Switching to Canon

D.P. said:
Cons include no 70mm, 85mm, 105mm, 150mm and 200mm prime focal lengths all in one lens. I would hazard a guess that the AF is also better on the 70-200mm.
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Well I have these things called legs and use manual zoom :p :D

135L is my longest reaching lens and I've even been to Richmond Park and stalked deer with it. It's fine!

And a 70-200 does not give you a prime focal length, it gives you a much greater range but you know as well as I do that a prime will always be sharper than a zoom and the 135 is faster as well.

See, I'd hazard that the 135 has better focusing. Its stupidly quick. If there is a difference between the two, I doubt anything is in it.
 
Well done for coming over to Canon! Tried Nikon and although lovely cameras i just didnt like the way they were setup. Canon seems ideal to me.
 
Phate said:
Well I have these things called legs and use manual zoom :p :D

135L is my longest reaching lens and I've even been to Richmond Park and stalked deer with it. It's fine!

And a 70-200 does not give you a prime focal length, it gives you a much greater range but you know as well as I do that a prime will always be sharper than a zoom and the 135 is faster as well.

See, I'd hazard that the 135 has better focusing. Its stupidly quick. If there is a difference between the two, I doubt anything is in it.
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Well, legs don't help you if you see something at the far side of the wedding reception. You wont get there in time before missing the moment.
I guess it all dpeends how you shoot but I tend to try to blend in to the crowd and keep my eyes open for interesting moments, couple kissing, B&G holding hands, 2 children playing, etc., etc. and I try to capture those moments and natural expressions of joy/love/humor, with a some more formal shots thrown in. If i see a mother and baby smiling at each other then i want a photo of that even if that means I have to shoot at 200mm.

Something like this this:
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Not a great photo by any means but I like the natural expressions and I know clients appreciate stuff like that. Sometimes having a long lens helps you capture these. If you walk over there then the moment is lost.



Saying that a crop from a 135 won't be far behind 200mm but I see some people use an 85mm as their longest lens. For me I just think I would loose opportunities.

But this is my opinion, I am not at all experienced with weddings and events and lack the confidence to go with a couple of primes. I see nice things and try to capture them in the best way that I can and I want my equipment to make that as easy as possible so I can concentrate on finding the best moments, getting good compositions, taking care of background etc. I'm sure with more experience I would be more willing to experiment or forgo capturing as many moments as possible to concentrate on getting fewer but better captures (but dont mistake me for a machine gunner, my last event was 3hr and I had around 200 photos)
 
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Canons are good for speed on Autofocus and the fact the lenses fit crop and full frame is great - sports, they are the best ive used so far. However, when I want Image Quality and speed isnt an issue - as in clouds / buildings - Nikon for me has a better result.

Personaly I dont like how the canons feel in the hand, a bit toyish. But man, the burst speed is crazy.

Depends what you want the camera for at the end of the day. Hope you enjoy your new setup and we see some great photos from it !!
 
D.P. said:
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I'm very similar, virtually nobody knows I'm at a wedding and I get regular comments from couples saying "we didn't realise you were taking the photos" - which is perfect for me. I used to use a 70-200 all the time but when I got the 135L I didn't touch it again (fortunately it wasn't my lens so I felt no hard loss really :p :D)

When you're used to the focal length you soon know what you can and can't hit and I can think of maybe 2-3 times I thought "I could do with a longer lens" out of over 60 weddings now, so it's not an issue. If it was every time then I'd know something was missing and would change my gear to accommodate. But it definitely isn't about having every focal length possible. It's about knowing what you have and knowing it well when you know your equipment inside and out there is zero hesitation in what you're doing. From that you will miss less and less moments. :)

I've shot a wedding with a friend where we had pretty much every prime you could think of between us, 2 bodies each, and a couple of big zooms each. Having THAT many lenses actually became a headache, constantly thinking which length to go for next etc. We both agreed that it was too much of a good thing :)

The only lens I'd change in my lot is the 17-40L for the 16-35 f/2.9 II - but I seldom use the 17-40 anyway so it's not worth the upgrade expense.
 
I understand where you are coming from. It is a lot to do with confidence. I feel comforted by the fact I can instantly switch between 70 and 200mm (or 24 and 70mm) and get very different perspectives and compositions and not miss out on opportunities. And as Sh4rki says, there is a difference between moving with your feet and changing focal lengths - contrary to what is often alluded to zooming in can actually lead to the better photo (due to the perspective change you will get a smoother less distracting background, less distortion etc.). Sometimes moving your feet is better , sometimes changing focal length is better.
I hate seeing a fantastic moment and then missing it because in wildlife photography that is likely your one and only chance and you might have to wait months for another opportunity to arise.
 
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You wouldn't have missed this moment with an 85. Instead you would have picked out a moment within a crowd thus giving that moment more context.

Personally I often find 200mm results have a certain feeling of disconnect and distance for the viewer. Especially for warm moments.. I prefer the perspective of being present and in amongst the action.
 
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At 85mm there would be a lot of blurry people in the foreground that I would find distracting. My hope with the above is the foreground people are framing the baby at the center of attention but I don't think it works great.

I know what you are saying, sometimes going wider gives more context and narrower gives more isolation. The isolation of the subject might be felt to be a disconnection from the event but I think at times it helps emphasize the subject show individual stories. I sometimes don't like the very wide shots because it looks more chaotic and fussy, but sometimes are need to show the scene
 
It's not just the 200mm end though, I find the 70-200 really nice on a FF camera. The shot below I grabbed as I was walking down the stairs from just having been shooting from the back of the room at ~200mm. If I had a 135mm mounted I wouldn't have grabbed the shot:


D&S Wedding by jj_glos, on Flickr
 
Thing is, we can all pitch in moments of "if I had had this lens it wouldn't have been possible" from both sides all day long.

I just know if I was in the OP's shoes, the 135L outweighs the 70-200 imo. Wanted him to be aware in case he had forgotten about it :) - It's a cracking lens that is often overlooked.
 
yep, its the fact you can instantly swap between 2 very different perspectives instantly without taking your eye away from the camera. There is a bigger difference between 70mm and 135mm, than 135 and 200m so the fact you can get much wider can open up many shots.
 
As can shooting on a fixed focal length by making you look at things differently and moving around more. :)
 
F2 versus F2.8 is the only real consideration for me. Sharpness and AF speed are a wash. Plenty have sold their 135L since the 70-200mkii was released as it is that competent. I'll still pick up a 135L along the line, if I'm still shooting Canon that is.
 
As a 70-200f2.8 owner and recent converter to primes, I'd happily put it back in the bag for f2 and non-aching wrists....

Still, it's a lovely object and I'm not getting rid of it.
 
Phate said:
As can shooting on a fixed focal length by making you look at things differently and moving around more. :)
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People say this a lot ("use a prime, zoom with your feet") but really you need to be thinking about not only changing your position but changing the focal length together. Maybe you need to walk closer AND go wider. The zoom with your feet mantra can mean you forget about perspective and you always just move to frame the subject. That is only the control of a zoom lens, where you can move around just as much as a prime lens but additional change focal length. If you use prime lenses you are much less likely to change focal lengths, even with a 2 body set up so you are losing a lot of control.


Zoom lenses can lead to lazy photographers and in general moving around is going to be betting than changing zoom, but prime fans can be also be lazy and only change position instead of lens.


I don't want to sound like I am arguing with you ( I fully understand your position and how nice the 135L is), I'm just describing some of my perspective (no pun intended!:).
 
D.P. said:
even with a 2 body set up so you are losing a lot of control.
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As far as I'm concerned, shooting with a 35 + 85 on high resolution camera's (36mp) is like shooting with a 35-50mm F1.4/F2 zoom and a 85-135mm F1.4/F2 zoom. I then use the 24-85VR for wide angle + Panning. That's allot of control imo.
 
Two X cameras, one with the 23mm and the other with the 56mm is what attracted me to the system. Both will fit in a pretty small bag. I'm gambling that AF performance will continue to improve :D
 
CGrieves said:
As a 70-200f2.8 owner and recent converter to primes, I'd happily put it back in the bag for f2 and non-aching wrists....

Still, it's a lovely object and I'm not getting rid of it.
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Ah yes, size is another reason and that it is black which may draw less attention. Rocking up to my daughters school sports day with the 1Ds2 and 70-200 did draw comments. Everyone kept out of my way though :D
 
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