Wide Angle Lenses

Just recently I made the switch from a 17-40mm F/4 L lens to the 24-105mm F/4 L IS lens and I thought I would share my reasoning and decision making process in hopes that perhaps they may aide some other poor soul faced with the same issue.

Background
As I have mentioned here before, I primarily shoot sports. Since I don't have a 300 or 400mm, I am almost always shooting with my 70-200mm on my 7D and then my wide angle lens on my 40D. Not the greatest setup, but it has served me well thus far. I bought the 17-40mm for those times when the play comes towards the end zone and the 70-200 is just too tight or to get a really nice wide angle shot of the crowd or a candid on the bench/sidelines. I bought my 17-40 off the Internet and almost as soon as I started shooting with it, I was unhappy with it.

I tried many things to resolve it, shooting with a higher f-stop for better depth of field, switching bodies, and ultimately using the micro adjustment on the 7D and a focus chart to get it dialed in. Nothing seemed to work. In the end I just wasn't getting the results I was hoping for from an L lens. Ultimately, my displeasure was due to two factors, situational/need and lens performance. 

Situational
Shooting sports, I wanted a wide angle lens to handle the action that came in tighter than the 70-200 could handle. What I found was that for my tastes, the 17-40 was just TOO WIDE for me. I would shoot something and then have to crop in more times than not to really get the shot I wanted and that was when I was already shooting at the far end of the lens. This resulted in less than stellar sharpness and lower quality photos. When I began looking at other options, that was why the 24-105 appealed to me because it had more reach and I found that I was rarely shooting at 17mm anyway. Another issue was the F stop. Being stuck at F/4 was a pain in the butt. There were so many times in a dark lit gymnasium that I was hoping for that little bit extra but that wasn't really the lenses fault. By that I mean, I knew going in that it was only an F/4 lens.

Performance
This is where the real anger started. I will start by making these two conditional statements.
1) I know the person behind the camera can be responsible for camera shake and other factors resulting in soft images.

2) This could have just been a bad lens, I did get it used online so who knows what it went through before I got it.

To that I say, I was shooting studio shots with this lens and using a tripod for some and just wasn't seeing the sharpness so while yes I may have blown shots, I wasn't blowing them all. I also don't think I had unrealistic expectations given that I use my 50mm f/1.8 quite a bit and I get some really fantastic images using a lens with a plastic body that cost $100 bucks. What was truly frustrating is that almost like my golf game, there would be that one shot every once in a while that would be tack sharp and exactly what I was hoping for from the lens, and the very next image would be back to the same old story.

Decisions Decisions
After shooting a number of Senior Portrait sessions this summer and fall, I had hit my breaking point. I was ready to make a change but I wasn't sure which direction to head. Should I get a used 24-70mm or a 24-105mm. Right off the bat, price was going to be a contributing factor. The 24-70 was just so much more expensive and I wasn't sure if it would be worth the extra money, given one of my situational complaints. So I started reading articles on the web, watching reviews on YouTube and was really ready to make a decision. To really put an end to the discussion, I went into the local camera store and talked to the guys there. I have a pretty good rapport with a couple of the sales guys and I brought in my 7D with the 17-40 and they let me take test shots with that lens and then the 24-105. I was really like the results I was getting so I was definitely leaning towards that lens.

Next we talked about buying new or used. They didn't have used copies there so the only USED route would be the web and they made a good point. Even if I saved quite a bit of money getting a used one online, it could be a major inconvenience to get any sort of refund and I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't get a bad copy just like the previous lens. If I bought it from them, yes I would pay more for a brand new lens, but at least this way I knew I was the only owner and I had a physical location to bring the lens should I have any complaints. Even though it was only an F/4 lens, it is an IS lens so that would help in low light. I also hedged my bets that at some point I will upgrade my camera bodies and the High ISO performance will continue to get better and better, rendering that issue less of a concern.

In the end, I decided to make the switch to the 24-105mm and then I placed the 17-40 on the Internet and within less than a week, I had sold that for a decent amount which means I got my new lens for a monster deal anyway. After a little over a month I have to say, I am really, really happy with the lens and now my only gripe is that it isn't an f/2.8 and I am not able to attach it to a 7D or a 1DX

I hope this break down of why I made the switch is helpful. Any questions feel free to shoot me an email.

Thanks

Long time no talk...new toys and experiences to come.

So it has been quite a while since I posted anything on here and perhaps the largest contributing factor to that was that there was really nothing to report. I am happy to say that there are several new things to report and so I will be addressing them in the coming days and weeks. The biggest piece of news is that my wife and I will be welcoming our second child in a few weeks and while that may not be all that interesting to any fellow photographers, counting new gear or shooting assignments as the biggest piece of news might upset my wife and that just isn't a good idea if you ever want to get new gear in the future. But I digress...

In the near future I will be talking about a number of topics...most are about new pieces of equipment but also some are about techniques and advice and opportunities such as...

1) Getting a new tripod
2) Switching wide angle lenses
3) Macro Focusing rails
4) Shooting Senior Portraits
5) Shooting for a fashion blog
6) Tips for photographing the athlete in your house.

Please check back and if you have any questions or comments, let me know. I want to hear them.