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Archive 2006 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

johnastovall
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p.2 #1 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

roger lund wrote:
You stated you like fast primes, I take it your replacing the 85 1.8 with the 85 1.2?

and why are you getting a 50 1.2 if you have a 50 1.0? because of lack of quality at smaller F stops? Is it because of the slower speed that you don't have a 100mm prime?

Thanks

If you looked at the three lenses I plan to add this year the 85/1.2L is one of them. I may still keep the 85/1.8 for AF speed in some cases.

I don't know are care about the f/1.0L's quality at smaller f stops since I never shoot it stopped down to more than 1.2-1.4. I would never replace it as there nothing else that fast. It's a lens which is all about light not sharp. I want the 50/1.2L for when I want a lighter 50 and not worry if it were to get dinged.

I don't see the 100 doing anything that the 85 or 135L doesn't do better. It's a bastard focal length and with the 135L don't understand why anyone would buy it.

Dec 30, 2006 at 05:38 PM

malice4you
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p.2 #2 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

Non-L Prime
1. 85 1.8
2. 50 1.4
3. 15mm 2.8 fisheye
4. 50mm 2.5 compact macro
5. (not a Canon, but Sigma 150mm 2.8 EX DG macro)

Non-L Zoom
1. Haven't really been impressed by the non-L zooms I've used.
2. Though I suspect if I'd used a 70-300 4-5.6 IS, I'd be impressed
3. Maybe the 70-300 DO IS too?
4.
5.

L Prime.
1. 200mm 1.8L
2. 400mm 2.8L IS
3. 135mm 2L
4. 400mm 2.8L II
5. 300mm 2.8L

L Zoom.
1. 24-70 2.8L
2. 17-40 4L
3. 70-200 4L
4. 16-35 2.8L
5. 70-200 2.8L

These are lenses I've owned, though there are plenty of other lenses I'd like and if I owned them would make the list. For example, I don't own the 85L or 35L or the 500 4L IS or 600 4L IS, but I'd like to, and they'd probably make the list (with a few extra positions, cause there'd be more than 5 favorites). I'm a lens whore...I'm sure I could think of a dozen other lenses I still want (and have reasons to need them)

Dec 30, 2006 at 05:43 PM

wimg
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p.2 #3 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

Hi Roger,

Here's my list:

Non-L Prime
1. TS-E 90 F/2.8
Used for macro, product photography, landscape details, portraits, flowers, panormas, etc. Incredibly sharp and versatile lens, even though it requires manual focusing.
2. EF-S 60 F/2.8
As above, except the panoramas, just a bit shorter for a different perspective.

Now for some I still would like to add to this set:
3. EF 100 F/4 Macro
For obvious reasons

4. MP-E 65 F/2.8
Yes, another macro lens

5. TS-E 45 F/2.8
To complete the set for macro, product photography, etc.

Non-L Zoom
1. EF-S 10-22
I used to have a 20 mm F/4 in my analog years. This is light years ahead, in quality and versatility. Great for landscapes, for a different perspective, for group shots indoors and outdoors, and for architecture, both in- and outdoors.

Potential addition:
2. EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS
The ideal walk-around do-everything lens for a crop body. And that is it for the wishes department in the non-L zooms

.

L Prime.
1. TS-E 24 F/3.5 L
Landscapes, architecture, panoramas, macro close-ups of flowers etc. Incredibly versatile lens.

I'd like to add a few more L-classics, whenever I manage to save enough funds

:
2. EF 85 F/1.2 L
3. EF 24 F/1.4 L
4. EF 300 F/2.8 L
5. EF 500 F/4 L
And there are a few more. I reckon this would be the order in which to add them, for me anyway. Portraits, low light indoors, sports, and nature photography.

Of course, I wouldn't mind to have a go at the 35 F/1.4, the 135 F/2 and the 200 F/2.8 either. These are all in the range of focal lengths I use a lot

.

L Zoom.
1. EF 70-200 F/4 L
This is the sharpest zoom I own, and it is incredibly useful to me for sports close-ups, landscape details, and (candid) portraits. No loss of quality with extender 1.4 X, as far as I can see. I may want to exchange this for the IS version, when I get half a chance, having discovered IS recently.
2. EF 17-40 F/4 L
Great lens for landscape work, walkaround standard zoom for a crop body, architecture, close-up portraits, candid indoor work as I have a steady hand and manage 1/20 s at 40 mm with this lens. Great allrounder, very sharp.
3. EF 24-105 F/4 L IS
This lens I got recently, because I liked the quality of the pictures taken with it by other people, and because to me it is the ideal portrait zoom on a crop camera (38-168 eq.), candid and posed, especially because it is aided by IS as well. It is also a great lens for landscape details, and architecture details.
4. EF 100-400 F/4.5-5.6 L IS
Great general nature photography, certain (outdoor) sports, and landscape lens, and great at candid portraits too. The IS allows me to shoot at 1/45s at 400 mm with a success rate of about 60%! You have to learn how to handle this lens, but having used push/pull zooms in the past, that wasn't a big issue, especially after discovering you should only use the friction ring as a lock, rather than try to set it for some non-existent optimal setting. Unlock it completely when using it, and just support it with one hand - works great for me. Wonderful lens!

Lenses still on the list:
5. EF 70-200 F/2.8 IS
I'd love to go to a concert with one of these...

5. EF 16-35 F/2.8
5. EF 24-70 F/2.8
Sorry, couldn't help myself... Knowing what I can do with the 10-22 and 17-40 indoors, I would really love to try out these last two as well

.

You may have noticed there is quite an overlap in focal lengths here, and the reason is simple. I use different ranges for different approaches, so I tend to choose the range I take or bring along for a specific subject. Also, I like to have an overlap when it comes to zooms, as this means I have to change lenses less often. If I have two lenses with an overlap with me, one on the body, it means I don't have to grab another lens immediately. I find this especially useful when doing candid work, indoors without a flash, or outdoors. There is a bigger chance of getting the right picture, with the right focal length, i.e., perspective and framing, of a fleeting moment that way, at least IMO.

Anyway, this is my very long story of my preferred lenses and how I use them

.

Kind regards, Wim

Dec 30, 2006 at 05:46 PM

Flappie
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p.2 #4 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

Brutus_B wrote:
Sorry but a totally pointless idea because everyones "top" choices are going to be totally dependant upon what they may shoot, their budgets, and how many other lenses they may used/owned.

If I for example have an intrest in sports photography, what good is it going to do me to see a list of someone who's a landscape shooter. His gear wont work for me needs and mine may not work for his needs.

If someone with a $15,000 budget list their choices, and I only have $1,500 to spend, what good will their choices to ? We've all got vastly different...Show more →

100% agree. You can't compare apples with oranges. What is the best telelens? The Leica 15 mm Super-Elmarit or the EF 100-300 mm?

F

Dec 30, 2006 at 05:52 PM

januuski
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p.2 #5 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

What do you use the 90mm Tilt-Shift for? what are your likes and dislikes about it?
Do you use the 50mm Macro for non macro work or just Macro?

I got the 90mm tilt-shift for product and food photography but I use it all the time for portraits and general shooting of my kids and family. It is fun to use however the manual focusing can be tricky. I use the Angle Finder all the time. It is very sharp and very special lens.

I love my 50mm Macro. I took thousands of shots with that lens and it was my favorite on my 10D. It is great for cameras with smaller sensor. Great colors, very sharp, nice bookeh, inexpensive, can be used as a macro or a portrait lens just the auto focusing is slow. I dont use it as much on my 5D because I like the 90mm ts-e better on the FF camera. Still a great lens and great value.

Edited by januuski on Dec 30, 2006 at 11:07 PM GMT

Dec 30, 2006 at 06:06 PM

Rubber Soul
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p.2 #6 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

roger lund wrote:
I am posting this for two reasons, to both see what everyone thinks are the best lenses, and so others can read this at a later time.

Taking into account price, useability, and quality:

Best Canon "L" Primes:

1. EF 135 f2L
2. EF 300 f4L IS
3. EF 180 f3.5L Macro
4. EF 200 f2.8L II
5. EF 85 f1.2L

Best Canon non-L Primes

1. EF-S 60 f2.8 Macro
2. EF 100 f2.8 Macro
3. EF 85 f1.8
4. EF 50 f2.5 Macro
5. EF 100 f2

Best Canon "L" Zooms

1. EF 70-200L series
2. EF 24-70L
3. EF 100-400L
4. EF 17-40L and EF 16-35L (tied)
5. EF 24-105L

Best Canon non-L Zooms

1. EF-S 17-55
2. EF-S 10-22
3. EF 70-300 IS
4. EF 28-105 II
5. EF 28-135 IS

Did I rank these lenses? Actually, no. These are all the under $2000 lenses with at least 30 user reviews from this website, ranked according to their average score.

Dec 30, 2006 at 06:39 PM

ovredal73
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p.2 #7 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

From my experience with lenses that I own or have owned and used extensively:

Non-L Prime
1. 50 1.4
2. 90 Tamron Macro
3. 50 2.5 macro
4. 15 fisheye canon
5. 20 1.8 sigma

Non-L Zoom
1. 10-22
2. Tamron 28-75
3. 70-300 DO
4. Sigma 18-50 2.8
5. Sigma 12-24

L Prime.
1. 85 1.2
2. 35 1.4
3. 24 1.4
4. 135 2.0

L Zoom.
1. 80-200 2.8
2. 24-105
3. 16-35
4. 24-70
5. 70-200 f4

Dec 30, 2006 at 06:58 PM

roger lund
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p.2 #8 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

wimg wrote:
Hi Roger,

Here's my list:

Non-L Prime
1. TS-E 90 F/2.8
Used for macro, product photography, landscape details, portraits, flowers, panormas, etc. Incredibly sharp and versatile lens, even though it requires manual focusing.
2. EF-S 60 F/2.8
As above, except the panoramas, just a bit shorter for a different perspective.

Now for some I still would like to add to this set:
3. EF 100 F/4 Macro
For obvious reasons

4. MP-E 65 F/2.8
Yes, another macro lens

5. TS-E 45 F/2.8
To complete the set for macro, product photography, etc.

Non-L Zoom
1. EF-S 10-22
I used to have a 20 mm F/4 in my analog years. This is light years ahead, in...Show more →

Wim,

Fantastic Post, thanks for the info and explanation of why and what you use them or would use them for.

Dec 30, 2006 at 07:20 PM

roger lund
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p.2 #9 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

Januuski, johnastovall , thanks for the reply to the question.

Rubber Soul , ovredal73 , malice4you

Thanks for the input!

And Brutus_B, I am first most a student of life, and I enjoy to learn and more than likely qualify as a nerd.

Dec 30, 2006 at 07:24 PM

Brooke Clyde
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p.2 #10 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

Sports and people.

Non-L prime: 50/1.4, 85/1.8
Non-L zoom: No opinion
L prime: 85, 300/2.8 and f/4 IS
L zoom: 70-200 IS. 24-105 IS

Dec 30, 2006 at 09:15 PM

KFG1
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p.2 #11 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

I only named lenses that I own, have owned or have tried for long periods of time. My interest is mainly sports shooting, travel lenses, and ambient light (no-flash).

Non-L Prime
1. 85 / 1.8 - the basketball lense. I have had other non-L primes and only this one remains.

Non-L Zoom
1. 10-22 - an amazing lense, wide and great, a very fun lense for anyone with 1.6x
2. 17-55 - great lense but never used it enough, had a dust-free copy but sold to a friend

L Prime.
1. 85L II - makes magic happen.
2. 35L - great low light lense may very well be the best in this application.
3. 135L - a classic, maybe the sharpest still made, never fails to amaze.
4. 400L /2.8 IS - the ultimate sports lense.
5. 300L /2.8 IS - for the times the 400L is just too long, great sports combo.

Love the following L primes also:
24L - great in low light, mine is as sharp as the 35L, fantastic street lense, very underrated.
50L /1.2 - recently purchased limited use so far, but I love the results it produces, may make the "Trinity" a "Quadrilogy".
200L /2.8 II - may be the best value in the L series, fantastic for sports and extremely sharp.

L Zoom.
1. 70-200L / 2.8 non-IS - my sports back-up, phenomenally sharp for a zoom.
2. 70-200L /2.8 IS - for those times when traveling with low light in mind.
3. 24-70L - has seen the world with me and produce great results.
4. 17-40L - great wide lense and very sharp.
5. 24-105L /4 IS - will purchase soon to compliment 24-70L but not replace, great travel lense.

Dec 30, 2006 at 09:24 PM

roger lund
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p.2 #12 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

Brooke Clyde thanks for posting.

KFG1,

Thanks a ton for the time you took.

To all, If anyone has a website with examples of your work or lens, please edit and or post with them. I would love to see your work!.

Thanks again.

Dec 30, 2006 at 09:32 PM

Liscia
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p.2 #13 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

I will only enumerate these what I normally use on my 30D. I have these
because they work for me. Opinions are cheap so I won't give any as
worthwhile opinions should only be given based on actual experience imo.
I have culled other lenses over the years but you don't want to know about
those.

Non L Prime:EF-s 60mm f/2.8 Macro
EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
L Prime : EF 200mm f/2.8L
EF 35mm f/1.4L
L Zoom :EF 17-40mm f/4L (mostly just for the wide end)

Dec 30, 2006 at 09:48 PM

moondigger
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p.2 #14 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

I am only going to list lenses I have actually owned or used myself. So if you're wondering why a particular highly-regarded lens isn't on my list, it's probably because I haven't tried it myself. "Near misses" are lenses I have owned or used, but I didn't think measured up to the others on the lists.

Non-L Prime
1. 85/1.8. No question -- best of the non-L lenses. In terms of IQ, nothing to separate it from an L lens.
2. 15/2.8 fisheye
3. 135/2.8 SF - highly underrated lens. L- image quality at a truly bargain price.
4. 100/2.8 macro
5.

Near misses: 50/1.4, 50/1.8, 35/2.0, 28/2.8, 24/2.8, 100/2.0. All very good lenses, but not in the same league as the above.

Non-L Zoom
1. 28-70/3.5-4.5 II - discontinued, old, ergonomic disaster, but by far the best non-L zoom lens Canon ever made in terms of IQ. The non-L L.
2. 28-105/3.5-4.5 - Inexpensive, ergonomically a dream compared to the 28-70, though image quality is not incredible like the 28-70. Still very, very good.
3. EF-S 10-22/3.5-4.5. Feels strange putting it on this list, as it will only fit a small subset of Canon cameras, but it's a truly great ultra-wide lens if you have a dRebel, 20D, or 30D.
4. 20-35/3.5-4.5. If you need an ultrawide zoom but can't afford L glass, this is your only option. Luckily it's pretty good.
5. 28-135 Image Stabilized -- Image quality similar to 28-105, maybe a touch better, with IS. More expensive though, and in my experience it falls quite a bit short of the marked 135mm on the long end.

Near misses: 70-210/3.5-4.5

L Prime.
1. 135/2.0L
2. 300/4L (non-IS)
3. 85/1.2L
4.
5.

Near misses:

L Zoom.
1. 70-200/4L
2. 28-70/2.8L
3. 70-200/2.8L
4. 70-200/2.8L IS
5. 17-40/4L

Near misses: 16-35/2.8L, 100-300/5.6L. Haven't tried the 70-200/4L IS.

I do lots of kinds of photography - Portraits, candids, weddings, landscape, nighttime, occasionally some architecture and wildlife/birds. I don't do enough architecture or birding to warrant the purchase of a tilt/shift or super telephoto lens, though of course Canon has some excellent choices in those areas.

Dec 30, 2006 at 10:00 PM

wyan
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p.2 #15 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

Top L Prime:
200/1.8L, 300/2.8L IS, 85L, 180L Macro, 35L tied with 135L

Top Non-L Prime:
100/2.8, 100/2, 85/1.8, 50/1.4, cannot think of another one, maybe the cheap 50/1.8.

Top L zoom:
70-200/2.8L IS, 70-200/2.8L, 24-70L, 70-200/4L IS, 70-200/4L

Top non-L zoom:
70-300 IS DO. 17-55IS, 28-135 IS. no idea about others.

Dec 30, 2006 at 10:23 PM

ChrisDM
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p.2 #16 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

roger lund wrote:
May I ask why you say that the slower zoom with a longer focal length would be better for landscapes? I would think you would want wider, unless your saying that because of the IS.

In my example, the 24-70 and the 24-105 have the same wide angle of view, but the 24-105 is much better for landscapes because of the IS. But as I mentioned, it isn't as good a wedding lens as the 24-70. So, as the answer always is with these "which is better" threads, the only correct answer is, "It depends."

Dec 30, 2006 at 11:13 PM

mh2000
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p.2 #17 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

>>What do you use the 90mm Tilt-Shift for? what are your likes and dislikes about it?
Do you use the 50mm Macro for non macro work or just Macro?

This wasn't directed at me (but it could be

)

The 90 gives the finest IQ I see from any Canon prime... it's really that good. I use it for anything that the FL is reasonable for and for situations where AF isn't absolutely critical. With a good focusing screen manual focusing is hardly a hinderance (and of course the tilt and close focusing is nice as well). The CM is the best small 50 from Canon... for macro or just as a nice little prime.

here's my list:

90TS-E
135L
45TS-E
24-70L
85/1.8
70-200/4L
50 CM

Dec 30, 2006 at 11:21 PM

mh2000
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p.2 #18 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

100mm a bastard length lens

Dec 30, 2006 at 11:25 PM

moondigger
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p.2 #19 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

mh2000 wrote:
100mm a bastard length lens

?

I don't get it. It's exactly double a 50 which is still considered standard. How would anyone consider 85 and 135 non-bastard lengths? I like even multiples... kind of like going out with my 45 and 90mm TS-Es.

I'm not sure what you're referring to, as I haven't read the entire thread...

But when you're putting together a set of primes, generally speaking (at least in the old days, when zooms were mostly crap) you'd start with a 50mm, then buy the lenses that were roughly 1.5 - 1.6 ratios off of it. 50 x 1.6 = 80, so an 85mm lens was a good jump up without being too much. 85 x 1.6 = 136, so a 135mm lens is about right. That makes 100mm a 'bastard' length from that point of view. The standard set of primes was 28, 35, 50, 85, 135...

Dec 30, 2006 at 11:33 PM

mh2000
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p.2 #20 · Top five zooms and primes, opinions.

ok, I guess I don't remember that 1.6 rule... and I guess it depends on how many primes you want to carry. I like a 2X ratio or greater for myself... and I like carrying 2 primes. A 50 and 100 is a great combo for my shooting. My 45 and 90 make a second nice pair. I can even go with a larger ratio depending on what I think I'll shoot (I went out with only a 45 and 135 today). I wouldn't go out with a 28 & 35 or 50 & 85 in primes... just pick what I thought was the better choice... or if I really felt I needed that much help framing I'd take a zoom.

Thanks for the explaination though! As I said, either my memory is getting hazy or I just ignore these rules in general and was never paying attention.

Dec 30, 2006 at 11:53 PM

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