Smallest / Lightest Canon Lens Available?

Zanotti

Looking to carry a body and lens only on an upcoming trip. What is the smallest or lightest Canon lens?

I am thinking it is the 50mm 1.8, it being all plastic - but I want a little better lens quality.

Is the 35mm fairly flat?

Is there a third party pancake lens available?

Z

ziggy53

Is this to go with the 7D?

How much quality? Are you looking for big prints or just nice snaps?

How important is photography to the trip?

chrisjohnson

The S95 P&S got a good press here recently. You have an S90 - why not take this?

Alternatively, when you are happy with the 50mm prime, why not take an f1,4 with your 7d?

Zanotti

I pretty much always carry my S90 and really love it. I am searching for slightly better quality and low light performance.

Ziggy: My thought was to take the 50D, since its my backup camera, and a small lens. This give slightly better performance, but still remains light.

High quality snaps is the goal, not large prints.

Thanks for the ideas,

Z

dantambok

What about a wider prime?

divamum

I barely used my 7d while travelling since I had the s95 which did pretty much everything I asked of it (and then some) BUT... I was glad to have the dSLR for one set of shots of our hostess's kids (which I have since had printed and sent as a thank-you gift). I had the 50mm 1.4 and was glad for it. Since the s95 shines at its wide end, the 50mm worked out well for me for *portrait* use. Yes, it was a little tight for indoor candids, but since my only wider lens is a zoom which I didn't want to carry, the choice was kind of made for me, and I made it work. If your anticipated use is for landscapes or lots of indoor groups where it might get tight, then go with one of the wider light primes. If you have the 50 1.8, it most certainly fulfills the "light" part of the equation! It can be finicky to AF though, so if you're not used to it, you might be happier with the 1.4 (which isn't heavy at all). I don't know the 24/28/35 primes, so I'll let others speak to those.

ziggy53

The Canon EF 35mm, f2.0 is about as close to a "pancake" lens that Canon makes. For a "standard" FOV on crop 1.6x camera bodies it does a commendable job in the center, but the edges and corners don't hold as well.

You could "adapt" a true pancake lens from, say, Olympus or Pentax, but you lose AF and automated exposure.

To be honest, I greatly prefer an f2.8, constant aperture, standard zoom lens. The extra versatility is worth the extra trouble and size and slower aperture. I use a camera holster to carry the camera and lens and then pack a flash on top with a Demb Flip-It in a front pocket. It all works nicely to catch those impromptu moments.

colourbox

I really love the Canon 35mm f/2. I have much more expensive zooms but it's a lot of fun to just have a body and that small, light lens. While I do this on my 7D, the 35mm is impressively compact on the smaller Rebel body and I use it that way a lot. I have the Nifty Fifty as well, but on a crop body it's just too tight too much of the time, and the 35mm is better quality anyway, while approximating the classic 50mm on the traditional film SLR.

pathfinder

George, the price continues to come down for the Panasonic GF-1 ( Micro4/3s ) and it is a dynamite little camera - with the 20mm f1.7 it will fit in a large pocket and still give you files that will print at 13x19 in.

It also offers access to so many lenses, either through adapters, or either OEM glass, or Olympus or other manufacturers that are making m4/3s lenses.


The Panasonic 100-300 offers the equivalent of 600mm lens the size of a Canon 100 macro too.....