I decided to post to see if I could get some thoughts on what some of the better focal lengths have been for photographing lighthouses. I'm using Canon and mainly use two prime lenses, (20 and 100 mm), for nearly everything. Often times the 20 is too wide, and the 100 is too short. My goal is to add Canon's new 24-70 zoom and 70-200 zoom to round out my system. Does anyone feel that 24 mm seem to be a useful tool as opposed to the more common 28 mm "standard"? Also, does 200 mm work in most situations, as in shooting some of the more popular lighthouses isolated by water, etc. - or does it leave you wishing for more?

Thanks for taking time to read.

Ned

Ned,
The range from 24-70 and 70-200 mm is pretty much ideal for most lighthouse photography. That will cover you for about 90+% of what you may want to shoot. I don't know which Canon 70-200 mm you're going to purchase but I would strongly suggest spending the extra money for an f2.8 constant focus professional lens. The faster 2.8 lens is considerably more expensive but when you go to focus in low light conditions there is a considerable advantage. The other factor may be more important still. With lenses of f4 and faster, you'll be able to add a 1.4X or 2X teleconverter to your 70-200 mm lens to get up to a 320 mm f4 lens with the 1.4X or a 400 mm f5.6 lens with the 2X teleconverter. Having this flexibility will let you shoot probably about 98-99% of what you might want to do.

If the ~$1400 that the 70-200 f2.8 will probably cost, consider that you'll get a 320 or 400 mm full autofocus lens when you add the appropriate Canon AF teleconverter, which are only a couple hundred dollars each. The corresponding Canon fixed focus longer lenses are MUCH more expensive!

As for 24 mm, I use that focal length quite a lot. I have a 17-35 mm f2.8 Nikkor and probably use it most around the 24 mm range if that helps some.

Gary

Thanks for the help, Gary. I'm definitely looking at the 2.8 lens, as I plan to use it for portraits as well. I didn't give the TC's a lot of thought, but that is a very good idea. This summer I hope to get some better shots of my local lighthouses to post. It's been a year or two since I was able to get much done at the coast.

Thank you again.


Ned

Ned,
I would agree with Gary's assessment as far as the focal length. I don't have any f2.8 lenses, so I can't say anything about that, but for my Nikon I have a 28-105 and a 70-300.
With those two lenses plus my Tamron 2x teleconvertor, I'm ready for just about anything. I can reach out to 600mm, which is really handy on the rare occasions when you can't get in close. Just make sure you have an absolutely dead tripod when you go out that far, it doesn't take much to get jitter at such a high focal length.
The only thing I still want is something in the 20mm - 24mm range so I can go extra wide. I don't want to get lower than that with lighthouses due to the fisheye effect.
I was skeptical about getting a teleconvertor, but after using one for most of last summer, I wouldn't want to be without one. It's a relatively inexpensive way to greatly improve your range.
Hope all this helps a little.

Thank you too, Mike. I appreciate the information you provided about the TC. I have researched the use of them extensively on websites like photo.net.

The 20 mm has been a great lens to own, and I am sure that either the 20 or 24 would work great for you.

Ned

If you're debating between the Canon f2.8 28-70L vs. its replacement, the f2.8 24-70L this link may help. I doubt you can go wrong with either. Fwiw I went through the same dilemma for several weeks and chose the 24-70. Having played with it for a few weeks now, I'm confident I made the right choice for me. Color and contrast are superb!

Tim

Tim,

It sounds like we share similar stories. Ever since I heard about this 24-70 L I have been extremely interested in it. For me, the choice I was debating over was whether I thought I would need something longer and of better quality than what I have, or something less wide lens than my 20 mm. I about buying a 24 mm and 50 mm prime, but I believe this new zoom will also be excellent for some of the portraits I take. Since I've pretty much decided on the 24-70 the problem now seems to be with finding someone who has it in stock.

Thanks for sending me to that link, BTW. I enjoyed reading it! Ned

Ooops.. I should have said that I was about to buy 24 and 50 mm primes. I really can't affor them all!

Ned