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Phate

Phate

Phate

Caporegime
Joined
1 Nov 2003
Posts
35,691
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Hi guys,

Ok wedding season for 'me' starts on April 24th...for then I fancy some glass :D

For reference my current gear list is:

5D II
17-40L
24-70L
85mm 1.8

Potentials are with pros are...

35L
The lens is, in itself a simply awesome...the pictures it produces are incredible...whilst I wouldn't say this is a necessary lens as I already have that bit of focal length covered I would say that it's a VERY 'nice to have' and I would massively benefit from having one. I can get one brand new for £1035

135L
Another one from the holy trinity, except the obvious, currently I can't go higher than 85mm. So this would give me some extra reach, which would come in a lot of use during receptions and doing reportage work. The lens would get a lot of work I think. I can get this brand new for £715

70-200 2.8 IS
At my current budget limit of a grand getting one of these would mean a second hand MkI - which I don't have an issue with...having used one several several times now I'd say it's a pretty essential piece of kit (in the sense that a decent telephoto is essential not this lens specifically). Extending my reach to 200mm...one reason NOT to get this lens is that Mark has one, when assisting I use his...and when I do my own weddings I can incorporate hire of one into the quote. Second hand these are £900-£1000 last time I checked.

I also need to buy a grip with battery's, but I can order that this week if needed :) hence not taking it into massive consideration, it's the above which is going to take the effort to save towards :)

Thoughts and opinions welcome!
Jake
 
Phate said:
Ok wedding season for 'me' starts on April 24th...for then I fancy some glass :D
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You don't have anything that is much good for Bokeh. From your list of possibles, I would pick the 135L which should give you bokeh, low light performance and the perfect length for portraits.

But then, I've never shot with one, so what do I know? :-)

Andrew
 
Gaffer said:
You don't have anything that is much good for Bokeh. From your list of possibles, I would pick the 135L which should give you bokeh, low light performance and the perfect length for portraits.

But then, I've never shot with one, so what do I know? :-)

Andrew
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The 85mm f1.8 doesn't have good bokeh? News to me!

just two i have to hand from it:

On full frame
TWP_9575_small.jpg


On 1.6x crop (20D)
cheerleaders2.jpg


Not the best examples but even still, can't say it doesn't produce a nice bokeh!

would be between the 135 and 35 for me, if you want a 70-200 and cant afford a mk2 IS, get a sigma, just as good as the mk1 IMO bar the lack of IS, and <half the price.
 
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Phate said:
I forgot to mention reasons why would be appreciated :p
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You can get many different shot in a short period of time, which I think will come in handy if you want to provide more of a variety of shot's during key moments of the day/ceremony.

Also for formal portraits, you can compress backgrounds which can be good for only getting the parts of the background you want in, you can get plenty of distance from you and the subject which will allow you to get really low while still being at a nice perspective, and get the horizon line as low as possible on the subjects.

Basically I'd get the 70-200 because the 70-200 will add more variety to your shot's.
 
Raymond Lin said:
The 135L is not always useful, there's a venue around here that when I shot there, I leave the 135L at home.
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There have been only a handful of times that ive wanted anything longer than the 24-70 at a wedding tbh, you're generally quite close quarters. If it was PURELY weddings id be looking at the 35mm as the weapon of choice.
 
If you are doing weddings have you thought about a second body in case the 5D2 goes wrong on the day - even a second hand 40d or something. Or how about some flash ?

If you have that covered then I would suggest the 70-200 as that adds something genuinely new rather than an improvement on what you already have.
 
The 135 is a beautiful lens and once you get used to using it, will replace the 85 1.8. It produces great bokeh, and resolves detail so well. The colours out of this lens are superb - a no-brainer in my view.
 
AtticusFinch said:
The 135 is a beautiful lens and once you get used to using it, will replace the 85 1.8. It produces great bokeh, and resolves detail so well. The colours out of this lens are superb - a no-brainer in my view.
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I wouldn't say it replaces it, I use my 85 a lot more than the 135. The 135 is too long in most rooms. It's not how I shoot candids mostly.

I say the 35L is the best lens from that list for what I do. I have all the list you mention, bar the 70-200L, I have a Sigma 2.8, but if I'm going out to shoot something unknown, l put on the 35L.
 
One other potential is a Sigma 85mm 1.4

Although that wouldn't give me anymore, just improve what I currently have.
 
I would seriously consider a backup body and a couple of decent flashes though over the 35 jake, atm you have no backup and can't do off camera stuff or even anything needing a bit more power without borrowing gear.
 
rG-tom said:
I would seriously consider a backup body and a couple of decent flashes though over the 35 jake, atm you have no backup and can't do off camera stuff or even anything needing a bit more power without borrowing gear.
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a 580ex II is needed agreed, backup body...I'm really hankering on the 5d3 being announced soon, if not I can get a classic from somewhere can get one if I'm not bothered about condition for £400-£500. Also when shooting with Mark there is a 5D classic body if my one died.

If I got the 580ex II that would solve my off camera flash issue, I could control the 430ex II with that (as we were on the weekend) and I did mention it'd be good to have a flash with more umph. So thats a deffo me think will kill 2 birds with one stone, I've got my brolly and bracket from where I used to do it before so I don't need anything there (except maybe another additional flash if I wanted to use more than one)

So that's a cert, with grip and batterys as well. When I'm not working with Mark, I can hire a backup body just in case till I get a classic or the 5D3. You are totally right though...why is new glass smell more intoxicating than new car smell?!
 
70 - 200 is definately worth the outlay ;) I'll give you a bit of extra reach for any candid / big rooms where you dont want to impose on the wedding too much But you'll need to do some weight lifting if you're carting about for x amount of hours at a time :D
 
Derek W said:
70 - 200 is definately worth the outlay ;) I'll give you a bit of extra reach for any candid / big rooms where you dont want to impose on the wedding too much But you'll need to do some weight lifting if you're carting about for x amount of hours at a time :D
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I can carry one just fine ta :D Although I know what you mean...they aren't the lightest of things :p
 
Phate said:
One other potential is a Sigma 85mm 1.4

Although that wouldn't give me anymore, just improve what I currently have.
Click to expand...

I was going to mention this. If you're not finding that you need a longer focal length, why not improve on what you already have? That 35L has got to be a big draw through... :)
 
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