Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital camera with which lenses to combine?
Posted by admin | Under Canon EOS Lenses Wednesday Feb 3, 2010Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital camera with which lenses to combine?
Please give your view on this maybe with your relevant experience in using this camera. I bought the body and very excited in choosing the lenses now.
Please state, on the current market, the best possible lenses for canon/EOS 5DMARK II
Thanks!
That completely depends on what you will be photographing. Landscapes? Family and friends? Flowers?
I find it strange that you spend over $2,000 on a camera body but have no idea what type of lens to use…
That completely depends on what you will be photographing. Landscapes? Family and friends? Flowers?
I find it strange that you spend over $2,000 on a camera body but have no idea what type of lens to use…
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You bought this fine camera and you don’t know what lens(es) to get?
See my photos. I have a few Canon lenses. http://www.flickr.com/little_pooky Hope it helps.
p.s. Try to keep it in mint condition in case you have to sell it.
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I suspect that for most shooting, you will want a lens in the range of 18mm – 100mm or so. Your "prime lens" setting for your camera will be in the area of 35-50 mm. I do not suggest picking a lens that zooms from say, 18– to 200mm….too much lens and too hard to adjust for exactly what you want. You will find that you rarely shoot telephoto, but wide angle is used much more often. I suggest you choose a Canon lens for your Canon camera.
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I would look at the Canon brand and the respected independent lens makers like Tamron, Sigma, and Tokina.
I like short zoom that give me a constant low aperture of f/2.8 throughout the whole zoom range.
Tamron makes a Tamron Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) Autofocus Lens for about $450 (see the 4th link below).
I like that the zoom range is very practical for my shooting, I do not do much telephoto. Also the f/2.8 is helpful in low light situations and provides brighter viewing for the photographer in the camera viewfinder.
The other B&H Photo link is a search I did on the B&H Photo website that provide a rather long list of the many options for you on lenses.
I also added some other photo dealer links and photo.net where you can go do some good research in the discussion forums (there are Canon user forums).
Hope this helps.
Mark
marksablow.com
References :
http://www.tamron.com/
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/
http://www.tokinalens.com/
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/284399-REG/Tamron_AF09C700_28_75mm_f_2_8_XR_Di.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=274&N=4293919666+4294949228+4294185281&Ns=p_PRICE_2|0&pn=1
http://photo.net/
http://www.buydig.com/shop/home.aspx
http://www.adorama.com/
http://www.keh.com/
http://www.calumetphoto.com/
For the 5D mark II do not use off brand lenses the glass quality will not hold up with that size sensor and resolution. I would wait a few months has some nice L lens upgrades are rumored to be coming out such as a 24-70 f/2.8 and possibly a 14-24 f/2.8 which would be a really nice combo to have. If you want the 24-105 f/4 L IS is a fantastic multi purpose lens and with the ISO performance of the mark II f/4 probably wont limit you all that much. A good idea would be to pair that with the 50mm f/1.4 for those really low light moments. The only lenses you should really be using with that camera are the good prime lenses and L zooms. Remember no EF-S mount lenses either. As for really telephoto lenses you have your choice of cheaper primes like the 300 f/4 and 400 f/5.6 or the 100-400 f/4-5.6. After that it gets really expensive and big. Again many of these lenses are rumored to be upgraded soon.
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With the 5D you really should be using L-series zooms, and premium Canon primes with it. Also all of the Carl Zeiss ZE lenses are worth getting if you can live without AF, on paper they kick butt, but when in the real world you may struggle to see much of a difference. Anything less and you may not get the full benefit of the sensor.
EF 14mm f2.8 L (better than the 16-35’s and priced equally, 17-40 f4 L is a cheap alternative, but the corners are weak and needs to be stopped down to f8 to get the most out of it)
EF 24-70mm f2.8 L IS (28-70 2.8 is also worth a look) – this is would be your standard lens. The 24-105 L is the ‘kit’ lens for the 5D series though, and a decent alternative.
EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II (70-200mm f4L IS is a much more cost effective alternative if you don’t need the extra stop, and the non IS 2.8 is also worth a look)
EF 85mm f1.8 (if you absolutely need the extra stop at the end get the 1.2 L, otherwise the 1.8 is as good, and lighter)
Nifty fifty 50mm f1.8 is actually a really good lens even though it’s Canon’s cheapest, as long as you don’t batter it, the lens will serve you well. If you’re a bit clumsy, best get a the 50mm f1.4, it’s a little tougher.
And needless to say all of the Canon telephoto and supertelephoto primes are all worth a mention, though these are more commonly partnered with the faster Canon SLRs.
Some interesting blasts from the past that are worth considering:
EF 80-200mm f2.8 (magic drainpipe) – it’s black so less conspicuous than those white L lenses.
EF 1200mm f5.6 L
, for no real good reason apart from getting one up on everyone else. These number in the double figures round the world. B & H had one for sale in the used section a while back at $120,000
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