24-70 Lens

[klindup]

I am looking to replace my 17-85 with an f2.8  24-70.  I am considering two lenses, the Canon and the Sigma.  I would appreciate any feedback that will help me decide between these two.  I have a couple of Sigma lenses in my bag and am very pleased with them, but this will be my walk about lens and get the most use.
Thanks
Ken  Lindup

[Johnf]

I've had both the Sigma and the Canon.  I never did a side by side comparison because I sold the sigma to fund the canon.  Also I was not printing large prints when I had the sigma.  I also had the sigma over 5 years ago so things may have changed.  I do know that the canon is at least 2x the cost of the sigma.  One thing that was striking to me was the size of the front element on the sigma.  It was huge!  It just didn't sit right on the camera.  The IQ was similar for small prints and at moderate apetures but the canon performs better at the corners wide open and has beautiful background blur. Not suprising !

I wanted to respond because you mentioned that you want a 24-70 to be your "walk around lens".  When I first got my sigma 24-70 it was for a low light short zoom on my 10D.  On a crop camera, I find 24 not to be wide enough for walking around especially for images of the people you are walking around with unless you only want head shots.  I only realized the 24-70 as a walk around when I moved to full frame!  Now I use my 24-70 everywhere I go.

My suggestion, rent one of them for a day and see if you are walking backwards alot zoomed down at 24mm.

Johnf

[jodaco]

Unless you absolutely need the 24 I would add the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 to your considerations.

[klindup]

Thanks for the comments.  For the great majority of my photographic life using 35mm I used a 55mm prime lens as my walk around so I am used to moving back to take in a wider view.  The 24-70 fits nicely between my 12-24 and my 24-70.  It had not occurred to me to rent a lens for the day and this i will do, but it looks like the conclusion is that it is worth paying a bit more for the Canon.
Ken

[Bob Atkins]

You could look at the EXIF data on the shots you've taken with your 17-85 and see how many were taken in the 17-23mm range. I think I once saw some software that would sort images by focal length in the EXIF data, but I've no idea where I saw it or what is was called :-(

If you have the 12-24 then you're covered for the wide end even if you have to switch lenses.

I have used the  EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM as a general purpose lens on both full frame and crop sensor cameras. I think it's better on the full frame since 24mm is quite wide, but if you are not a wideangle fan then it may be fine to have 24mm as the wide and on a crop sensor camera (=38mm on a full frame).

I chose the 24-105 over the  EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM because (a) it has a wider zoom range, (b) it has image stabilization and (c) it was cheaper. I figured I really didn't need f2.8 in a zoom. If I want fast I go with my Canon EF 50/1.8 II  or my EF 85/1.8 USM

[Johnf]

I went with the Canon and I am very pleased with it as a single walk around lens on my full frame.

Have fun

John