Buying a 5dsMk2

[LukeH]

I'm about to get one of the above mentioned cameras, but the guy in the shop told me not to buy the twin lens kit but to buy my lens' separate to the body. What do people recommend?

[rvanr]

I presume you mean the 5D MkII? What lenses are in the kit they offer?

[Tony Ventouris Photography]

I presume you mean the 5D MkII? What lenses are in the kit they offer?

Twin lens kit?  Is that the EF-S twin lens kit or is there some other?  

Good twin lens "kt" is 24-105L & 70-200L f/4 IS.

The 5D2 is awesome, but pretty demanding at 21mp when it comes to lenses.  The 24-105 is a good standard zoom and not "huge" in terms of weight or size.  That is a good starting point if you are new to this.  Also a 50 1.8 lens is good if you want to work with a faster glass.  Its actually a decent lens too for the $100.

[mahleu]

Twin lens kit?  Is that the EF-S twin lens kit or is there some other?

EF-s lenses won't work on a 5D. I'm thinking if they can afford the body then going for the cheapest 50mm probably won't be neccessary. Might as well go to the 1.4 and have quiet AF.

[pete_truman]

The 24-105mm f4 L IS lens is a great walk around lens and spends most of its time on my camera. The kit price of a 5D Mk2 and 24-105 is less than the sum of the parts, so well worth going for if that is the lens for you. An alternative, but heavier and more expensive lens is the 24 - 70mm f2.8 L. As others suggest the 70 - 200mm f4 L IS is a fantastic lens and a great choice if you want the short-medium telephoto range. At the wider end is the 17 - 40mm f4 L lens.

Another, less expensive and truly excellent lens, well up to L standards is the 50mm f1.4 lens. Nice in low light with a big wide aperture (so matches the 5D Mk2 capability in that respect). The choice, as ever, will depend on what you need the lens(es) for.

All are great lenses but you will find shortcomings if you really look hard enough and/or read some forum posts both here and elsewhere. I have found them excellent if all I want is to take photographs and print them even up to very large sizes.  

[LukeH]

I'm going to be using it for my landscape photography, and while told the ef-s lenses weren't going to fit the 5dmk2 was very suprised when the guy in the shop said the lenses weren't good enough while packaged with the body. It comes with a 24-105mm lens.

[byork]

That's probably because it's widely regarded that Canon needs to upgrade it's lenses for the 5dm2 to reach it's resolution potential.

[Plekto]

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/revie...eos_lenses.html
A good list of top quality lenses.  Anything over 8  will be superb to start with.

http://www.lensplay.com/lenses/lens_data.php?lensID=11
The 35mm 2.0 is also a good choice, IMO - I think it would probably work a bit better for scenery than a 50mm.  Every time I used 50mm for outdoor work, I always felt like I wanted an extra foot or two...   Note 39-40mm would be ideal ratio for a full frame camera, but Canon makes no 40mm lenses currently.  35mm is pretty close.  Back it off to 2.8 or 4.0 and enjoy perfect pictures.    

If you want the 50mm, get the f 1.4 USM - it's a much better lens than the stock 50mm one and can be had new for a bit over $300.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews...ens-Review.aspx
A nice review of it.  You can find used copies for around $200 since it's a common midrange lens/they sell a LOT of them.

The EF 20-35mm f2.8L is another "sleeper" that you can find used.  It's large but 20-30 gives you incredible scenery plus a bit of zoom to frame it correctly without walking around forever.  I don't know if it works perfectly on the 1DS series or not, perhaps someone knows?