Clearly this stuff is all subjective. I wanted to love the 28-70, but both copies I had really didn't have the sharpness I was looking for (though the color and contrast were beautiful). I actually have a 17-55 as my main everything lens, and It has that color and contrast that the beast has and is much sharper IMO. I use the 35-70 to fill the gap between 55-70, then my 70-200VR takes over from there.
That said, I do use the 35-70 for portrait stuff from time to time, but I also have the 85/1.4 and the 50/1.4 so its always a battle for camera time between the lens lineup.
As long as you're shooting and having fun, its all good!
Dave :
The hidden thing about all of these lenses is that there's a
lot more product quality variation than the manufacturers want to admit.
I've had one lens that almost made me think I was simply a pathetically inferior photographer - I simply couldn't get crisp images from the lens - and I had friends who were producing fine quality images with their copies of the lens. One day, I switched lenses with my friend, and I proceeded to get good shots, while he struggled fruitlessly with my lens on his camera. I got rid of that lens, and came to understand that sometimes, the lens
is what can make or break a shot.
A number of people here at the Café have commented on getting lenses that didn't perform and either trading them out, or having them serviced by the manufacturer to bring them up to spec. I just had my 28-70mm in for a "tune-up", and I'm seeing just a bit more sharpness in the images. But I'll never forget that bad lens.
As I said, it's a lot more common than many people realise.
Even so, your comment about perspective and subjectivity also plays into this. For some folks, a given lens is "better", and that's the set of results they achieve with it. It might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, or it might be something more concrete that they just don't put their finger on, but the results are what count...
Me, I've had great luck with the 12-24mm, 28-70mm, and 70-200mm for my "medium" sized kit walking around, but I do like to substitute the 35-70mm sometimes, occasionally changing out the 12-24mm for a recently acquired 17-35mm where I don't need as much WA, but might have lower light. I'm very lucky or blessed or something to be able to make those switches.
John P.