Parents, what's your favourite and 3-5 most used lenses, and why?

Our son is now 14, and I am quite happy with my current set up: Canon 6D and 3 lenses: 16-35f/4L IS, 24-70f/2.8L II, 70-200f/4L IS.

Very good IQ and not too heavy to bring on all our holidays and outings.

My most used people photography lenses are:

1. - 24-70f/2.8L II - Sharp, versatile and fast. The best people photography lens I have owned.

2. - 70-200f/4L IS - Love this lens, sharp, fast, versatile and lightweight.

My third lens 16-35f/4L IS is often too wide for people photography. I mostly use this great lens for architecture and landscape. IS is very useful inside large places, like old cathedrals.

What are your favourite people photography lenses to have with you all the time for family travel and general purpose usage with your family?

I only have 3 lenses (in native EF mount) and I use all of them. I love my 50mm f1.8 II. It's a great people lens wide open. I use it for low light candids, I can blur out the background with it. It's fast, it's light and very versatile. I can get a "telephoto" look out of it or I can get a wide angle look.

My sister making fun of the faces my dad makes.  50mm f1.8 wide open

My niece with her chin on her knee.  50mm f1.8 wide open

The Tamron 20-40mm f2.7-3.5 is very versatile. I can go from ultra wide to wide-normal. It's great for interiors, candids, and to exaggerate perspective.

My friend at a park Tamron 20-40mm at 20mm f4.5

My Canon 70-210 f4 is used for longer candids and portraits. It's a bit soft wide open, which hides blemishes and reduces my retouching work and it's decently sharp at mid apertures when I need a bit more of a bite.

Blessing a construction site Canon 70-210 150mm f5.6

Monks blessing a construction site Canon 70-210 210mm f5.6

Every lens has its place and every lens gets used.

I have a 6d and my most used is definitely my 24-105 because of the really great range.  I find mine to be sharp enough for general photography.

That said, my favorite lens for family stuff is mt 85mm f1.8.  It has pretty nice bokeh, is very small and fast to focus.  A really nice and cheap portrait prime.

I'm pretty happy with my 16-35 f4 and (when it was working) the 100-400 Mk1.

The 35mm on FF is a bit wide, but it works well for getting shots of both kids or more environmental portraits. I just sometimes wish it was a bit faster.

Would love to get a 24-70 2.8, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

In looking back at my family shots, I find an interesting trend, and this might go against your (really nice) set of f/4 zooms.

I find that I shoot very frequently with my own zooms, and that when I do so, I'm focusing on capturing the moment/action, and spending less time considering composition and the quality of the photo. There is a place for both, obviously. But with my family photos, I look back and see that the really striking ones were done with primes. Perhaps it was the need to have been more considered in composing the picture, moving to the right place at which to take the photo. Or perhaps it is because these primes take in 4 times as much light as my f/2.8 zooms, so they're getting a huge advantage on ISO.

The primes that have thrown my best family pictures are the Sigma 50 Art, Tamron 35 VC, Canon 100 L Macro.

Following those are the zooms, first among them the Sigma 18-35, as a huge number of my favorites were borne out of that lens. That said, I use it infrequently now because the 5D4 body has made my 7D2 very lonely. The Sigma is followed closely by the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L II and the Tamron 15-30.

Dave Boy wrote:

I use to be a zoom shooter to document family life. Now I only use my 24-105mm when traveling to bright locations. Otherwise I mostly use primes because I shoot primarily indoors using natural light. Here's what's typically attached to my cameras:

1. Canon 35 mm 1.4 II on a 1DX II
2. Canon 85 mm 1.2 II on a 6D
3. Sigma 24 mm 1.4 ART on a 5DS R

This is my "document life" setup.

Holy crap, do you really bring three bodies to document life??

For me it would be

1) 35mm f2 IS ( good for photos and videos) - IS is simply awesome, sharp and fast

2) 24-105mm F4L (great range though IQ could be better)

3) 85mm 1.8 (for close up and portraits)

hard to pick 3.  My 4 would be 35 1.4 (I have the version 1, not super sharp, but love the focal lenght)  85 1.2II, 24-70 2.8II and 70-200 2.8II.

If I were to give up one, it would likely be the 70-200 2.8

Pietro Marchesi wrote:

Our son is now 14, and I am quite happy with my current set up: Canon 6D and 3 lenses: 16-35f/4L IS, 24-70f/2.8L II, 70-200f/4L IS.

Very good IQ and not too heavy to bring on all our holidays and outings.

My most used people photography lenses are:

1. - 24-70f/2.8L II - Sharp, versatile and fast. The best people photography lens I have owned.

2. - 70-200f/4L IS - Love this lens, sharp, fast, versatile and lightweight.

My third lens 16-35f/4L IS is often too wide for people photography. I mostly use this great lens for architecture and landscape. IS is very useful inside large places, like old cathedrals.

What are your favourite people photography lenses to have with you all the time for family travel and general purpose usage with your family?

consider adding 2 fast primes to your mix,  you already have the bulk of the FL covered well..  i love my 50 1.4 and my 135 f2... my kids are now 21 and 24 so at a different stage of life but speed of these two primes gives you images your zooms won't... the 50 an intimate lens and cant be beat for indoor use, and the 135 is my secret weapon, years of beautiful candid "portraits" of my kids when they had no idea i was shooting from across the house or room...both just isolate and pop people off the beautiful bokeh behind them....

mp

My take would be

35 1.4 Art (my favourite people lens)

85 1.2 ii or 1.4 Art or 135 f2

70-200 2.8 ii or 4

24-70/105 2.8 or 4

Interesting, a lot of love for fast primes here

For family and kids photography with my current zooms I almost only use the longer 35-50-70 part of my 24-70 zoom and use the 70-100mm part of my 70-200. The long 200mm part is used a lot for outdoor sports or wildlife and is often if not always way too short

For family and kids it is better to add 2 or 3 fast primes?

New lens kit: Keep my 16-35f/4L IS and 24-70f/2.8L II. Add a fast 35mm and/or a fast 50mm and add a 100f/2.8L IS macro. Sell my 70-200f/4L IS and buy the new 100-400f/4.5-5.6L IS II.

What full frame lenses do you prefer using to help you get the best real life kids and family photos on holidays and at home, i.e. not for any arranged portraits.

Pietro Marchesi wrote:

Interesting, a lot of love for fast primes here

For family and kids photography with my current zooms I almost only use the longer 35-50-70 part of my 24-70 zoom and use the 70-100mm part of my 70-200. The long 200mm part is used a lot for outdoor sports or wildlife and is often if not always way too short

For family and kids it is better to add 2 or 3 fast primes?

New lens kit: Keep my 16-35f/4L IS and 24-70f/2.8L II. Add a fast 35mm and/or a fast 50mm and add a 100f/2.8L IS macro. Sell my 70-200f/4L IS and buy the new 100-400f/4.5-5.6L IS II.

What full frame lenses do you prefer using to help you get the best real life kids and family photos on holidays and at home, i.e. not for any arranged portraits.

Fast primes definitely give a different look than zooms.  Of course, if I had the 24-70 ii I would probably use primes a little less because of the f2.8 and sharpness.  Problem is, that lens is just way too expensive for me.  I would basically need to sell every lens I own to afford it.

If you 70-200 is only used for outdoor sports and wildlife, the 100-400 would be an awesome change.  You could add a fast 50 or 35, but I would be more inclined to go with an 85 or 135, especially if you give up the 70-200

Pietro Marchesi wrote:

Interesting, a lot of love for fast primes here

For family and kids photography with my current zooms I almost only use the longer 35-50-70 part of my 24-70 zoom and use the 70-100mm part of my 70-200. The long 200mm part is used a lot for outdoor sports or wildlife and is often if not always way too short

For family and kids it is better to add 2 or 3 fast primes?

New lens kit: Keep my 16-35f/4L IS and 24-70f/2.8L II. Add a fast 35mm and/or a fast 50mm and add a 100f/2.8L IS macro. Sell my 70-200f/4L IS and buy the new 100-400f/4.5-5.6L IS II.

What full frame lenses do you prefer using to help you get the best real life kids and family photos on holidays and at home, i.e. not for any arranged portraits.

pietro,

keep your 70-200 it is a great lens and very useful with kids, the 100-400 is awesome to have for kids sports as well but tough for indoor sports just not fast enough...

personally i would add the 35 f2 or one of the fast 50s either 50 1.4 or 1.8  for fast indoor family time and i would never consider my lens kit complete without the 135 f2, it can be used for so many things from candids of the family from across the room to some indoor sports if close enough as its fast, two or three of those fast primes coupled with the versatility of your two zooms and you are pretty set....at some point if you feel you need something wider you could add one of the ultra wide zooms, and there will be little you won't be prepared for....

50mm f/1.2L for indoor class events;

24-70 f/2.8L for outdoor;

85mm f/1.8 for portraiture (id photos etc).