L Lens experience?

[walangij]

I'm looking on getting another lens. I'm trying to decide between the 24-70 f/2.8L or a 35mm f/1.4L. I have used the 24-70 before but it wasn't wide enough for shooting in natural light inside although it was completely amazing outside. I'm leaning towards the 35mm f/1.4 since I love primes and it would be much more usable in rooms.

Anyone have experiences with either? I have an XT which I'm going to upgrade when the 5D replacement comes out, just looking for a new general purpose lens though.

 

[SoNgMaN]

if you want a general purpose lens get the zoom. primes are great but if you're going to have a prime on the body all the time you will be very limited

 

[Turbo]

How many other Primes do you have? I also don't know anything about your shooting style.

I'm about to switch back to Nikon and start over with my lens collection. My plan of attack will be to first get a couple of zooms to cover the focal length range I expect to need and then start filling out my collection with primes.

Primes are almost always a better lens, but they suck when they are not the focal length that you need at that moment.

 

[heftylefty]

Primes are almost always a better lens, but they suck when they are not the focal length that you need at that moment.

true story.

 

[06Rabbit]

I'm looking on getting another lens. I'm trying to decide between the 24-70 f/2.8L or a 35mm f/1.4L. I have used the 24-70 before but it wasn't wide enough for shooting in natural light inside although it was completely amazing outside. I'm leaning towards the 35mm f/1.4 since I love primes and it would be much more usable in rooms.

Anyone have experiences with either? I have an XT which I'm going to upgrade when the 5D replacement comes out, just looking for a new general purpose lens though.

So a 24-70L is not wide enough indoors, so you want a 35L? Or are you referring to the aperture of the lens (1.4 vs 2.8)? I'm assuming you mean the latter.

Like everyone mentioned, it really depends on your shooting style. Zooms give you a lot of flexibility, as the expense of image quality in comparison to primes. But as mentioned above, primes suck when you need a different focal length.

What lens do you currently have with your XT?

And something to think about, if you are upgrading to the 5D replacement, the 1.6 crop to full-frame might affect your decision in which focal length you use.

Aside from that, the 24-70L on my 5D covers a big portion of my shooting around the city, basically a general purpose lens. But a 24-70L on my 20D doesn't give me much coverage in terms of focal length (to me).

You can't go wrong with either lens. It just comes down to what you'll use it for.

Hope that helps!

 

[MKVCrowing]

you will use your 24-70 twice as much as your 35.

2.8 is not even that bad.

save money and just get a 50 1.8 or the 85 1.8 is gorgeous, but a little more.

I shoot on a 5D and my 24-70 is my 85% go-to lens.

 

[fuscobal]

Another interesting option would be 17-55/F2.8 IS USM. This lens has L class optics although it's not an L. Price though put it there with L's (1000E). It's pretty wide, it has 2.8 and IS. The only drawback would be it's not weather sealed and some complained about dust !

 

[walangij]

Thanks for all the responses, forgot about this post. Anyways, so I think I'm just going to save my money until I get a new body as I see how that will affect my decision b/c of the change in crop factor. My range *was* covered until recently, right now I am just shooting with the 135mm f/2.0 for portraits and sports, but now I'm just wanting to fill up my range again.

Before I had a bunch of zooms & primes in a mixed bag, 50 f/1.8, 17-55, 24-70L 85 f/1.8, 70-200 f/4 but sold them all since I didn't use them as much as I thought I would and needed to pay some bills, improve my skill w/ less, ect.

I think I'll wait for 5D's replacement, or maybe just pick up a nice used 5D and then the 24-70L, I'm sure it'll be a different animal on the 5D in terms of usability, and if I don't use it as much it'll be pretty easy to resell and get the 35mm. Thanks guys.