Must Buy Canon Lenses?

kevincookephoto · January 24, 2008

Hey,

Anybody have a list of some MUST HAVE Canon lenses?

I have the 24-70L lens right now, and am looking to get another one. I tend to stay away from zooms, as I don't really need them too much.

For everyday shooting, weddings, portraits?

Tee Why · January 24, 2008

There are no such things. The lens you need will depend a lot on your specific needs. Give a 35mm f1.4L to someone trying to do headshots and it generally won't work. Conversely, give a 85mm f1.2L to someone interested in wide environmental portraits indoors in a small room and it generaly won't work either.

Before buying more gear, I'd say figure out exactly what you want to do that the 24-70 cannot do for you. Are you looking for an ultrawide for environmental portraits and interior/party shots? Or a fast telephoto prime for headshots? Or a macro/close focusing lens for ring shots? Or a tilt shift or a lensbabay for soft artistic shots?

eyusuf · January 24, 2008

kevincookephoto wrote:

Hey,

Anybody have a list of some MUST HAVE Canon lenses?

must-have for what?

claudermilk · January 25, 2008

What he said. Let us know what you need it for and we can give some options.

There is a reason Canon has so many lenses--looks like 70 including TCs. Many differing needs, many differing lenses.

SavedByZero · January 25, 2008

kevincookephoto wrote:

Hey,

Anybody have a list of some MUST HAVE Canon lenses?

I have the 24-70L lens right now, and am looking to get another one. I tend to stay away from zooms, as I don't really need them too much.

For everyday shooting, weddings, portraits?

Here's the short answer: What lens focal lenghts do you need covered, get that lens(es).

And the long answer: What I need is not what you need and what you need is not what I need. I like zooms, you may not like zooms, I have 1 prime lens, you may need 3 or 4. So I'm not sure what you are expecting to get from asking what Canon lens another person must have. But for everyday shooting and weddings a short zoom is perfect for a wide varity of coverage. And for portraits anything from a 50mm to 135mm primes and including zooms would be ideal.

LiquidAir · January 25, 2008

For which body? What is your budget?

If you like primes, you should get a 50 and an 85. Personally I have the 50/1.4 and the 85/1.8, but there are pros and cons for each of Canon's 50s and 85s.

The other primes I regularly carry are the 35/1.4 and the 135/2. My favorite prime is the 135/2 but the one that gets the most use is the 85/1.8. Note that I shoot with a 5D; if I had a crop body my choices would be different.

eichert12 · January 25, 2008

LiquidAir wrote:

if I had a crop body my choices would be different.

What do you think they would be if you had a crop body?

z_28 · January 25, 2008

eichert12 wrote:

What do you think they would be if you had a crop body?

different

LiquidAir · January 25, 2008

eichert12 wrote:

What do you think they would be if you had a crop body?

I'd want something in my kit wider that then 35/1.4. The simple answer to that is the 24/1.4 might replace the 135/2 because for most of my low light work the 135 is too long on a crop body.

However the EF-S 17-55/2.8 IS potentially could change my entire kit design. Right now I use fast primes for most of my people photography and slower f/4 zooms for pretty much everything else (17-40, 24-105 IS, and 70-300 IS). That way I avoid the heavy and bulky f/2.8 zoom series, gain and extra stop or two for low light, and get IS on the lenses I use for stopped down photography. I actually keep two separate bags and move the body from one to the other depending on what I am going to be shooting.

On a crop body, I would seriously consider letting the 17-55/2.8 IS cover both the wide end of my low light kit and the the midrange of my landscape/walkbout kit. In that model, I wouldn't need the 24/1.4 or the 35/1.4. I would also look seriously at upgrading the 50/1.4 to the 50/1.2L as my primary portrait lens. So we have two possibilities for the low light kit:

Primes only: 24/1.4, 35/1.4, 50/? and 85/1.8

Zoom + primes: 17-55/2.8 50/? and 85/1.8

Without testing, I can't really say how it would fall out. My guess is that I would end up with the 50/1.2 to have one lens with a super smooth bokeh to replace the 135. The real question is how well does the 17-55 replace the 35 and the 24? 2 stops or IS? I am guessing I'd pick the 17-55, but I am not sure.

Photoskipper · January 26, 2008

Dream list
I don't have a must buy list but just keep a dream list so that I can have some target to go after. It can make myself work harder then reward myself with something from my dream list.

For Canon lens, I have already have sustantial stocks, including the Rebel kit lens 18- 55, some from old Canon 500N 28 - 85 and 75 - 300. I got my 5D with the 24 -105 mm F4 IS. Acquired the 100mm f2.8 macro and then the 70-200 F 2.8 IS. Just got the 2x TC couple weeks ago.

The 17 - 40 is alway on my dream list but the 16 - 35 f2.8 just fell off the list as I want to keep my filter simply on 77 mm.

Suddenly, I got some nice bird photo and now considering the 500 mm F4.

Depend on what you want to do, there is no must buy Canon lens list. Some third party lens are considerably great. Unless your home CFO (chief financial officer, that is you wife) give you an unconditional approval, otherwise, consider it as dream list first.

claudermilk · January 28, 2008

Did the OP edit that first post? Anyway, more direction now:

weddings, portraits, and general shooting. Already has a 24-70. Next question of course is what body (asking only to determine if the sensor is APS-C, APS-H, or FF)?

Some of the most popular lenses for portraits are the 85mm primes. f1.8 for lower cost, f1.2 if cost is no object. The 135/2L is also supposed to be a good one. For me, I typically use my 24-70, 50/1.8 as my primary portrait lenses and thorw the 70-200 in the mix every now & then (probably more now that I have the space to work with it).

For weddings, the classic combinations is the 24-70/2.8L and 70-200/2.8L (usually with IS). Many are now swapping in the 17-55/2.8 IS for the 24-70. For primes, AFAIK the 85mm primes again come up a lot.

rpcrowe · January 28, 2008

I know you want primes...
However, two lenses that are great matches with the 24-70L are the 12-24mm Tokina f/4 ATX and the 70-200mm (series) Canon.

I use a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens and I doubt, despite predjudice against zooms, that you could find a prime lens that beats the quality of the 70-200mm f/4L IS lens by any appreciable margin. If you need some more speed, then try an f/2.8 version of the 70-200mm "L" lens.

The Tokina also offers excellent IQ but, is a bit slow at f/4.

I use flash "creatively" in low light levels and don't rely on available light which can be chancy at times. Therefore, I can live with f/4 on my wide and tele lenses. After-all, I do the majority of shooting with my 24-70L which, of course, has the constant f/2.8 aperture.

I will carry the 24-70L and the Tokina (on their own bodies) around my neck on an OPTECH Reporter strap and the 70-200L (on its dedicated body) at my hip in a Tamrac Zoom-19 holster bag. The 70-200L is equipped with a hand strap on the camera, a screw-in hood and an OPTECH Hood Hat. I carry the case secured with the snap-strap; not zipped close. I can get this combination in action almost instantaneously.

With the above combination; I have a smooth 12-200mm zoom range at my instant use and enjoy outstanding image quality.

By-the-way; I am carrying my 70-200mm f/4L along with a second camera and a 17-55mm f/2.8L more and more often now because it is a far lighter outfit. For general shooting, this is a darn nice combination. Although I do like the extra range on the long-side of my 24-70L and I love the 12-24mm Tokina; the wide angle of the 17-55mm along with the IS of that lens makes it a pretty fair replacement for both the 24-70L and my Tokina for a lot of general shooting. When I need a bit more tele - the 70-200L provides that. I still carry one camera around my neck and the 70-200L at my hip in the Tamrac Zoom-19 case.

claudermilk · January 29, 2008

I certainly cannot disagree with that triumvirate...it's just about exactly my main kit. Except the 70-200 is the f2.8 version...and the lenses all have to share one body.

I find I typically only need a pair of them for any outing, either the 12-24 + 24-70 or 24-70 + 70-200.

I don't find the Tokina being f4 max to be an issue as I use it primarily outside as a landscape lens.

Photoskipper · January 30, 2008

I agree that carrying 2 bodies will give us a full smooth coverage. I did it during two serious photo trips in Europe and Tibet. I did not miss a single shoot.
5D with 24 -105 f4L is my primary gear on my hand all the time while the Rebel (300D) with 70-200 F2.8L IS is always hanging on my side.
So I have a good coverage from true 24 to 320 mm with a short overlapping from 105 to 112mm for travelling.
A 2X TC always standby in the lens pouch on the belt, I can extend my 70 - 200 to 224 to 640 in case I find something interesting in a long distance.
For wedding and other functions, I use the same 5D set up but a Tamron 11-18 for the 300D to cover a bit wider angle. Keep the 70 -200 in the bag just for some serious portrait or VIP on the stage.
Both L lens have same diameter 77 mm so I need only one set of filter - Polarizer and warm filter.

Must Buy Canon Lenses?

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