Although my Canon Macro 100mm 2.8 L USM is an absolute beaut, its very niche. In terms of just having a lens on my Canon 5D (full frame) for a day I'd go for either my Canon 28-70 f/2.8 for variety or, perhaps a seemingly dull choice but I LOVE it - my Canon 85mm f1.8 (well all that playing with DOV....) I'm sure this question has been asked before but I've given up studying my White Balance assignment after 6 hours and I'm BORED! So.....fave lens...and why!
Favorite lens and why? I have aps-c cameras so I am going for my Sigma 18-35 f1.8 art lens. It is mounted on another brand body 90% of the time. Sharp and fast. Great for low light photography. I would be more than happy to buy it in EF mount if my long term plan was to stay with aps-c. In Canon land, my EF 70-200 f4 IS. Small, light, sharp. Gary
I have a variety of cameras and lenses and go through fads but I use a Canon 28 to 105 mm lens as my general purpose work horse or I have a thing for my Super Takumar 50mm F1.4 with a M42 mount. I have 3 of these old film lenses. They are small light and I get excellent results using them.
I hope that I am allowed to have multiple favourites. My favourite lenses are camera based. On my Pentax APS-C cameras: Pentax DA 18-135mm is favourite on my K-3, Sigma 17-70mm is favourite on my K10D. On my Canon cameras: Canon EF 50mm f1.8 is favourite on my full frame EOS1-Ds, Canon EF 75-300mm is favourite on my EOS 20D APS-C. If I were to buy another lens (which I shouldn't!) I would like to get a general purpose Canon EF 24-105mm. I was lent one for a day once but sadly I had to give it back.
The 24 to 105mm is a lovely compromise for various shooting needs, I have a older one that came with a canon EOS 100 film camera.
I love those old film lenses- my brother in law uses them exclusively and gets excellent results. 28- 105 is a brilliant range for all times I imagine
Yes you can have more than one- I did! I've heard great things about the 24-105mm, lucky you got to try one! What was the f value on the one you tried?
I keep hearing great things about Sigma's. Several times I have considered a Canon compatible Sigma instead of a Canon but have always changed my mind at the last minute.......that's interesting that you get so much out of the EF 70-200....I had a kit lens sold to me at the beginning that was a 70- 300mm and ended up selling it- the zooming was clunky not smooth at all (although it was only about £90 I think!).....the 70- 200 must be a much better updated version?
I'm a weird case for this site because my main camera for my own use is a Nikon D7000; I probably use Canon more, but almost entirely for testing lenses I'm buying and selling on eBay, Canon and a lot of other types with adapters. The only Canon lens I currently own (apart from the ones I'm selling) is an oldish 18-55 that originally came with a 300D. The one I've recently used and liked a lot is a 70-210 3.5-4.5 ultrasonic, it's a bit heavy but works really well. Some pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/150868539@N02/albums/72157677784928387
It was the L-Series lens which is f4 throughout the focal length range. It was beautiful to use and the build quality is excellent and that probably justifies its rather substantial price which unfortunately is outside my comfort zone. I am happy to have been able to use it for a while. Here are a few images taken with it. It was my first day using the 1Ds and I didn't have a lens for it so a mate lent me his 24-105. They were shot in JPG as I did not know how to set it up to shoot RAW. C0EW0794_ACDC by rayallen posted Apr 28, 2019 at 8:46 AM C0EW0797_ACDC by rayallen posted Jun 10, 2018 at 9:01 AM C0EW0774_ACDC by rayallen posted Jun 10, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Marcus, I think you will find that a great many of the people on this site are in the same boat, the only real requirement is a active interest in photography
With Sigma, some people love them, others loathe them. It is personal taste I guess. Many moons ago I had a Sigma zoom lens that fell into two parts for no good reason. So I am aware of the Sigma's of old. But I think that they have come along in leaps and bounds both physical and optical quality. I am sure that they put out average lenses, but they also put out so real gems. Have a look at the LensTip website. Sigma put out a nice 105mm f1.4, and 135mm f1.8. So I think they are worth a look at. I am sure some will disagree with me. The Canon 70-200 f4. It is a nice L lens. If you ever get the chance to give one a go, I would highly recommend it. One stop slower than the f2.8, but it is easy to lug around all day long because of the size and weight. A good question, but hard to answer. If I was buying today, I would be leaning towards the Canon EOS R. The new lens lineup for this mount looks impressive. RF 50mm f1.2, RF 28-70mm f2.0. But I don't think my piggy bank would take a hit like that at the moment. There is a camera shop in the city that I live in that has a good second hand turnover, and I do keep an eye open with what comes in. 5D's come in on a regular basis, so one of the later marks could be on the cards as well. I have few more pressing projects going on in life at the moment, so buying a new camera is near the bottom of the list. Gary
I like the look of the 70- 210 USM photos- you aren't selling it by any chance? How interesting that you are a Nikonphile but deal in Canon lenses! Do you also trade in Nikon lenses? What Canon lenses are you selling atm? I have all the lenses I 'need' (well can you ever have enough? ), I'm doing a apprenticeship in newborn photography, but wildlife photography is my hobby interest- any recommendations for a decent middling telescopic to start me off on my hobby? I haven't been able to justify buying one yet but if the right one came along........
I'll second what Gary has said. I used to avoid Sigma lenses because of some of the bad stories I had heard but in more recent times Sigma have reinvented themselves and are now one of the leaders. I have a Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4.0 and it is a star. I also have a Sigma 150-500mm f5.0-6.3 and it performs beautifully. If I needed another lens I would buy a Sigma without hesitation. They are not cheap but if you want quality you have to expect to pay for it and, in their case, it is worth it.
Here is an example taken with the Sigma 150-500 with my Pentax K-3 because the lens is a Pentax K-mount. Hand held @ 500mm, 1/800, f8 and ISO 640.
I can't even think of another body either- I've built my whole kit around the 5D including lighting even, but I don't have a problem with that. MPB is my fave trading site, and I have an app for loaning lenses. That can end up adding up too though if you need a lens for a whole assigment in my case! oooh where did you find the cheaper equivalent?
