I'll go with the 75-300IS replaced by the newer 70-300IS. It's an excellent knock about lense for vacations and getting shots at the kids ballpark. Wide open, it gives you pretty decent results.
70-210/3.5-4.5 is very nice in good light and are like $150-200.
Canon 20mm is very overlooked and often shunned because people think Sigma's 20/1.8 is so much better. $300-350
Canon 20-35L The best zoom in that range Canon has ever made. I have tried to buy one 3-4 times just because of how handy it is. Think they are around $5-600 now.
I see the SF 135 mentioned. Ive seen some cool reviews of them, but I still dont understand what its for. The 2 soft settings seem to soft.
Quite a rare (and old) EF L lens. Not anywhere near as fast to focus as the newer 70-200 f2.8, it is still very sharp, has the famous "L" color and contrast, and is much lighter and smaller.
If you can find one and don't mind the funky push-pull zoom, it makes a great companion to a 17-40mm to give you a good light weight travel lens kit. Throw in a 50mm f1.4 and you have most of your bases covered.
The extra 20mm on the wide end compared to Canons new telephoto zooms gives it a very versatile working range, especially on a full frame camera.
Here are a couple of samples taken a few days ago with the 50-200mm L.
Bob Bell wrote:
I see the SF 135 mentioned. Ive seen some cool reviews of them, but I still dont understand what its for. The 2 soft settings seem to soft.
You don't have to set it on the # "1" or "2" click stops. You can set it 1/3 or 1/2 of the way between 0 and 1 and get a very slight SF effect. So you can actually use it as a "variable" soft focus adjustment.
i have always said the 135 soft focus lens is one of the most often overlooked lenses in the canon line up. this is a regular 135 f/2.8 lens but it has a soft focus feature. i do no t use the SF feature, i use it as a regular 135 lens. even though it does not have USM it focuses fairly fast & accurate. if you ever have a chance to check one out i am sure you will be impressed with it.
This lens is a nice inexpensive 135mm that will produce very good pictures without the SF employed.
For SF, Randy Roy has spelled it all out as far as settings. I use it between
0 and 1 mostly and found it's best used on young children, seniors and flowers. It is a misconception that there are only two settings, 1 and 2, besides 0 (Off). You can set it anywhere between 0 and 2, not just at the "clicks". It takes a lot of practice to nail the SF down to a science and I have yet to done so.
so few zooms on the list of sleepers. Amazing. I still think the Sigma 28-70 f/2.8EX is one of the best walkaround lenses EVER. Not the 24-70, that's the newer replacement and not as good. But I must have gotten the best copy of the old 28-70 in the universe.... and for $300.
It appears that this is the new sleeper in the Canon lineup. I'll have to check out your thread as I might be interested in a lightweight zoom in that range.
I agree on the 100mm F2.0, it can take your breath away at F2.0, I love Canon because of it and the 200 F2.8L, everyone fixates on the 135 F2.0L. However, I am sure it can also take your breath away away at F2.0!
I also wanted to add the 50mm macro, what it can do is truly outstanding.
First marketed in 1987
"High-performance 3x telephoto zoom lens. Synthetic fluorite in group 1 and UD glass in group 2 achieve low refraction and low dispersion. They also effectively correct chromatic and other aberrations. Resolution is high throughout all focal lengths. Images are sharp and crisp. At the 300mm focal length, 0.25x magnification is possible." http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/ef/data/ef_100~300_56l.html
