Its the cost that alarms me. Is the cost in an L lens going to show in the quality of shots or can that be accomplished on an 'Ordinary' lens?
Don't get sucked in to the hype! just buy a 'good' lens and get shooting, add to your kit as you see fit and where you feel appropriate
There is a difference between L and non L, but it's not night and day, and most of the difference is not in the optical quality, L series is an overated hyperbole for consumers who feel their equipment is somehow limiting their potential as a photographer (hint- it's not), a good lens is a good lens, the 85mm 1.8 is a good lens, as is the 85mm 1.2L, the 1.2 has slightly better colour, is a tiny bit sharper, and is better built, but unless you were a pro who's seeing their work in large print, and opperating at the top of their game, getting maximum sharpness out of their kit and shooting with a make-up artist, a full studio light set up, and a full frame cam you're unlikely to notice a real performance difference between the 2 (or one that is worth £1000 of your hard earned cash- although much easier to justify when you can put it down as a business expense and claim back tax), L series often comes out on top in reviews as the level of quality control is higher, so there's less chance of getting a lemon, if you try a lens out in the shop try multiple copies and take the sharpest one, it's surprising how often it is to find a lens that doesn't focus reliably or is slightly less sharp. The reason pro's buy L series is for: weather sealing/build quality, reliability and as part of entry into the Canon Professional Service (own 3 L lenses and 2 pro bodies). The main reason consumers buy them is to look 'professional', and because they think it will make them a better photographer. L series will make you a better photographer in the same way a bespoke suit makes someone a better business man (but you'll feel good trying)
Until you've got a few years of high level photography under your belt, your equipment is unlikey to be the thing that's holding you back
Your point No.2 was the way I was thinking in the long term. Starting off with the 24-70 'L' added to a 60D. The more I look at the reviews the more I like this camera for the simple reason that I don't have a DSLR currently.
So I think I will look into the EOS 60D and 24-70 f2.8 L Glass. I believe this will be a nice set up..?
Mark
The 24-70 is indeed a stunning lens, one of canon's best, but...
I'm not sure the 24-70 makes sense on a crop cam
and there's little that the 24-70 can do that a 50mm can't do with a bit of moving forward and backward.
As I said in the first paragraph- but lenses to cover situations not to fill every focal length. IMO a 24-70 is useful, but 24 is not wide enough nor is 70 long enough, it is my opinion that a wide angle zoom, a normal lens, and a tele zoom make a better 3 lens kit, those 2 zooms will allow you to do things that only those lenses can do, the single 50mm and some creativity will do you through the 24-70 range.
2.8 is reasonably fast, but the light fades pretty fast- so you'll go from shooting f8 in the day to needing f1.4 in less than 1 hour. 2.8 also isn't going to cut it for indoor shooting, fast prime lenses and maybe a flash are likely to give you better results than a single high cost L lens
But this is a gear orientated forum, so don't let me stop you
Yup... FF as a sensor size has its advantages. The 7D is a better sports camera (faster/better AF system) than the 5D2 though, but if what you want to take is portraits or landscapes, the 5D2 will prove itself the better camera once you look at the pics...
crop sensor has advantages too. I shoot a 1.3 crop, and I can see advantages if having the smaller sensor, and vice versa. The main difference is that the FF sensor can do things the crop sensor cannot, although the pentalty for this is massivly increased cost to get telephoto, and more light needed to obtain an apperture enough to give sufficient depth of field.
L series zoom lenses are tailored to suit full frame, there is limited choice for quality APS-C appropriate zooms, the 10-22 and 17-55 are L series in all but name.
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