Full Frame Thinking of selling my 24-105 STM and 85 STM…

JoeTheSnowPlowGuy · Mar 22, 2024

I’m thinking of selling my RF 24-105 STM and RF 85 STM to fund the purchase of an RF 24-105 F4 L. I have the 70-200 F4 and am quite happy with it. I find myself gravitating toward portraiture, street, and travel/adventure photography, with a sprinkling of sports thrown in. I have the RF 50 STM, so if I really need to go bokehlicious on a portrait I can, and I have an EF 16-35 F2.8 L II USM that I use a lot, especially for indoor photography in the evening hours.

The 24-105 STM is fine, works for what it is, but I know I won’t miss it one bit, especially because I’d be replacing focal length for focal length. I am a bit hesitant on the 85 though. That lens is really nice, very sharp, and definitely produces some extremely nice images. The main reason I’m thinking of unloading it to fund the 24-105 is 1) I can use the 50 very similarly when zooming with my feet and it’s pretty fast. 2) if I really need compression I can get it out of the 70-200 and even at F4 I can create some nice creamy backgrounds. Maybe not quite as dreamy as the F2 of the 85, but still very pleasing.

Can anyone give me another reason to not trade or sell that lens? I know combined I could get ~$400-600 for them, which when buying an RF 24-104 F4 used off MPB would cut nearly 50% off the price. I’d love to hear opinions.

Archibald · Mar 22, 2024

I'm a relatively recent full frame user (mostly use crop frame for birds and macro) but when I purchased the R5 with the RF 24-105 f/4, I was amazed at the quality of the photos. I attribute most of the IQ to the lens. It is really impressive for sharpness and other qualities.

Not long after getting the R5 and 24-105L, I got into studio photography with models, lights and softboxes. I used to be of the impression that photographers used a fast and expensive 85mm lens for that to get dramatic selective focus, but the experience has been different. Most seem to shoot at f/8. That is a sweet aperture for DOF and sharpness. So I have not seen any need to get any lens other than the 24-105L for my studio work. The 80 to 100mm portrait lenses probably have their uses, but this seems to be a niche area. Anyway, I have my RF 100mm f/2.8 macro for that if the need arises (but have rarely used it for portraits).

I doubt the 50mm will be able to take the place of the portrait FL lenses if you are shooting FF.

I have the R7 with the 18-150mm lens for walking-around photography, but if I didn't, I would consider keeping the RF 24-105 STM along with its L brother because the STM is way lighter.

I'm just an amateur so take my comments for what they're worth.

JoeTheSnowPlowGuy · Mar 22, 2024

The only time I shoot wide open are 1) events with terrible light, sports, outdoor portraits for bokehlicious effect, or artistic reasons. What you stated about studio work being shot at F/8 is one of my considerations as I find myself doing more portraiture. I typically shoot at F8 when I use flash and F/4-5.6 when I shoot continuous light, though sometimes I do shoot wide open with the continuous LEDs.

Don't underestimate what the 50 STM can do on a FF sensor. I have some portraits on here of my father that I shot with the 50 STM, I believe I was wide open at 1.8 when I did them.

mikey12654 · Mar 22, 2024

JoeTheSnowPlowGuy said:
I’m thinking of selling my RF 24-105 STM and RF 85 STM to fund the purchase of an RF 24-105 F4 L. I have the 70-200 F4 and am quite happy with it. I find myself gravitating toward portraiture, street, and travel/adventure photography, with a sprinkling of sports thrown in. I have the RF 50 STM, so if I really need to go bokehlicious on a portrait I can, and I have an EF 16-35 F2.8 L II USM that I use a lot, especially for indoor photography in the evening hours.

The 24-105 STM is fine, works for what it is, but I know I won’t miss it one bit, especially because I’d be replacing focal length for focal length. I am a bit hesitant on the 85 though. That lens is really nice, very sharp, and definitely produces some extremely nice images. The main reason I’m thinking of unloading it to fund the 24-105 is 1) I can use the 50 very similarly when zooming with my feet and it’s pretty fast. 2) if I really need compression I can get it out of the 70-200 and even at F4 I can create some nice creamy backgrounds. Maybe not quite as dreamy as the F2 of the 85, but still very pleasing.

Can anyone give me another reason to not trade or sell that lens? I know combined I could get ~$400-600 for them, which when buying an RF 24-104 F4 used off MPB would cut nearly 50% off the price. I’d love to hear opinions.

MPB sells quality gear for sure, I bought a RF 70-200 f/4 lens from them and it really did look like new. The RF 24-105L f/4 lens is awesome, I was in Germany last summer and it was on my camera more than any other lens while I was there. I'm just wondering if you ever check out Craigslist for camera gear, I bought my RF 24-105L f/4 lens from there in like-new condition for $750.00 back in 2022. I got lucky I know but you can still find great deals on there plus there's no sales tax to pay, just an idea to consider, here's a couple shots with that lens.

Full Frame Thinking of selling my 24-105 STM and 85 STM…

JoeTheSnowPlowGuy

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Archibald

Well Known Member

JoeTheSnowPlowGuy

Well Known Member

mikey12654

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