What's the one piece of gear you really couldn't do without? I get this question every once in a while. Although I write occasionally about gear, I'm not really a gear head. I still shoot with Canon 5D and 30D cameras - a half-decade old technology. I've also written quite often how the gear doesn't really matter, it's understanding what to do with it that counts. There's not a single piece of gear that I have that I couldn't do without. Despite all of that, I must admit there is one piece of gear that having to do without would leave me crying in my shoes - my 70-200 f2.8L IS lens.
This lens, (and the Nikon equivalent, the new 70-200 f2.8VR II, which I understand is quite excellent) is the King of lenses. I usually do portrait shoots with just this single lens. I can shoot an entire wedding with just 2 lenses, this one and my 35mm prime. What makes this lens so great? - It's absolutely tack sharp. Just about as sharp as any of my primes.
- The image stabilization works great. I've taken sharp images from the back of a dim church hand-held at 1/50 while racked out to 200mm.
- It's a magic beauty lens. People just look better in images taken with it.
- It provides tremendous subject-background separation.
- You can have it both ways: stop down to f5.6-6.3 from 60 feet away and you've got a 9' depth of field - enough to get nearly any size group in focus - while at the same time still blurring the background beautifully and creating lots of subject-background separation.
- It's currently out-of-fashion (a big plus in my view!). Every photographer out there is obsessed with shooting with fast wide primes. Read any photography forum and there are dozens of posts about how togs have sold their 70-200, or they only use it for the ceremony then put it away.
Sure you can get cool looks with those wide primes, but let's face facts. At the end of the day, my clients will look much prettier than theirs will, and that's what keeps my clients (and my wallet) happy.
Anything not so great about this lens? - It's big and heavy. Boo-hoo. Go to the gym.
- It costs $1,750. Expensive, but worth every penny.
Compared to the 135 f2L: The 135L is a stop faster and of course, much smaller and lighter. Shots taken wide open provide so much separation that they almost have a 3-D quality about them. It's a fantastic lens. But in the end, the versatile range combined with the image stabilization of the 70-200 wins out. Compared to the 70-200 f4L IS: This is also a great lens. Smaller, lighter and cheaper, but every bit as sharp. If you can't afford the 2.8, then buy this lens. Then when you're ready for the 2.8, you can sell it for nearly as much as you paid for it. The 70-200 @145mm with a Canon 20D. It's a magic beauty lens!
Location Lighting 101 Workshop 1/23/10, Seattle, WA: sold out
3/20/10, Vancouver, BC: seats available
---------------------------- Building a Profitable Portrait Business 2/27/10, Seattle, WA: seats available --------------------------- Laurence Kim Workshops |
