Lense quality

[photojimp659@aol.com]

Looking to purchase a 24-70 or so 2.8 lense. Canon has an "L" lense and others have a comperable lense size also. big dollar difference in range. Is the Canon "L" lense that much better for the buck than the others? I am a full time professional shooting constantly if that helps, thanks.

[D70FAN]

Looking to purchase a 24-70 or so 2.8 lense. Canon has an "L" lense and others have a comperable lense size also. big dollar difference in range. Is the Canon "L" lense that much better for the buck than the others? I am a full time professional shooting constantly if that helps, thanks.

This would probably be better asked on the Canon board. Since I own a Nikon my experiences with 3rd party lenses have been different than those I have read, and heard, from Canon owners.

If you can afford good "L" lenses it's a no-loose proposition. If your budget is a little tighter then the Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 and the Tamron 28-70 f/2.8 might be worth a look.

[ktixx]

I think there are 3 major advantages to L series lenses:
1) Fast, accurate, reliable focusing
2) Optical Quality
3) Build Quality
I have read a lot of reviews comparing the 24-70L f/2.8 to the Sigma and Tamron alternative and almost every review rates them pretty close optically - with the canon winning out slightly. But as far as focusing for these lenses goes, I don't think that 3rd party can touch Canon. The focus on my Sigma lenses in the past has been pretty good, but it is always very noisy and very rough around the edges. I used my friends 70-200L f/2.8 and it was absolutely lightning fast with VERY little noise.
As George said, if you have the money definitely spend it on L lenses (It is an investment - Good lenses will last a long time - and will be usefull for a number of years). If you don't have the money, take a look at some 3rd Party alternatives.

General Recomendation - if you are shooting with a 35mm sensor I would recomend nothing but L glass - (if you can afford a 1 series body you can afford L glass). If you are using an APS-C sensor I would not recomend the Tamron 28-70 as I find that even 24mm is not wide enough for me.
Good Luck
Ken