AboutMark Gluckman Expertise I can answer questions about all social photography (wedding, corporate, b`nai mitzvah). All general questions about digital photography and, of course, film.
Photojournalistic and travel photo questions can also be asked as that is another specialty of mine.
Experience
Past/Present clients McDonald's, Sprint, GE, Ford, NBC, IBM, Princess Cruises, NCL and I work the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon every year.
I have worked for The New York Times, USA Today, AP and dozens of other international and national publications.
I have shot hundreds of weddings, b'nai mitzvah and corporate social events.
Expert: Mark Gluckman Date: 4/30/2007 Subject: Wide/superwide lens choices
Question QUESTION: Hi Mark ....I am new here and I must say this looks like a very good site.
I have been very interested in photography in general for many years and I am
seriously considering doing real-estate photography (interiors/exteriors),
architechtural photography and maybe wedding and corporate photography out in
Dubai.
My ideal camera would be ($$$!) Canon 1Ds mkII but based on advice I've recieved and with 12.8Mpixels and a full frame sensor I've pretty much settled on the EOS 5D but I'm not sure which is the best lens combination.
The options I currently have in my head are;
1. 16-35L f2.8, 24-70L f2.8 and 70-200L lenses, or
2. 15mm f2.8, 24-70L f2.8 and 70-200L lenses
3. Or a 3rd option (sigma?, tokina?)
Which of the above lens combinations is best? - or is there a better 3rd alternative ?? I've heard the 16-35L has a considerable amount of distortion at 16mm and is a bit 'soft' between 24mm and 35mm, then again with option 2, regularly swapping lenses between a 15mm prime and the 24-70L is pretty unappealing due to possible ingress of dust.
Maybe you know of a 3rd option?
Thanks in advance. John
ANSWER: John,
You may be moving a bit quickly. I don't know what your photographic experience is, and if it's not extensive I'd do some thinking. First..good architectural photography is very specialized and the lenses can get very expensive. Although correction can be made in Photoshop CS2. Real estate and wedding photography require different lenses, so decide which direction you would like to go before spending lots of $$$.
There is nothing wrong with Sigma, Tamron or Tokina lenses, they have gotten great reviews. Recently, the Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 wowed the critics. I don't get picky about lenses. You are shooting for your clients, and they are more concerned with the final outcome than with minutia. I have friends who get overly anal about their assignments. They will spend twice the shooting hours at the computer nit-picking.
Trust me. A client would rather have an assignment delivered in a timely manner than a week late because you were overly anal about distortion that they will never notice.
As I asked before..what is your photographic knowledge?
Hope this helps.
Mark
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: HI Mark, in answer to your question I have around 20 years as a keen amateur and have picked up a fair amount of knowledge in that time, although I haven't to date done paid work.
I believe the Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 is for sub full frame cameras.
I am not particularly snobbish when it comes to lenses - I'm more interested in the quality than the brand name.
When I said architechtural photography I meant mainly interiors/exteriors, real-estate, publicity for hotels, restaurants etc although with a little more experience I would try to incorporate architechtural.
I recently owned a secondhand EOS 5D for about a week (I sold it for £400 ($800) profit) and was impressed by it although it feels better with the battery grip attached esp. in portrait orientation
I looked at a 400D (rebelXT over there?)and the viewfinder was much darker
John
Answer The Sigma just got a rave review by some of the photo publications and ranks the optics with any Canon or Nikon. If you are going to get into interiors think about the 10-20 or 12-24 wide zoom. Canon, Tamron and Sigma all have top notch lenses in that range. Since these are considered 'pro' range lenses..the quality on all will be great. Money would be your only consideration.
