Which Canon Lenses To Buy
Working out which is the best Canon lens for your needs will depend, first and foremost, on what kind of photography you shoot. Obviously there is no point recommending a portrait lens if you mainly shoot architecture!
which canon lenses to buy
There are cheap Canon lenses, and these are ones that are cheap and awesome too! The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is in the latter category, exhibiting stellar image quality whilst being the cheapest Canon EF lens ever made!
Despite its small size, the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM still manages to pack in 7 diaphragm blades, which result in surpisingly smooth and creamy bokeh. Many users actually find the bokeh more pleasing at f/2.8 than even the f/1.8 range of Canon lenses.
The zoom and focus rings are both silky smooth. All L lenses also produce great colours and contrast thanks to the high quality optics, and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM is no different.
Optically, the Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM is very impressive. Colours and contrast are excellent as with all L series lenses, and bokeh when shot wide open makes backgrounds melt away in a creamy swirl of colours.
One often unmentioned benefit of shooting with a Canon APS-C body is the relative affordability of lenses. This is obviously apparent if you consider the difference in price between APS-C and full frame Canon bodies in general, but the lower prices of the lenses is another huge benefit.
Achieving a shallow depth of field is impossible when using ultra-wide angle lenses, so the only thing apertures governs here is the amount of light entering the camera. The IS allows for an extra 4 stops, meaning the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM can be shot handheld even at 1/4 or 1/2 a second.
Canon EF-S lenses can only be used on Canon APS-C DSLRs. APS-C cameras have a smaller sensor, and the ES-F lenses are designed only to fit that sensor size. EF lenses, on the other hand, can work on any full frame or APS-C Canon camera bodies.
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When updating this guide, I considered more than 30 lenses from several manufacturers and read lens reviews by the dozen before finally putting 12 lenses to the test in various real-world shooting scenarios.
We tested a total of 12 lenses for this review, observing their performance in everyday shooting scenarios, as well as during specific assessments to determine their capabilities in focusing, sharpness, shake reduction, and depth of field. We conducted all DSLR lens testing with the Canon EOS Rebel SL3 and all mirrorless lens testing with the Canon EOS RP. We noted the physical experience of using each lens and evaluated the final results by examining our images. After several weeks of testing, we narrowed down the field to the nine lenses we are recommending in this review.
As you expand your collection of lenses for your full-frame mirrorless Canon camera, we think the versatile focal range, portability, and affordable price of the Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM make it the ideal telephoto lens to start with.
From landscapes and street scenes to images of subjects ranging from people to cars, standard lenses work by delivering that normal perspective, where obvious lens effects are minimal. They can easily and creatively blur backgrounds, when you focus close on a nearby subject.
As the Canon DSLR range established itself, a huge range of lenses arose to cater for photographers of all ability levels. The result is that the EF-mount lens catalogue is one of the best and most comprehensive you can find. Even though the firm is focussing on RF-mount mirrorless cameras these days, Canon DSLR users are still spoiled for choice when it comes to EF and EF-S lenses.
Though not the newest of lenses in the EF-S lineup, this fast zoom is an appealing optic for Canon users who demand a fast-aperture lens that produces pleasing results. The AF performance is accurate and quiet, while the image-stabilisation (IS) system is effective at allowing users to shoot three stops slower than is otherwise possible.
Tamron has been on something of a discontinuation spree with its DSLR lenses lately, but there are still some excellent lenses from the manufacturer available for Canon EF mount. Case in point: the Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD.
This review will cover prime lenses first, and then consider zoom lenses that will also serve you well as a portrait lens. By the end of this article, you will know what is the best Canon lens for portraits that meets your budget and circumstances.
This lens will provide outstanding image quality at a lower price than the Canon portrait lens. I have a friend whose wedding and portrait photography is breathtaking. And she uses nothing but Sigma Art lenses on a Canon body.
Canon portrait lenses are fairly rare. The L series of Canon lenses are not for the financially faint of heart. They are built for daily professional use. They feature dust and moisture resistance and have an impressive build quality.
From a professional lens, you would expect glass elements. The Canon uses a molded glass aspherical lens with 14 elements in 10 groups. The front element has a fluorine coating to repel moisture and oil, which reduces smudging.
There is a substantial price difference between this and the best Canon portrait lenses. A tighter budget might lead you to choose this. Or you might prefer the pictures it takes or the way it handles. Whatever the reason, it would be a sound choice for a general lens that can stand in as a portrait lens when needed.
As a quick clarification, this review covers Canon portrait lenses with an EF-mount. They will fit directly into an APS-C Canon EF-S mount. With an adapter, they will also fit a Canon M-mount camera. In both these cases, you will need to apply a crop factor of 1.6 to get the effective focal length.
So a 90mm focal length prime lens or similar would be the go-to lens for portrait photography. This was in the days when zoom lenses were pretty rare and pretty specialized. Zooming and focusing at the same time takes quite a bit of skill. So zoom lenses really only took off when autofocus became common.
But who uses prime lenses these days? And if they do, why? Prime lenses tend to be lighter and have fewer distortion issues. Most importantly, they are almost always faster. Their widest aperture will be wider than a zoom lens.
Images, and the devices that capture them, are my focus. I've covered cameras at PCMag for the past 10 years, which has given me a front row seat for the DSLR to mirrorless transition, the smartphone camera revolution, and the mainstream adoption of drones for aerial imaging. You can find me on Instagram @jamespfisher.
Canon uses the Rebel branding for its consumer SLR series, a marketing push that started in the film era when wild-haired tennis superstar Andre Agassi was the company's pitchman. The Rebel line lived on into the digital era, swapping out 135 film cartridges for APS-C format digital sensors. Midrange digitals didn't use the branding, but camera lines from the 10D through 90D, as well as the 7D and 7D Mark II, all share the same sensor format and lens mount. These cameras work with the made-for-APS EF-S mount as well as full-frame compatible EF lenses.
Full-frame system owners are a little more limited in lens choice. If you have a 1D, 5D, or 6D series SLR, you can use only full-frame compatible EF lenses. Most Canon SLR lenses are in the EF family, but it's still worth watching out for when you shop for new glass.
Canon's other ILCs are mirrorless. They fall into two lineups with lens systems that are not cross-compatible. The first, EOS M, debuted in 2013 and works with EF-M lenses. If your camera has the letter "M" in its model name, it uses an EF-M mount. This includes the first EOS M through follow-ups like the latest EOS M6 Mark II; other series like the EOS M100 and M200; as well as the EOS M50 and M50 Mark II.
Canon hasn't supported the EF-M mount as well as its other lens systems. The company released only eight EF-M lenses in total, though some third-party manufacturers like Sigma offered alternatives. The available lenses tend to be compact and sport relatively dim apertures, so this system is a better option for photogs who don't want to spend loads on bulky F1.4 primes or F2.8 zooms.
The lens library isn't vast, but these cameras can use EF and EF-S SLR lenses via an adapter if you don't mind putting a big lens on a small camera. If you're interested in a new lens for your EOS M series, click through to read our picks for the best Canon EF-M mirrorless lenses. 041b061a72