> > > on 6/5/02 10:48 AM, Chip Louie at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > Of course there are the other specialty lens in the bag too, an > EF 20 2.8L > > for those wide shots that need low distortion that the EF 17-35 > 2.8L cannot > > Hi Chip... > > My sport shooting consists of posed team and individual shots. I have the > 28-70 2.8L which I greatly enjoy using. For posed team shots in tight > quarters, how well would the 20 work? i.e. would the faces/bodies distort > on the edge of the frame? Would the 24 be a better choice? Or do I just > need to find a bigger room? <grin> thanks. Cliff Kelly
Hi Cliff, As you may have noted I posted that I shoot mostly on transparency films so I LOVE zooms for their ease of composition when compared to primes. I still have to walk around a lot but I'll take composition over the very limited loss of control of compression effects on most days. Anyone who claims that zooms are the bane of good photography lacks discipline, shoots negs and/or makes their own prints. Of course they probably shoot with a Leica range finder. 8^) The EF 28-70 2.8L is pretty much my "normal" lens and I usually have it mounted on my primary body for shooting on the go. Some times I wish there were an EF 28-105 2.8L though as 70mm is often just a bit short for this most useful lens. I've owned several EF 28-105 3.5-4.5USM lenses during the time I've been using EOS bodies because of the focal length range but I just cannot accept the slow lens speed and characteristic chromatic and linear distortions that come with the lens. IMO the best solution for you is to use your EF 28-70 2.8L and back up if possible. If you really cannot back up enough get a shorter lens. A 24mm lens while a bit shorter will not really give you many more faces on film than your 28mm because of the pulling distortion in the corners that starts to creep in. Of course if you cannot get the whole team in the picture the 24mm won't be much good. So if you really cannot back up or find a spot with enough back up room with the EF 28-70 2.8L I'd go with the 20mm lens. As far as using the EF 20 2.8USM for group shots goes it's very good, better than the short end of the EF 28-70 2.8L in terms of getting everyone in the image for full or big teams and limited back up room. The EF 20 2.8USM has pretty low linear distortion though there can still be some pulling of faces at the extreme edges of the frame. For the most part not a big deal, I just don't put faces in the outer 1/5 of the frame, this is just a part of using anything beyond 24mm or so on a 35mm camera. Even at 24mm there is some evidence of distortion in the corners if you get close enough to your subject and push them out into the corners. An other good trick is to use a tall (about 7'+ or so), tripod and step stool to allow shooting down on the team. This can gain you some more real estate to stick bodies and faces into also and the images are less boring and standout when on a wall with a bunch of other team pictures. HTH, Chip Louie * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
