Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

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Archive 2008 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Andrew Welsh
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p.3 #1 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

brett maxwell wrote:
I can't believe no one in this thread mentioned renting! If you're seriously contemplating a $5000 lens and have never used it, just rent it for one wedding!

I honestly would recommend buying the lens outright-- used if possible-- then reselling it. I did this. I even did the bad thing- I bought it purely on credit. When I sold the lens, I got a bunch of lenses in trade and had to sell all those lenses off (with paypal and shipping fees of their own).

All in all, I spent $139.58 to rent the lens for a month when factoring in all shipping, PP and credit card fees.

One week at lensrentals.com runs $335 USD not including shipping.

Of course I had to deal with the PITA of buying and selling it... but owning the lens yourself is the most economical solution, because it does not lose it's value. And keep in mind, I even dropped the lens and scuffed the pristine hood!

If I had $5-$6k in capital / cash available, I would seriously consider owning the lens for a while, then selling it off. Everyone forgets that the lens still has value, even if you beat on it for 5 years-- so it's not like it's a complete $5500 write-off. Unlike camera bodies which are effectively disposable, with a lens like this you only need to earn $1-$2k off the lens in a 2-4 year period to make up the depreciation (if you buy it new).

A parallel here is my 300/2.8 which I bought for $3400, and I could sell it today for $3400. I'd only lose one way of the shipping cost. Two years from now it'll be worth $3100-$3200 (assuming the price of the new one stays the same)

Dec 30, 2008 at 04:16 AM

Andrew Welsh
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p.3 #2 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

deepbluejh wrote:
A 135L at similar framing will give you very similar bokeh to the 200/2 IS and be nearly as sharp. If you are thinking portraits, then the 200/2 IS makes little sense if you already have the 135L.

The same framing (ex: a headshot) will give the same DOF with any lens at f/2. The main reason one would use the 200/2 over 135L is the image stabilizer-- candids at a reception come to mind. In the dark cave of most reception halls, unless you're using remote flashes, the 200/2 will outshine the 135L because of the IS.

For daylight outdoor portraits, just use the 135L... the IS gives you nothing, and the 200/2 just weighs a ton in comparison

Dec 30, 2008 at 04:31 AM

sejanus
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p.3 #3 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

close up, the 200 gives better bokeh than the 135 and is scary sharp at f/2.

though I use my 135 at f/2 quite a bit - at least on my sample it doesn't hold a candle to the 200/2 with both wide open.

Dec 30, 2008 at 09:27 AM

Italo Campilii
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p.3 #4 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

How heavy is the 200 f/2? Same as 70-200 2.8 IS?

Dec 30, 2008 at 01:13 PM

Italo Campilii
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p.3 #5 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Neil vN wrote:
Andrew ... I rented the Canon 200mm f2 IS lens ... and it is fantastic.
Sharper wide open at f2 than the 70-200mm f2.8 is at f4

I posted a small review on my website:
http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/2008/07/29/canon-200mm-f2/

I have some images there of a model I photographed. Not a wedding.
But it might give you an idea of the possibilities with this lens.

The bokeh on that lens is scaringly awesome. It's well worth the $5k investment.

Dec 30, 2008 at 01:14 PM

sejanus
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p.3 #6 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

italo the 200/2 is 2.5kg

Dec 30, 2008 at 09:16 PM

Italo Campilii
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p.3 #7 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

sejanus wrote:
italo the 200/2 is 2.5kg

HOLY SMACK. Definitely need assistant + monopod with my broken back

Dec 30, 2008 at 10:01 PM

sejanus
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p.3 #8 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

heres a couple from me with that lens

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Dec 30, 2008 at 10:23 PM

RedWhiteandRed
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p.3 #9 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Well Sejanus a few of those make the argument right well and proper.

Dec 30, 2008 at 10:31 PM

Mike Mahoney
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p.3 #10 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Nice lens, and I can see plenty of wedding applications .. many which will help distinguish you from your competitors.

As to cost ... if you're shooting 25-30 weddings a year at $3,500 per wedding average then a five thousand dollar lens investment is a relatively small amount, particularly if that lens helps set you apart from the dozens of other wedding shooters in your market.

Dec 30, 2008 at 10:54 PM

RedWhiteandRed
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p.3 #11 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

One wedding with the lens and this shot was at hand.

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Dec 30, 2008 at 11:00 PM

Italo Campilii
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p.3 #12 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Sejanus,

It's evident displaying the results of that lens can kick up your market's niche target price by 30-50% up.

In other words, if you were charging 2k now you'd be easily charging 3k and make your investment money back in no time.

I think I'll save up for this bad boy and skip 85L II instead.

Dec 31, 2008 at 09:42 AM

Italo Campilii
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p.3 #13 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Red,

VERY nice. The colors and the bokeh (not to mention sharpness) are extremely evident here.

Any mods or color alteration?

Dec 31, 2008 at 09:43 AM

Nathan Hobbs
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p.3 #14 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

My 200 1.8 was the best decision i EVER made with my photography, it produces more Wows on location but even more importantly on presentation of the final product.

Jan 06, 2009 at 05:17 AM

Andrew Welsh
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p.3 #15 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Nathan Hobbs wrote:
My 200 1.8 was the best decision i EVER made with my photography, it produces more Wows on location but even more importantly on presentation of the final product.

I'd seriously consider swapping for the 200/1.8 if it had IS. Even with the 2/3 stop advantage (due to the differing t-stops of the two lenses, the 200/1.8 transmits more light through at f/2 than the 200/2 does at f/2), it still doesn't make the lens hand-holdable at light that meters as 1/30 sec with the 200/2 (the 200/1.8 would register 1/50 sec, and you'd have to be mighty steady at 200mm with a lens known to not have the best balance for handholding). Although coupled with a 5DII and ISO6400 that could get you up to 1/80 or 1/100... hmm.

The wedding I played with the 200/2 had a ceremony metered at ISO3200, 1/20 sec f/2. Pretty darn dark and the 135L was useless. With the 5D2 and 200/1.8 I could swing ISO6400, f/1.8 to get 1/60 SS.

Perhaps Nathan, you could comment on the success rate of hand-holding the 200/1.8 at 1/60 sec?

Jan 06, 2009 at 09:21 PM

sejanus
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p.3 #16 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

i used to have a 200/1.8

the f2 version is much, much nicer to hold - IS aside.

the 1.8 is very front heavy.

Jan 06, 2009 at 09:29 PM

David Manning
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p.3 #17 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

Sejanus,

Awesome pictures! It's certainly a fabulous lens, but there's alot of PP work here too. The colors look great but not completely natural IMHO. How much saturation did you use?

Jan 06, 2009 at 10:03 PM

sejanus
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p.3 #18 · Help me spend $$- 200mm f/2 IS?

I like em saturated yeah - a bit of the vibrancy slider in aperture. I am not going for realism

Jan 06, 2009 at 10:26 PM

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