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New Mark III - Need recommendations

chuck27p
Contributor

Hey everyone,

 

I have a new 5D Mark III on the way and this is my first full frame sensor camera. I shot with a 50D for many years. I have 4 lenses and only 1 is an EF-S, so I'll be getting rid of that. The others are EF, so they should be good for the 5D as far as I've read. 

 

I'm looking for a few recommendations here.

 

1. What compact flash card should I use? I am currently looking at these:

 

- SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash Memory Card UDMA 7 Upto 160 MB/s by SanDisk

- Lexar Professional 1000x 128GB CompactFlash Card LCF128CTBNA1000 by LEXAR

- KOMPUTERBAY 128GB Professional COMPACT FLASH CARD CF 1000X 150MB/s Extreme Speed UDMA 7 RAW 128 GB by Komputerbay

 

2. The EF-S lens I have is my 10-22mm wide angle. I use it quite a bit. I'll be looking for a replacement. Any suggestions? I was looking at this one:

 

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

 

3. Any other lens recommendations? What I have is below and I mainly shoot portraits / headshots in the studio, landscapes, and do a bit of long exposure work. I know it's based on what you shoot, but if anyone has any lens they use all the time that they love on the full frame, I'd love to do some research on it. 

 

My lenses:

 

Canon 50mm prime

Sigma 70-200mm Zoom

Canon 24-70 2.8 (my workhorse)

- Need to replace my wide angle

 

Thanks guys! 

 

22 REPLIES 22

Skirball
Authority

1) I dont know anything about Komputerbay, but you can't go wrong with SanDisk or Lexar.  I use both, and I buy whatever is on sale.  People spend too much time stressing which card will be slightly faster and it makes no impact on actual use.  Just get a good namebrand card (those two are top, IMHO) and you're good.

 

I would, however, consider getting a couple of smaller cards instead of 1 big one.  Not keeping all your eggs in one basket and all that.

 

2) Canon doesn't make a spectacular UWA for full frame, in my opinion.  The 17-40 is a good deal (I actually just bought a refurbished one from Canon earlier this week for $550, sale through end of month), and the 16-35 2.8 is a bit better with wider aperture but much more expensive.  The new 16-35 f/4 is being released at the end of June if you can wait that long.  The previews look pretty good and it's budgeted right inbetween the other two options.  It adds stabilization, which some like, others not so much (on UWA).  Of course, if you can wait a couple more months the price will drop even more.

 

3) Which lenses you need is always subjective.  If you used your 50mm prime a lot you're going to find it very wide on a FF.  I got a Sigma 85mm when I move to FF, but other prefer just using a zoom at 70 - 85mm for portraits.  I prefer prime, but it's a personal choice.

Thanks for the tips. I agree on the CF card; as I'm analysing differnet write speeds currently. Essentially, I just want a UDMA 7 card, right? 

 

Good thought on a fewer smaller cards. My only concern is video. Any idea how long of a video I can get on each card (so 16Gb gets me X minutes - roughly)?

 

Thanks for the info on the lenses. That's interesting on the 50mm - I just that lens a lot.  

I'm open to other brands if there's a better wide angle for the mark III that you are aware of? It doesn't have to be canon brand.


@chuck27p wrote:

I'm open to other brands if there's a better wide angle for the mark III that you are aware of? It doesn't have to be canon brand.


The only one that really sticks out is the Nikon, which is so good that some people get an adapter and use it full manual on a Canon.  But the typical third party Canon-compatible lenses aren't really any better than the Canon offereings.

 

It's not to say the Canon lenses are terrible.  But at the pricepoint of the 16-35 2.8 II, the performance is a bit lackluster.  Some people love theirs, and it can certainly take good pics, but I was a bit underwhelmed with the performace of it on my 6D compared to the results I got with a 10-22 on my old 450D, when considering the cost difference.

 

The 17-40 on the other hand is a third the price and only slightly worse on performance.  Unless of course you need 16mm or f/2.8.  Then it's irrelevant.  Regardless, the 17-40 is probably one of the better deals when it comes to Canon L lenses.

 

But I mostly use my UWA for architectural/Real Estate work.  I'm usually at f/8 and on a tripod, and there's not a whole lot of detail in the lower corners.  So I couldn't see a whole lot of difference using the 17-40.   But someone who uses it for travel photography might have a completely different opinion. 

 

Everyone has high hopes for the new 16-35 f/4 IS.  The charts Canon posted look promising, but I don't put much faith in charts.  If they release a lens with better corner performance, that can be used wide open, with IS, at that price point ($1200)...  it will sell really well.

 

One other lens worth mentioning is the Samyang/Rokinon 14mm.  It's a bit of a novely lens.  It's fully manual - focus and aperture, and has some mustache distortion, but at $300 many pick it up just for kicks.  It's great for astrophotography, and fun novelty shots.  I haven't tried mine for architectural yet, but I have a gig next week I'm going to take it along for, just for kicks.

Good info, much appreciated. I don't think I've ever used my wide angle in with anything less than f/8, so getting to f/2.8 is not necessary for me. I mainly use it on a tripod as well, so it's not an issue. Thanks.

I have a couple of the Komputerbay cards. They work the same as my Sandisk cards.

 

On the lens, I have a Tokina 17-35mm f/4 lens that I like a lot.

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

Go with Sandisk or Lexar.  They have solid reputations.  I avoid cards I've never heard of.  If you browse the forums, every so often you'll find yet another post from someone whose camera quite recording video... and most of the time it's a problem with the card not being able to keep up.  

 

I am also a big advocate of buying a few smaller cards rather than one really big card.  It's nice to have a spare... if you unload images by putting the card in your computer then you may be miles from home, go to shoot and get the dreaded "no card" error.  

 

Incidentally the 5D III has two slots... a CF card slot and an SD card slot.  You can write to either or both (concurrently).

 

A 16mm will provide the same angle of view on a 5D III as compared to a 10mm lens on a 50D.  Canon does have a 16-35mm f/2.8L but it is significantly more expensive than the 17-40 (if cost is a factor).  They've also just announced a 16-35mm f/4L which sounds promising but I don't believe it's shipping yet (it's available for pre-order from many dealers).

 

It may be a good idea to rent a couple of them for a few days, shoot, and compare -- then buy based on your experience.

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

Stills get a smaller CF card.  Maybe 16GB.  Video get as large as you can aford.  I don't shoot video but my friends that do say the files are huge.  Stay with Sandisk or Lexar.

 

Canon 50mm prime  <-----------------------------f1.4 ?  Ho-hum !   Sigma 50mm f1.4 thrashes it.

Sigma 70-200mm Zoom  <-----------------------f2.8 version? Second best lens made in this catagory to the EF 70-200mm f2.8 L

Canon 24-70 2.8 (my workhorse)  <---------- Version II ?  Best lens bar none.  Version 1 is also very good, too.

- Need to replace my wide angle   <-----------17-40mm f4 is very good and a best buy.

 

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

Yes, the versions you asked me about are correct on the lenses. This is good info, thanks.

 

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