Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

[gonedigital]

I currently have the following lenses for my Canon 5D-MkII

70-300mm f/3.5-5.6
50mm f/1.8
24-70mm f/2.8
24-105mm f/4

I'm contemplating either the

EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS

or the

EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM II


however, I'm absolutely torn on which lens to get because either lens will get equal use. The 100-400 will get use at airshows and sporting events consistently (football and drag racing) and nature. the 16-35mm will get use at car shows, car photoshoots, and landscapes, and football stadiums. (for wide angle views).

I will say I do, do the airshow, nature, sports stuff a lot more than the others. Both lenses are within $100 of each other, but I can only afford one or the other in January. I can afford the other one in September of next year.

I will be at NAS Pensacola and have rented the 100-400 for the Blue Angels Homecoming Airshow Nov 12-14th, so I get to test it out and see how I like it.

Just like to hear some feedback from other members who have or have tested both of these lenses out and hear opinions on each.

[briansquibb]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

The 16-35 is very wide on the 5dII.

[gonedigital]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

The 16-35 is very wide on the 5dII.

as in you could do panorama's without having to use any software to stitch it all together?

[briansquibb]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

I can do that with the 24-105. I hardly ever need my 17-40 on the 5dII

Pans will be fun trying to get the converging parallels sorted when taking pictures at 16mm

[F.S.P.]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

The 100-400 IS lens is a great lens for the motorsports , air shows, rugby & football.

[gonedigital]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

im thinking I'm gonna go with the 100-400, everything I read on here and everywhere else I could google suggests this is a good, reliable lens that gets great up close pics from a long distance.

I think it will also be more useful to me on one of my storm chasing tours next spring to get in close on tornadoes from a long distance off. Although I may have to rent the 16-35mm for that trip as well so I can get some great wide angle shots of supercell thunderstorms and wall clouds.

Can't wait till January gets here so I can order this!

[colin C]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

Just a little bit of thinking out of the box: You have some duplication/overlap within your current line-up of lenses and some rationalisation may allow you a better solution.

• Get the 100 - 400mm, that's a no brainer and a good solution for a lot of your photography.

• Sell the 70 - 300mm. You just won't use it when you have the 100 - 400mm.

• Keep the Nifty-Fifty. It's too much of a gem not to have one.

• Sell either the 24 - 70mm or the 28 - 105mm. They basically do the same thing. I would keep the 24 - 70mm, others here prefer the 28 - 105mm ....... your choice!

If you sell the surplus lenses wisely, at the very least you should be able to buy the 17 - 40mm f4, or with a little extra cash, the 16 - 35mm f2.8. If the majority of my work was landscapes, I would go for the 16 - 35mm. However, as there is marginal difference in quality, the 17 - 40mm is more than good enough.

Simples!

Colin

[djguk47]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

to get in close on tornadoes

I would want to be miles away from a tornado and then maybe use something like this.... (the lens not the girl!!!)

Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM



While the 1700mm lens mentioned below is all fine and dandy if you've got a truck to mount it onto, some may prefer a more lightweight, nimble sollution. Weighing a mere 16.5 kilos and being only 83 centimeters long (without the bucket-like hood), this delicate little flower will nevertheless magnify faraway objects (or perhaps more relevant, faraway people) to a degree that will leave little to the imagination. To my knowledge, this is the longest focal length available to autofocus SLR cameras without using any extra magnifiers.

Due to its size, limited area of use and robust price tag, it has only been available from Canon built to order, and to date they have apparently produced fewer than 20 samples of this lens. The company recently announced that they would be slashing the 1200mm from their catalogue, so if you want one, better be quick about it.

The suggested price of the lens upon unveiling in 1993, converted to present day money puts it at apx. $120 000, or the cost of "a small sports car" which is the most common price comparison given for the lens.


or maybe this one....check out the intended use mentioned in the last paragraph..... Stan needs one of these !!!!

Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 1700 mm F4


Image: Zeiss
For people who have been into photography for a while, the name Carl Zeiss means top of the line optical quality, usually with a matching price tag. While continuing to produce their top-of-the-line optics for various camera systems, Zeiss have more recently also begun cooperating with Nokia and Sony, making optics for their mobile phones and digital cameras.

Two years ago, the company presented a remarkable one-off tele lens, reportedly custom built for a wealthy Qatari. Weighing in at 256 kilos, it's is a 1700mm f/4 lens designed for medium format (which roughly equals 750mm in 35mm SLR format). The monster bears more than a fleeting resemblance to a jet engine; given the size the 'super tele lens' labeling on the side seems a little superfluous – it isn't very likely that it would be mistaken for an average 70-200mm, after all.

The little black lump at the end is your average 6x6 medium format camera, in itself a quite bulky piece of equipment, but completely dwarfed by the Zeiss lens. Upon it's unveiling, it was said to be the largest non-military tele lens in the world. One wonders what the largest military tele lens might look like.
Drawing from their experience in manufacturing large telescopes and instruments for astronomical sciences, Zeiss had to develop an entirely new focussing system, Due to the massive size of the glass elements, the lens had to be equipped with extremely powerful focussing motors, capable of moving all that heavy glass around. The rear end of the lens has a dedicated LCD monitor built in to display focussing distance, aperture etc. No price has been published, but Zeiss hinted at a price of at least several million Euros.

The intended use for the lens is reportedly "antelope photography". This doesn't immediately strike one as the kind of kit you want to bring along on a safari to photograph fast moving and easily startled animals – hiding in the bushes is certainly off the agenda – but the uncompromising construction is said to allow the lens to autofocus as fast as a 'regular' telephoto lens.

[Trevoreast]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

It might the wrong time of year to buy the 100-400L if you want to spend your money on a lens you’ll get good regular use out of as soon as it arrives.
Goodish lens but In my opinion It’s more of a "summer lens". No airshows in winter, and too slow for footy in average UK winters.

Just ask all those people who moth ball this lens 7 months of the year ! :-))

Trev

[colin C]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

Errr, I don't think the glum English winter weather is too much of a problem to gonedigital.

Nashville Tennessee is blessed with a little more light.

Colin

[Trevoreast]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

Ah Nashville Tennessee, home of Country Music !
Trev

[gonedigital]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

Just a little bit of thinking out of the box: You have some duplication/overlap within your current line-up of lenses and some rationalisation may allow you a better solution.

• Get the 100 - 400mm, that's a no brainer and a good solution for a lot of your photography.

• Sell the 70 - 300mm. You just won't use it when you have the 100 - 400mm.

• Keep the Nifty-Fifty. It's too much of a gem not to have one.

• Sell either the 24 - 70mm or the 28 - 105mm. They basically do the same thing. I would keep the 24 - 70mm, others here prefer the 28 - 105mm ....... your choice!

If you sell the surplus lenses wisely, at the very least you should be able to buy the 17 - 40mm f4, or with a little extra cash, the 16 - 35mm f2.8. If the majority of my work was landscapes, I would go for the 16 - 35mm. However, as there is marginal difference in quality, the 17 - 40mm is more than good enough.

Simples!

Colin

yeah I had planned on getting rid of that 100-300mm, it's a low quality lens and hasn't garnered much in the way of quality images... unfotunately it will only snag about $125 at best here, but better than nothing, that can go to get me some much needed filters for my good lenses.

well i really like the 24-70mm for car shows, and the 24-105mm for portraits, but I shall consider that, i just wish the 24-105mm IS was in f/2.8 and my decision would be much easier, but the 24-70mm doesn't have the IS on it but it's a 2.8 (which i prefer due to the fact that I have bad arm shake due to a broken elbow a few years back), ah Canon, they can never just quite give us exactly what we want and need all at the same time lol.

I would want to be miles away from a tornado and then maybe use something like this.... (the lens not the girl!!!)

Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM

haha, that lens is enormous, but I'd have to have back surgery after each time I used it lol. way out of my price range, but I am an adventurist, and I want to be close to the tornado!!! I want to see it and feel it and hear it.

as for the girl, well I'll take one of those too, does she come free with the lens?

It might the wrong time of year to buy the 100-400L if you want to spend your money on a lens you’ll get good regular use out of as soon as it arrives.
Goodish lens but In my opinion It’s more of a "summer lens". No airshows in winter, and too slow for footy in average UK winters.

Just ask all those people who moth ball this lens 7 months of the year ! :-))

Trev

well, I can say it will get its use, lots of nature areas for bird watching around here, and we get more good weather in the winter around these parts. I'm not shy about breaking out my lenses in the winter, regardless of size, especially when there is something good to photograph, but there's always something around here going on of interest.

but even if it were to be moth balled for 7 months of the year, it's use during the other 5 would more than justify this purchase.

it's just a tragedy that this lens is not available in f/2.8 because it would truly be the perfect telephoto lens.

[DrJon]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

The trouble with wishing for f2.8 versions of lenses is they would be big, heavy and very expensive. You don't get anything for free in lens design.
The 400 2.8 prime is over £6K and 5.4Kg, so imagine what a zoom would be!
The 70-200 f2.8 is around 3x the price and 2x the weight of the 200 f2.8, so say £19K and 11Kg for a 100-400 f2.8!
:-)
John

[gonedigital]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

well looks I may get my 16-35 sooner than I thought. I put my 24-70mm on craigslist and immediately got a reply from a guy wanting to trade me his 16-35 f/2.8 for my 24-70 f/2.8.

Should have the trade completed tomorrow or friday sometime. :)

[colin C]

Re: Wanting a New Lens but not sure which way to go

If the trade is for the 16 - 35mm f2.8 MKII, that's a good deal. If it's for the MKI, then not quite so good.

Colin