Do I need my 85mm Prime?

Carl911

Carl911

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I have just bought myself a new Canon 24-105 L-series lens.
I now wondering if I need to keep my 85mm Prime lens as my new lens will cover this range.
As good as the prime is I would assume an L-series lens will be at least equal in quality.
I'm thinking of selling it and putting the money towards a macro lens.
Anyone care to comment?

Cheers Carl
 
There's a world of difference between f/1.8 and f/4. But if you never go there, no point in keeping the 85.

Personally, on a 40D I would keep the 85 and swap the 24-105L for a 17-55 2.8 but I guess that just goes to show how subjective these things are.
 
It might not be equal, but it will be near enough, the thing you wont get with the F/4 lens is the nice shallow depth of field for portraits and the like.

There will be quite a difference between f/4 and say f/2, but you now have both, so why not give the new lens a go and see what you think of its capabilities.
 
HoppyUK said:
There's a world of difference between f/1.8 and f/4. But if you never go there, no point in keeping the 85.

Personally, on a 40D I would keep the 85 and swap the 24-105L for a 17-55 2.8 but I guess that just goes to show how subjective these things are.
Click to expand...

Thats a good pint on the f/1.8, i wasnt considering that fact.
Maybe Ill keep it for the time being.
It will be interesting to compare.
Im intending on buying a Canon 5D Mk2 so this is going to be my walkaround lens. I cant afford the camera just yet so I thought at least I can buy the lens whilst Im waiting.
Presently I only have a 10-22 & 85prime hence why I wanted the 24-105 to fil the gap I had for general purpose.

Carl
 
If you were thinking of selling the 85 to get a macro, it would perhaps make good sense to get hold of an EF 100 f2.8 - superb lens for the money, not too much more expensive than the 85, faster than the 24-105 and great as a portrait/general lens.
 
24-105L is just wonderful on a 5D2. Great range for me - I hardly use anything else. It behaves completely differently on a crop camera though, because of the range.

Also, the crop factor applies to the f/number for depth of field calculations so f/4 on FF gives the same DoF as f/2.5 on crop format.

For those reasons, I wouldn't make too many lens choices until you go full frame. For example, I was all set to get an 85 1.8 on my 40D, but now I want a 135L 2. You might find yourself wanting the 180L macro!
 
Keep the 85mm, it'll do amazing things in low light mate. I've got both too, though I started with the 24-105 and then got the 85mm recently, and I use the 24-105L as the walk-about/landscape/group shot/ lens and the 85mm for low-light/portraits/bokeh :)
They work well together in weddings too if you have a second body ;)
 
It depends on your needs. If you are photographing people, then the 85mm is a keeper. It's one of the fave go to lenses for wedding photogs! Beautiful for night shots where you get that dreamy bokeh in the background.
 
The 85mm f1.8 is about the best bang for the buck in the whole Canon range and optically blows the 24-105 away and continues to do this for me.... but the fact remains that whilst primes inevitably do this they aren't as flexible as a zoom.

It's all about pro's and con's and what you want it for.

I shoot a lot of weddings with 2 x 5dmk1's and the 24-105 is my mainstay lens for 99% of the shots and I have either the 85mm f1.8 or 50mm f1.4 on the second body which can be really useful indoors when flash isn't alowed.

Here's some gig photography I did and most of the shots were done using the 85mm f1.8 at very high iso and just wouldn't have been possible without that lens:

http://alanwhite.fotopic.net/c1780497.html

But there's no denying that the 24-105 on full frame delivers the goods as these photos hopefully show:

http://alanwhite.fotopic.net/c1750312.html

I'd keep the 85mm f1.8 unless you deftinately need the money for your 5dmkII, demand for secondhand copies is always very high and they command good prices so think of it as an investment.
 
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