I took photos at my best friends wedding this past weekend and have received the lens bug again. I really like the Canon L series lenses and that is what I am mainly looking to add to my collection.

Camera = 5D Mark II

Telephoto = Canon L-Series 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS

Macro = Canon EF 100mm f/2.8

Wide Angle = Canon L-Series 17-40mm f/4


I wouldn't mind a few prime lenses and some Portrait lenses. I have heard the L Series 135mm is a "classic" prime lens that has a good reputation and it is pretty affordable

Now that I own a couple of fast portrait lenses, I advise everyone to get one if they don't already have one.

Why not an 85mm f/1.2 prime lens?

I've been looking at the 85 f/1.2 as well, Canon has quite a few good portrait lenses. Canon does rebates throughout the year that are good for their lenses that can bring down the cost of the $2k lens a little

As I understand the original post the three lenses listed are those you now own. Just a few thoughts:

The 100/2.8 macro lens does fine as a portrait lens as well. I have the L-series version, bought mainly for product photos but it produces excellent portraits and when used at 2.8 does a nice job of keeping backgrounds out of focus.

There seems to be a big gap between 17-40mm and 100mm. For general people/product/scenic photography the lens I use most is the 24-105 f/4 L. It's reasonably priced because Canon sells so many of them.

Have two professional photographers in the family who do a lot of weddings. Both say their workhorse lens is a 70-200 f/2.8, versatile enough for various distances, and at 2.8 is fast enough to blow away cluttered backgrounds when doing portraits. Since they agree on little else about equipment (one is a Canon guy, the other a Nikon guy) I thought this was interesting.

The 40mm f/2.8 STM is an inexpensive lens but I like it when walking around towns doing touristy stuff. Flat and light, even on a 5D it makes the camera a lot more pleasant to carry.

Two Canon primes I find interesting are the 135/2 and 200/2.8. Both are reasonably priced for L series lenses as they don't have image stabilization. Both are said to have extremely fast and accurate autofocus. Fast AF isn't important to everyone but I like it for bird and wildlife photography.

I don't own either at present as I have the basic 70-200 f/4 L without IS (one of the best values from Canon incidentally), but if I was doing it again I'd likely forego the zoom and get the two primes.

Yes sir those are my more pricey lenses.

The 100mm f/2.8 was one of the lenses I used during the wedding. It is pretty sharp for not being an L class lens.

I'll take a look into the 24-105 lens, that seems like a good gap filler. The 70-200 f/2.8 I was worried that it would be stepping on the toes of my 100-400mm. The size of the lens does not bother me to carry...I am used to carrying my 100-400 all day on vacation.

Both of the primes you mentioned (135/2 & 200/2.8) Seem like very good deals for the price. I even looked at the 200mm f/1.8 (Discontinued...but still available on Ebay from time to time)

The 70-200mm L with IS is an outstanding lens. Not that I am recommending the following lens to you, but it's one that I have and love it. I use it during the local dog sled races we have in the interior of Alaska, but it can be used for a lot of other things, including wildlife photography of large animals, or small ones you can get close to.


The lens used above is the Canon EF-200mm f/2.8L II Ultrasonic (black color with a red color ring). It does not have IS, but it is tack sharp and fast-focusing.

And as mentioned above, the 40mm pancake lens is quite cheap and works nicely with the 5DII.

And yes, the 135L is a classic lens in any form IS or not.

Lisa Holloway is a family and child photographer who works out of Kingman Arizona. Her clients travel from all over the US to get photographed in her region. She uses primarily Canon 85mm and the 200mm f/2 L lens. Outdoor photographs are natural light. She gets stunning results.

https://500px.com/lisaholloway

Some of her best stuff she posts on Fred Miranda's web forum, where the image quality seems to be better than on 500px

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1490574

She is definitely world class family photography. Also tempts one to spring for a 200mm f/2L lens.

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
Lisa Holloway is a family and child photographer who works out of Kingman Arizona. Her clients travel from all over the US to get photographed in her region. She uses primarily Canon 85mm and the 200mm f/2 L lens. Outdoor photographs are natural light. She gets stunning results.

https://500px.com/lisaholloway

Some of her best stuff she posts on Fred Miranda's web forum, where the image quality seems to be better than on 500px

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1490574

She is definitely world class family photography. Also tempts one to spring for a 200mm f/2L lens.

Agree. She's real good. This photographer in Mexico is quite good too. He is pretty much into wedding/family photography:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielstoychev/albums