of good zooms would cost more

the difficulty I have is sorting out the best ones from all the reviews. I don't mind corner softness under f2.8 and don't mind average build quality. I do want tack sharp centre and broad sharpness by f2.8/4

I have a 50mm f1.8 and it seems to be about the same optically as the f1.4 bar worse bokeh, so I will probably keep for now (unless anyone has a contrary view).

I was thinking of buying the 28mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 initially.
maybe in a year or two I might treat myself to the 16-35mm ii.

what do you folks think about this and any suggestions welcome?!

--
May the light be with you
Stop global whining
Stupid should hurt

 

[Mentor_1]

As with all lens it is possible to get a bad copy and I suppose I am lucky to get a good copy. Most lens are somewhat soft in the corners wide open and are much better one stop from wide. It is very nice on my 5D2 and is used a lot in low light with great success. You need to assess your shooting style and requirements to determine which lens would be right and whether to to FF or crop. For what I do FF is the way to go with a fast lens. If you do a lot of wildlife and/or sports then a crop body may be better with a fast lens. The truth of the matter is the lens is key in capturing "the light" so to scrimp on that is in my mind blasphemy. AT any rate I would purchase lens to work on FF as they will work on Canon crops ( if it is Canon you use) but the crop lens will not work on FF.
--
May the light be with you
Stop global whining
Stupid should hurt

 

[Mentor_1]

I should also add that the 24-105 F4 L is a great lens for walkabout and all occasions. Canon of course
--
May the light be with you
Stop global whining
Stupid should hurt

 

[harold1968]

yes, seems lovely.
If I got the 24-105mm, I would not get any other lens for the moment
I wonder at 28mm how much worse/different it is from the 28mm f1.8

I should also add that the 24-105 F4 L is a great lens for walkabout and all occasions. Canon of course
--
May the light be with you
Stop global whining
Stupid should hurt

 

[Mentor_1]

I don't have a 28 so I cannot comment but others may.
--
May the light be with you
Stop global whining
Stupid should hurt

 

[klbw]

If I got the 24-105mm, I would not get any other lens for the moment
I wonder at 28mm how much worse/different it is from the 28mm f1.8

I don't think it's worse, 24-105/4 is a brilliant lens (distortion and vignette can be easily corrected in pp). I much prefer it's colour and contrast over 28/1.8!

I also recommend getting EF 50/1.4 - these two are always in my bag.

EF 35/2 is not bad - lightweight, small, cheap, sharp, but AF is noisy and will struggle in low light.

Third one I often use is EF 100/2 - another cheap, good and compact prime.

Happy shopping

--
http://www.flickr.com/people/klbw/

 

[Kreitmann]

hi,

I am getting a new 5dii for portraits, indoor work, landscapes and fairly wide walk about.

I want some good value primes. this might sound silly as the 5dii is not cheap, but I have done my sums and getting the 7d with a couple of good zooms would cost more

the difficulty I have is sorting out the best ones from all the reviews. I don't mind corner softness under f2.8 and don't mind average build quality. I do want tack sharp centre and broad sharpness by f2.8/4

I have a 50mm f1.8 and it seems to be about the same optically as the f1.4 bar worse bokeh, so I will probably keep for now (unless anyone has a contrary view).

I was thinking of buying the 28mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 initially.
maybe in a year or two I might treat myself to the 16-35mm ii.

what do you folks think about this and any suggestions welcome?!

+

I use 28 / 50 / 85mm f/1.8 on a 5D II and they all work very well. OK, the 50mm has a very plastic feel and I might upgrade to the 50mm 1.4 but besides from that, IQ is good.

85mm 1.8 is almost without fault and really shines on FF. The L is better, but for a very high price.

28mm 1.8 on FF is great too. There is no aquivalent on APC-C for that lens. Wide angle and thin DOF is a very interesting look. The 35mm L does the same thing but its more costly as well.

50mm. One good reason for the 1.4 version is that is shares the same filtersize as the other two lenses. 58mm.

One alternativ could be a 24-70 L. It gives you almost the same FL at f/2.8 and IQ is very high too. But, this lens is huge, not all copies are working perfectly. The price would be the same as 28/50/85.

 

[Hans Kruse]

hi,

I am getting a new 5dii for portraits, indoor work, landscapes and fairly wide walk about.

I want some good value primes. this might sound silly as the 5dii is not cheap, but I have done my sums and getting the 7d with a couple of good zooms would cost more

the difficulty I have is sorting out the best ones from all the reviews. I don't mind corner softness under f2.8 and don't mind average build quality. I do want tack sharp centre and broad sharpness by f2.8/4

I have a 50mm f1.8 and it seems to be about the same optically as the f1.4 bar worse bokeh, so I will probably keep for now (unless anyone has a contrary view).

I was thinking of buying the 28mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 initially.
maybe in a year or two I might treat myself to the 16-35mm ii.

what do you folks think about this and any suggestions welcome?!

For this type of work the 5D mkII is superior to the 7D and the right camera to get.

If you want a fairly wide walk about then get the 24-105L IS. On full frame 24mm is quite wide and useful for most landscape work as well. The 85 f/1.8 is a really sharp and great lens with a wonderful bokeh. It's really value for money. The 50mm f/1.4 is also good. I have both the 50 f/1.4 and 85 f/1.8. I also have the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L which I'm very happy with. The Canon 16-35 f/2.8L II is also good in many ways but also troublesome due to curvature in the focus plane. So it takes a bit of time to get the best out of it. But it can take really great pictures imho.

1Ds mkIII and 16-35 f/2.8L II @22mm



5D (mk I) and 16-35 f/2.8L II @16mm.



1Ds mkIII and 85 f/1.8 @f/1.8



--
Kind regards,
Hans Kruse
Home Page -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com , http://www.hanskruse.com
Workshops -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com/workshops

Facebook Photography http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hans-Kruse-Photography/271477435625

 

[harold1968]

great pics
thank for the advice

 

[tstrauss]

Hi,

I have the EF 28mm/1:1.8, EF 50mm/1:1.4, EF 100mm/1:2 and love them all. I use them regularly with my 5DMkII and get great results. Actually Canon has three lines of lenses. The L-Line with all their advantages. Then a whole bunch of mid range lenses like e.g. the lenses above. And lenses in the low end range. On every line there are some great performers.

Cheers Thomas

 

[Sal Baker]

The value primes will actually give you more resolution and sharpness on your 5DII than most expensive zooms, even L zooms. They won't be built as well, manual focus won't be as smooth, and bokeh won't be quite as good (mostly it's other potographers who nit-pick bokeh).

When I want to get the most out of my 5DII's 21mp sensor I use my 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 rather than my L zooms. The cheap primes look better at f2 than my zooms look at f/2.8. The 85/1.8 is an amazing bargain. It's a VERY solid lens, has extremely fast AF and looks stunning for low light portraits. The 50/1.4 looks good by f/1.8 but it's build is not as solid as the 85/1.8. The 50 is more fragile, I've had to replace the AF motor even though I treat it very well. But the optics on FF 21mp are awsome.

Sal

 

[Hans Kruse]

great pics
thank for the advice

Thanks. Regarding the bokeh of the 85 f/1.8 as mentioned in another post, it reminded of a couple of flower shots where I used the 85 at f/1.8. Judge for yourself what you think about this lens. I think it is a bargin.





Here is a similar shot from the 50mm f/1.4 @f/1.4 and not quite as nice bokeh



and here an example from my Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS @f/2.8 and 200mm. I think the bokeh is quite nice from this lens, but not quite as creamy as the 85. However the 85mm cannont focus as close as I would have liked.



--
Kind regards,
Hans Kruse
Home Page -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com , http://www.hanskruse.com
Workshops -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com/workshops

Facebook Photography http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hans-Kruse-Photography/271477435625

 

[gavin]

FF works better for portrait in isolation shots, so 5DII is the right one. I have the 50/1.4 but have lots of problems with the mechanical etc. I am hoping canon will upgrade it to USM etc soon. I use the 70-200/2.8L IS for portraits
--

What camera do I have? I rather you look at my photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinz

 

[Teosax]

Hello Hans
as usual wonderful pics!
i see in your flower pictures you managed not to blow the red channel
i was wondering how do you accomplish that?
any advice?
thanks

matteo

great pics
thank for the advice

Thanks. Regarding the bokeh of the 85 f/1.8 as mentioned in another post, it reminded of a couple of flower shots where I used the 85 at f/1.8. Judge for yourself what you think about this lens. I think it is a bargin.





Here is a similar shot from the 50mm f/1.4 @f/1.4 and not quite as nice bokeh



and here an example from my Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS @f/2.8 and 200mm. I think the bokeh is quite nice from this lens, but not quite as creamy as the 85. However the 85mm cannont focus as close as I would have liked.



--
Kind regards,
Hans Kruse
Home Page -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com , http://www.hanskruse.com
Workshops -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com/workshops

Facebook Photography http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hans-Kruse-Photography/271477435625

 

[Hans Kruse]

Hello Hans
as usual wonderful pics!
i see in your flower pictures you managed not to blow the red channel
i was wondering how do you accomplish that?
any advice?

I know ny experience when evaluative metering does not work. Picture number 3 is a case where I chose to use EC -2 to avoid any overexposure. I probably took one picture first to check the histogram. The 3 other pictures were done without any compensation and the histogram looks perfect. So the RAW file does not have any blown out channels at all. The 1Ds mkIII has mostly a conservative metering even with evaluative, so what I can get easily is under exposure rather than over exposure. But I know the metering system so well by now that I know the situations where I need to take extra care, but I also check the histograms, of course.

Does that answer the question?

--
Kind regards,
Hans Kruse
Home Page -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com , http://www.hanskruse.com
Workshops -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com/workshops

Facebook Photography http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hans-Kruse-Photography/271477435625

 

[steve1984]

Canon doesn't make any "bad" lenses. You just have to understand their limitations compared with their much more expensive L-counterparts.

The 24/2.8, 28/1.8, 35/2, 50/1.8, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2 and 100/2.8 are all very good lenses for the money.

hi,

I am getting a new 5dii for portraits, indoor work, landscapes and fairly wide walk about.

I want some good value primes. this might sound silly as the 5dii is not cheap, but I have done my sums and getting the 7d with a couple of good zooms would cost more

the difficulty I have is sorting out the best ones from all the reviews. I don't mind corner softness under f2.8 and don't mind average build quality. I do want tack sharp centre and broad sharpness by f2.8/4

I have a 50mm f1.8 and it seems to be about the same optically as the f1.4 bar worse bokeh, so I will probably keep for now (unless anyone has a contrary view).

I was thinking of buying the 28mm f1.8 and 85mm f1.8 initially.
maybe in a year or two I might treat myself to the 16-35mm ii.

what do you folks think about this and any suggestions welcome?!

 

[Lisa O]

Lovely flower shots, beautiful Bokeh, a testament to the 85 1.8.

great pics
thank for the advice

Thanks. Regarding the bokeh of the 85 f/1.8 as mentioned in another post, it reminded of a couple of flower shots where I used the 85 at f/1.8. Judge for yourself what you think about this lens. I think it is a bargin.





Here is a similar shot from the 50mm f/1.4 @f/1.4 and not quite as nice bokeh



and here an example from my Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS @f/2.8 and 200mm. I think the bokeh is quite nice from this lens, but not quite as creamy as the 85. However the 85mm cannont focus as close as I would have liked.



--
Kind regards,
Hans Kruse
Home Page -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com , http://www.hanskruse.com
Workshops -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com/workshops

Facebook Photography http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hans-Kruse-Photography/271477435625

--
see my profile/plan for more info
http://lisaostaphoto.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/losta

 

[Teosax]

Thanks Hans
yes it does

cheers

matteo

Hello Hans
as usual wonderful pics!
i see in your flower pictures you managed not to blow the red channel
i was wondering how do you accomplish that?
any advice?

I know ny experience when evaluative metering does not work. Picture number 3 is a case where I chose to use EC -2 to avoid any overexposure. I probably took one picture first to check the histogram. The 3 other pictures were done without any compensation and the histogram looks perfect. So the RAW file does not have any blown out channels at all. The 1Ds mkIII has mostly a conservative metering even with evaluative, so what I can get easily is under exposure rather than over exposure. But I know the metering system so well by now that I know the situations where I need to take extra care, but I also check the histograms, of course.

Does that answer the question?

--
Kind regards,
Hans Kruse
Home Page -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com , http://www.hanskruse.com
Workshops -- http://www.hanskrusephotography.com/workshops

Facebook Photography http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hans-Kruse-Photography/271477435625