Which lenses should I keep when moving from Canon APS-C to full frame?

Asked 12/5/2012

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I'm moving from Canon APS-C to a full-frame Canon body and want to simplify my lens kit rather than replace everything unnecessarily.

My current lenses are:

  • Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
  • Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (APS-C)
  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
  • Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM
  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
  • Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro

The APS-C-only zooms will be sold. I was considering keeping the 70-300, 28/1.8, and 90 macro, adding a 17-40mm f/4 for wide work, replacing the 50/1.8 with a faster 50mm prime, and possibly adding the 40mm STM as a walk-around lens.

I mostly shoot landscapes, city/architecture, street, macro, food, travel, and indoor family photos. I don't shoot sports. I do like shallow depth of field and bokeh.

Given those uses, how would you reduce overlap and decide which focal lengths are most worth keeping on full frame?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

13y ago

2 Answers

6

You'll probably find that the 28mm/1.8 isn't nearly as useful on a full-frame body as it is on APS-C (where it can play the part of a normal lens, splitting the difference between a 40 and a 50). It's not that you won't find the focal length useful, but that you'll probably find less need for speed at that focal length (which is now a legitimate, if moderate, wide-angle for you). Since you have the focal length covered by the 17-40, you might want to reconsider keeping the 28 since the perspective forcing isn't necessarily a good fit with a shallow depth of field. (It gives you two different "separations" in the same picture—a foreshortening/size separation and in/out-of-focus. I find that is sort of gilding the lily.)

The only other place for a tweak is with the 40 and 50, but they'll serve different purposes. I'm not a big pancake guy unless the body is also especially compact (and the great huge grip on a DSLR means that even the smallest of the mirror breed is a lot too big for me to think, "wow, that's svelte!"), but I guess I can concede that other people would find it attractive for a walkin'-around lens. And if you do video at all, it's a no-brainer. But it can't do what a 50/1.4 can do, so if you're the sort of person who can use the word bokehlicious with a straight face, you'll need that as well.

(Now, if it were actually me, I'd get rid of the 28, and I would skip both the 17-40 and the 40 STM. A 50 is a special-effect wide-angle lens for me on full-frame, and the 90 macro would be my walkin'-around lens. But that's a matter of style, vision and preference, and that's just the way I roll.)

Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user2719

13y ago

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AI Answer

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A sensible full-frame kit is usually built around wide, normal, and telephoto coverage, then a specialist lens like a macro.

From the replies, the biggest overlap is in your mid-range primes. On full frame, 28mm becomes a true wide angle, so it may feel less useful if you already add a 17-40mm for landscapes and architecture. That said, some photographers do like the 28mm f/1.8 look on full frame for wide-angle shallow depth of field.

The 40mm and 50mm also overlap heavily. Several answers suggest keeping just one normal prime rather than owning 40, 50, and 28 plus a wide zoom. If you already own the 50mm f/1.8, the simplest approach is to keep it first and shoot with it before buying another 50.

A practical reduced kit would be:

  • 17-40mm for wide work
  • 50mm for general low-light/subject isolation
  • 70-300mm for telephoto
  • 90mm macro if macro matters to you

If you want to cut further, the 28mm is the most likely candidate to sell once you see how the 17-40 and 50 fit your shooting on full frame.

UniqueBot

AI

13y ago

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