Lenses#

Changed in version 2023.05.30.

Canon DSLR (EF)#

My main lenses#

  • The multi-purpose lens: Canon EF 24-105mm 1:4,0 L IS USM. I like to use it for reportage photography or as an all-round lens when I’m traveling with small equipment.

  • Tele: Canon EF 70-300mm 1:4,5-5,6 DO IS USM. It’s the world’s first consumer zoom to use Fresnel lenses, called by Canon “Diffractive Optics” (DO). This technology allows for a very compact and lightweight design while achieving a wide zoom range. In my opinion the ideal travel zoom.

  • The fast one: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM. It’s the cheapest and lightest lens in my collection. It is very fast, but you zoom with your feet ;) It is said that the 50s focal length tends to produce “boring” images because their perspective is very similar to that of natural vision. Well, that may be. Nevertheless, I find that interesting motifs and perspectives result in many situations, especially in the evening, at dusk or in dark lighting conditions. Also the low weight is sometimes a motivation “but take a SLR somewhere”. The 50 took away my fear/dislike of a prime lens. Working with one was initially unfamiliar, but you start questioning and experimenting with your motifs, perspectives and composition – which you might not have done if you had only had to “turn the zoom wheel a little”. I believe that every ambitious photographer should at least own a fixed focal length lens and work with it from time to time. Thanks to the really very low price and the really good performance of the lens, the 50 can really be recommended in this regard. This lens (or a similar one) should not be missing in any Canon system.

Complimentary lenses#

  • The wide angle: Canon EF 17-40mm/f/4.0L USM. It is really fun! The ability to shoot wide-angle shots in certain situations is truly exhilarating. Be it in the cockpit of a small sports aircraft, in the street canyons of a new housing estate or just in a small space… It’s just fun!

  • Canon EF 70-200mm 1:2,8L IS II USM: A real dream lens, the versatility of which I only realized after a while. Thanks to its focal length range from the (almost) normal lens to the telephoto range, it offers a wide range of options for designing an image, whereby the optical properties do not suffer. It is relatively bright, but unfortunately also quite heavy. It mainly has been replaced by my EF 70-300 DO.

Since I have several bodies, I like to combine them. I find the pairing of a 70-300 DO on my EOS 7D and the 24-105 on my EOS 5D Mark III very appealing.

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Fig. 107 An excerpt from my equipment: Clockwise from top left: Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, EOS 7D (in a silicone case), EOS 5D Mark III, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2, 8L IS II USM in a ThinkTank “Shape Shifter” backpack#

… for the (analogue) Nikon world#

I have 3 prime lenses for my F4.

[to be continued …]