Looking for input on lens purchase

[Orcrone]

I own the Canon T4i along with three zoom lenses; the EF-S 10-22, an EF-S 18-135 STM and an EF 70-300. Canon has the EF 24-105 F4l refurbished on sale for $639.99 and I'm wondering about pulling the trigger. One concern is the three lenses have a nice amount of overlap that I would lose on the 24 mm end with thiws purchase. I'm not a professional photographer,  but I do occasionally blow up a shot and hang it on the walls.

Normally I leave my 18-135 on the camera. With the 24-105 having less reach on each end of the scale I'm concerned about how much more often I'll be changing lenses.

Are my concerns unjustified? I've never useds an L series lens before, so I'm not sure about how much of an improvement I will see. Will it offset any potential disadvantages?

Thanks

[Orcrone]

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@TTMartin wrote: 

What isn't your T4i and your current lenses doing for you?

What exactly do your want your new purchase to do that your current gear can't?

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Do you know my wife? 

I would like the better low-light performance of the FF camera and the f/2.8 lens. The 18-135 is my everyday lens. Around 50 - 100 mm it won't open much more than f/5. Very often I'lll be using this lens for portrait pics and it's difficult to blur the background sufficiently.

I have to admit I'm thinking of sleeping on it for a couple of days and seeing if I still think it's a good idea.

BTW, if you had held off what would you have done differently with the $2400?

[TTMartin]

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@Orcrone wrote:

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@TTMartin wrote: 

What isn't your T4i and your current lenses doing for you?

What exactly do your want your new purchase to do that your current gear can't?

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Do you know my wife? 

I would like the better low-light performance of the FF camera and the f/2.8 lens. The 18-135 is my everyday lens. Around 50 - 100 mm it won't open much more than f/5. Very often I'lll be using this lens for portrait pics and it's difficult to blur the background sufficiently.

I have to admit I'm thinking of sleeping on it for a couple of days and seeing if I still think it's a good idea.

BTW, if you had held off what would you have done differently with the $2400?

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Do you have an external flash? 

An external flash can often do much more than a new camera or lens can.

As for portrait pictures I would get a prime lens in the focal length that you shoot most of your portraits at. The EF 85mm f/1.8 is an outstanding portrait lens on both crop and full frame cameras. 

There just isn't much that I can do with the Canon 6D that I can't do with a crop camera. When I bought the 6D I was looking for better lowlight performance when shooting indoor sports (where I couldn't use a flash). When Canon released the 70D (after I had bought the 6D) it had enough of an improvement over the classic 7D I was using it would have taken care of my needs. Of course then as soon as the 7D Mk II was announced I would have regretted purchasing the 70D. 😉 

One thing to keep in mind is that full frame cameras require larger and heavier lenses than crop cameras do. Getting the equivelent focal range of your current crop camera in full frame would double the size and weight of your gear. That's even before you start to look at f/2.8 L full frame lenses that are even bigger and heavier.

And by the way, there is nothing wrong with your EF-S 18-135 IS STM lens, the poster here who keeps saying that it needs to be replaced must be thinking of the non-STM version of the lens which was pretty marginal. As I already said, unless you go to a L II lens you would just be looking at incremental improvement over any of the STM lenses. The older L lenses are not lightyears ahead of the STM lenses in terms of image quality by any streatch of the imagination.

[Orcrone]

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@TTMartin wrote:

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Do you have an external flash? 

An external flash can often do much more than a new camera or lens can.

As for portrait pictures I would get a prime lens in the focal length that you shoot most of your portraits at. The EF 85mm f/1.8 is an outstanding portrait lens on both crop and full frame cameras. 

There just isn't much that I can do with the Canon 6D that I can't do with a crop camera. When I bought the 6D I was looking for better lowlight performance when shooting indoor sports (where I couldn't use a flash). When Canon released the 70D (after I had bought the 6D) it had enough of an improvement over the classic 7D I was using it would have taken care of my needs. Of course then as soon as the 7D Mk II was announced I would have regretted purchasing the 70D. 😉 

One thing to keep in mind is that full frame cameras require larger and heavier lenses than crop cameras do. Getting the equivelent focal range of your current crop camera in full frame would double the size and weight of your gear. That's even before you start to look at f/2.8 L full frame lenses that are even bigger and heavier.

And by the way, there is nothing wrong with your EF-S 18-135 IS STM lens, the poster here who keeps saying that it needs to be replaced must be thinking of the non-STM version of the lens which was pretty marginal. As I already said, unless you go to a L II lens you would just be looking at incremental improvement over any of the STM lenses. The older L lenses are not lightyears ahead of the STM lenses in terms of image quality by any streatch of the imagination.

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I have the 580 EX ii flash. I guess if I had a 7d mark ii I wouldn't be thinking of upgrading. But most of my equipment with the exception of the strobe is pretty much midgrade so I guess I'm now thinking of what gear do I want to get me where I'd like to be.

[ebiggs1]

"The EF 85mm f/1.8 is an outstanding portrait lens on both crop and full frame cameras."

This is very true. I have the EF 85mm f1.2L and I love it.  But if I had to say what lens is the best portrait lens going it would have to be the 70-200mm f2.8.  This lens, especially the Canon EF, is quickly becoming the goto portrait lens.  All my buds that are still working have gone to it.  And of course the great benefit of this lens (70-200mm f2.8) is it will do a lot of other stuff that 85mm prime simply will not do. An 85mm is a narrowly specialized lens.  I won't say the day of the prime is gone but it is probably geting closer all the time.  I don't think any companies camera lits offer a prime in the package.  There is a reason!

I have to repeat and if you take nothing from this disertation, do not judge any lens by one spec.  A lens, or camera, is a sum of its parts and not just one.

[Orcrone]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"The EF 85mm f/1.8 is an outstanding portrait lens on both crop and full frame cameras."

This is very true. I have the EF 85mm f1.2L and I love it.  But if I had to say what lens is the best portrait lens going it would have to be the 70-200mm f2.8.  This lens, especially the Canon EF, is quickly becoming the goto portrait lens.  All my buds that are still working have gone to it.  And of course the great benefit of this lens (70-200mm f2.8) is it will do a lot of other stuff that 85mm prime simply will not do. An 85mm is a narrowly specialized lens.  I won't say the day of the prime is gone but it is probably geting closer all the time.  I don't think any companies camera lits offer a prime in the package.  There is a reason!

I have to repeat and if you take nothing from this disertation, do not judge any lens by one spec.  A lens, or camera, is a sum of its parts and not just one.

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As I said earlier one of my upgrade steps would be the 70-200 mm f/2.8 so that's good to hear.

[TTMartin]

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@Orcrone wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"The EF 85mm f/1.8 is an outstanding portrait lens on both crop and full frame cameras."

This is very true. I have the EF 85mm f1.2L and I love it.  But if I had to say what lens is the best portrait lens going it would have to be the 70-200mm f2.8.  This lens, especially the Canon EF, is quickly becoming the goto portrait lens.  All my buds that are still working have gone to it.  And of course the great benefit of this lens (70-200mm f2.8) is it will do a lot of other stuff that 85mm prime simply will not do. An 85mm is a narrowly specialized lens.  I won't say the day of the prime is gone but it is probably geting closer all the time.  I don't think any companies camera lits offer a prime in the package.  There is a reason!

I have to repeat and if you take nothing from this disertation, do not judge any lens by one spec.  A lens, or camera, is a sum of its parts and not just one.

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As I said earlier one of my upgrade steps would be the 70-200 mm f/2.8 so that's good to hear.

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I agree a 70-200 f/2.8 makes a great portrait lens too.

And of your three current lenses your 70-300 is the weakest of the bunch.

The 85mm f/1.8 or 50mm f/1.8 STM do give you a stop and a third advantage in low light and depth of field. Keep in mind with your T4i the depth of field with an f/2.8 lens will be roughly the same as a full frame camera at f/4. And f/1.8 primes will have similar DOF to f/2.8 lenses on a full frame camera. I know you are thinking, see I do need a full frame camera. But, the question comes down to how much are you willing to pay for the convenience of using a zoom lens over a prime for portraits.

[ebiggs1]

And of course if we make the angle of view equal (either by crop or by feet!) the DOF will be identical.  It matters not which sensor the camera has. It is the AOV that changes and as long as you choose a lens by AOV, everything will be the same. MM do not tell the whole story.

[RobertTheFat]

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@TTMartin wrote:

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I agree a 70-200 f/2.8 makes a great portrait lens too.

And of your three current lenses your 70-300 is the weakest of the bunch.

The 85mm f/1.8 or 50mm f/1.8 STM do give you a stop and a third advantage in low light and depth of field. Keep in mind with your T4i the depth of field with an f/2.8 lens will be roughly the same as a full frame camera at f/4. And f/1.8 primes will have similar DOF to f/2.8 lenses on a full frame camera. I know you are thinking, see I do need a full frame camera. But, the question comes down to how much are you willing to pay for the convenience of using a zoom lens over a prime for portraits.

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The only portraits taken in low light are candid portraits, and for those a zoom lens is vastly preferable. The only event photographers who routinely get to call their shots are wedding photographers, and even they don't always. Ask one of the photographers cringing below the railing at a Congressional hearing or Presidential press conference how often he gets to "zoom with his feet".

[Orcrone]

I attended an engagement party yesterday.  The bride to be is a professional photographer. Her business partner was the photographer for the engagement party.  She was using the TAMRON 24-70 indoors without a strobe. I decided it was a sign that I should purchase that lens.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Orcrone wrote:

I attended an engagement party yesterday.  The bride to be is a professional photographer. Her business partner was the photographer for the engagement party.  She was using the TAMRON 24-70 indoors without a strobe. I decided it was a sign that I should purchase that lens.

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Well, you've been three days and 38 replies wrestling with your decision. Maybe such an omen is just what you needed.