Because it never hurts to dream!
Unfortunately when I got my camera it was body only, and so I don’t have a “standard” zoom lens at the moment. I’ve been looking at a standard lens for a long time, especially one that is “fast” and will work in low light making it ideal for cosplay portraits at conventions. It was also the most prominent lens I saw used when I was on the red carpet for The World’s End premiere.
There are two specifically that I’ve had my eye on – the Tamron SP AF 24-70mm f2.8 Di VC USD (that’s a mouthful!) and the ultimate; the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM.
Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 Di VC USD Canon mount
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8
There are pros and cons to both. The Canon is the better for build quality and image quality (especially at the edges of the frame where the Tamron can tend to be softer) but the Tamron has an image stabiliser and is about $1500 cheaper here in Australia.
I am lucky enough to have a pretty amazing telephoto lens already, that has served me very well at conventions so far. But my “Holy Grail” lens would have to be the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM. It’s an amazing lens, used by professional photographers for all different types of photography.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM
The range in the focal length means it is handy in a variety of situations (for example, 70mm for cosplay portraits all the way to 200mm for panels) and the constant f/2.8 aperture means that it is tack sharp and fast at all focal lengths. This makes it absolutely fantastic to use in the low lighting of convention halls and panel rooms. It also focuses extremely quickly and silently, thanks to Canon’s ultrasonic motor.
It is a big, heavy lens but it is well built and the Canon L series are known for their build quality (and therefore for their expense). So it is a very distant dream but a dream nonetheless!
Digital Photography Review have an excellent in-depth article about this lens here
I haven’t done a lot of work with studio lighting and portraiture, but it is something I would like to get into eventually. I belong to a lot of Facebook groups that talk about lighting and techniques and Elinchrom was one of the brands that was recommended, especially the “instant studio” shown here that comes with Elinchrom flash heads, light stands, softboxes, a trigger and a reflector.
Elinchrom D-Lite RX 4/4 To Go
And finally this, because I think it’s really cute!
Photojojo Lens Pillow!
It’s a Lens Pillow from Photojojo!
Stardust & Melancholy 