eos3d wrote:
No worries, the world is made of people with different opinions and that is the beauty of it ... otherwise it would be boring, wouldn't it?
It would be boring. But be careful what you choose to believe.
IMO the BEST standard zoom is comfortably the 24-70L which is a terrific lens, albeit heavy and bulky. Whether you want that to walk round with it is up to you but for image quality it's the best zoom I've owned or used over 30 years and that includes medium format zooms.
There are occasionaly quality control issues that shouldn't be there (as there are with many lenses, sadly) but the vast majority of people are I believe very happy with their 24-70L and 28-70L's and have had few or no issues. It is a hugely popular pro lens and rightly so.
dhphoto wrote:
IMO the BEST standard zoom is comfortably the 24-70L which is a terrific lens, albeit heavy and bulky.
I agree 100%. My early answer to the "best for general photography" question was the 24-105L, which I use more frequently than the 24-70L. I'm in the process of paring down my lens inventory, and the 24-70L is becoming my 'go to' lens for more and more uses. OTOH, the 24-105L is an excellent compromise on many fronts, and it's a great solution for 'general photography'. If you need the 24-70/2.8L, then you should already know that you need it.
I will be looking for a standard zoom lens to go with my 5D (and also my 1Ds). Which one would fit the best for general photography?
Thanks for your help.
Young.
There are a few, but "general photography" is too vague to say. I have a few lenses in the standard zoom category that I will match to their appropriate subjects. For example when photographing a concert or wedding, where I may need faster shutter speeds, I use the 24-70L as it has a fast 2.8 aperture. But when backpacking/hiking/travelling for landscape photography, where weight is at a premium and I have no use for fast glass (I'm usually stopping down for DOF anyways) then the 25-105L is the much wiser choice (especially because IS can be very useful for these static subjects also).
And finally I know you said "zoom" but if I'm on a personal outing, like taking my son to the park or walking around downtown, my favorite "general photography" lens is the 50 1.4, thanks to its very light weight and very fast aperture. This allows me to get very creative with depth of field for more artistic photos not possible with a zoom lens.
not even once but twice today 