From a price point objective I am wowed by the 50 1.8 and the 135L. From a money no object and I'm strong as an ox and can lug anything around my favorite is the 400 f/5.6, having sold the 70-200 2.8L IS.
I have better lenses than the 50mm 1.8, but that's the one that truly earns its WOW. Most of us have *filters* that cost more than this lens, but most of us don't have lenses that are any sharper.
I say wow every time I pay for a new piece of glass
I own a lot of lenses that I like, but recently I have had the opportunity to compare my 16-35 to other fixed lenses in that focal range and I find myself saying wow those other lenses are only marginally better than this lens within its aperture range.
Randy
Im gonna have to go with the 85 f/1.8 In my opinion its one of Canon's best value for money lenses. Its the only "nice" lense I have so far but what a great little optic.
My EF-S 60mm Macro still wow's me every time I use it. I did a sharpness test at f2.8 then compared to f8 - sharpness was identical from what I could see, however CA improved alot at f8.
Its ability to resovle sheer detail is stunning - if only I had a zoom this good!
And at this point you either
a. set a new olympic record for the tree climb
or
b. held up a sign that said "shouldn't you go hibernate" before you were plowed into millions of canon-pieces.
Wolverines don't hibernate Elrond. I didn't set any records but fell backwards on my butt and luckily the lens and camera had a soft landing (my belly). Sore all over. Tomorrow maybe the same hike with 500IS. I wish these lenses were smaller and lighter.
All my primes wow me from time to time especially the 200 2.8 but for shear "WOW! I didn't expect that" it's got to be the 50 1.8.
It's got quite a few faults but every so often it absolutely nails one.
70-200/4L; first L-lens I'd ever owned. First decent Canon with USM I'd ever owned. Thing focused silently and quickly compared to my Sigma and stuck me as "is this thing on".
Gene, just to let you know... my 10 y.o. daughter was walking by as I was strolling through your photos and she quite enthuiasticly let out a huge, "WOW!" and wanted to look at them all at length. Then she wanted to see a photo of the lens you used... which got a second WOW!
