Thats a very good point that, the only offset I'd offer is if you are going to go FX in the future, for me, that was by by 17-55, hello 24-70. I will add that they are both stellar pieces of glass though & on DX the difference is huge in the focal range.
Shooting with a great photogroup out of DC, we sometimes find ourselves in venues where there isn't alot of room to shoot ....... the 17-55mm is absolutely perfect on my D300 ..... I have the 35-70mm, 105mm along with the 70-200mm vr which are all f2.8 if I have more room.
I also have the 12-24mm Tokina .... for landscape . capturing event scenes, but not one on one portraits
I know right away which lens I can use when I get to the location .. If I want to shoot a variety, I just put the 35-70mm on my D80 and put it in a lil camera buttpack around my waist or I have ** THE STRAP ** came this past week, now that really is nice with a small lens ...... may put it on the D300 / 70-200mm today when shooting video to see how that balances out carrying it !!
Andre Labonte wrote:
If you are planning on switching from the 17-55 to the 24-70 to get more reach, I suspect you are going to be dissapointed. The difference between 55 and 70mm is small. The FX equivalent FOV is 83 and 105mm respectively. However, on the wide end, the difference between 17 and 24mm is HUGE! The FX equivalent FOV is 25 and 36mm respectively
Test it out yourself. Get your hands on a 16-85 and zoom back and forth between 17-24 and between 55-70mm. That was enough to convince me that the 17-55 is the way to go on DX format. Remeber, in most indoor situations you can always more forward a little if you need a tighter crop, but on the wide end, once you have your back against the wall, the only way to include more is to go wider.
As for all the IQ arguments you will hear ... ignore them. Unless you intend to generate full-height, wall-sized prints to be viewed from 3 feet away, you are not going to see the difference between these two lenses.
On DX format, go with the 17-55 and be happy!...Show more →
theroadtaken wrote:
For those that have made this decision, did you have a wide angle lens (12-24, 10-20, etc)? and if so how did that effect your decision. Currently my gap is from 24mm to 70mm, and I am looking for a great portrait/walk around lens.
Thanks
Chris
Yes, I had the 12-24 and 17-35, and I am supporting both film and DX format cameras. The 24-70 made perfect sense to me and I have not regretted it. (Take away those two wide angle lenses and I would have purchased the 17-55 without even thinking about it.) Since I someday plan on going to FX, the 24-70 makes even more sense, though one should buy for today, not for what you might do someday.
