I often see a question more or less like this one posted in photography discussion forums:

I want to get a new lens. Which is better, the 16-35mm f/2.8 or the 24-70mm f/2.8?

Sigh.

This is kind of like the following: “I want to eat. Which is better, breakfast or dinner?”

Regardless of one person’s personal preference for one lens (or meal) over another, there is no rational way to say which is best – and in fact, these lenses are so different that they almost defy comparison in this way, and either could serve admirably in the appropriate situations.

Fundamentally, this question really isn’t about which lens is intrinsically better. In fact, neither is objectively better or worse than the other in a general sense. I’d be tempted to answer the lens question as follows: “If you need a 16-35mm f/2.8 lens, the 16-35mm f/2.8 lens is better. If you need a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, the 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is better.”

The real question is which lens is better suited to a particular sort of usage, but the poster didn’t give us enough hints to speculate about this. Frequently the question simply illustrates that the poster doesn’t understand his/her own photographic needs well enough to understand what gear is most appropriate – and lacking that understanding wants someone else to decide.

The best advice to the person is to suggest that they need to figure this out before investing any money in more equipment.