State your favorite canon lenses and why.

[Rameshsalvi]

What's your favorite canon lens and why? It would be good if you stated what kind of photography you generally do.

If you have more than one, then please rank them. But try to keep the list short. Perhaps limit to top 3.

[wq9nsc]

For most of the high school field sports I love the 300 F2.8.  It is extremely sharp with great contrast, AF is very fast, and it is light enough that I don't mind handholding it mounted on a 1DX 2 body for long periods of time.

Second favorite is the 70-200 F2.8.  It has good sharpness, good AF speed, and this is a very versatile zoom range.

After the new version of the 400MM F2.8 comes out I will take a serious look at it because with its greatly reduced weight and better balance it would meet my desire for a longer fast lens that can still be used without a tripod when desired.

I primarily shoot sports these days, otherwise my ranking of the Canon lenses I own would be different.

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

I rarely participate in these queries but this time I will say my favorite lens(s) is the one(s) you use the most.

At least they better be.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

...and why?  They are the best lenses of their kind made by anybody. Simple!

[cicopo]

My most used lenses are the 35-350 L & the 28-300 L IS & the 16-35 F 4 L IS. I shoot model aviation primarily & these lenses fit my needs best & therefore get a lot of use. I pick the 35-350 L when weight is the more importand part of the decision & the 28-300 L IS when I know I'll be relying on the IS because of slower than desired shutter speeds. These are pretty much always shot hand held by a senior citizen with bad shoulders.

[ebiggs1]

"My most used lenses are the 35-350 L ..."

You need to check out the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM S Lens.

[cicopo]

I just sold my 300 f2.8 L IS because I rarely used it. It may get replaced by the new 70-200 f2.8 L IS but having owned 3 70-200 L's in the past it's not a lens I used very often.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Rameshsalvi wrote:

What's your favorite canon lens and why? It would be good if you stated what kind of photography you generally do.

If you have more than one, then please rank them. But try to keep the list short. Perhaps limit to top 3.

---

And what are we doing if we participate in this survey? Helping you with a homework assignment for a college photography class?

If you tell us specifically what kind of photographic mission you intend to take on, I'll tell you what lens(es) I'd use. But I'm too busy right now to help you write an essay on lens selection.

[ebiggs1]

"...what are we doing if we participate in this survey?"

Yeah, I rarely answer these tell your favorite and why queries.

[Mitsubishiman]

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Landscape

Because they are superior

 

[amfoto1]

I shoot a lot of sporting events and my most used lenses are:

70-200mm f/4L IS USM

300mm f/4L IS USM

100-400mm L IS USM "II"

For mobility, I use the first two almost exclusively hand held... on rare occasions on a monopod. The 100-400mm I use hand held a lot, too... but also fairly often on a tripod w/gimbal head. It gets heavy after a few hours. The 100-400mm also is primarily an outdoor, daylight lens, with its f/4.5-5.6 aperture. The other two are a bit better in lower light... shade or bright indoors. In the worst lighting conditions, at times I switch to 70-200mm f/2.8L IS and 300mm f/2.8L IS. Those are bigger and heavier, though. I mostly use the 70-200mm f/2/8 hand held, but the 300mm f/2.8 is only hand-holdable for a short time.... and some events I shoot for 6 or 8 or more hours with few breaks. I find I use the f/2.8 lenses less now with newer cameras that have better high ISO performance.

I really can't (and don't) limit myself to just three lenses. I also usually have EF 24-70mm f/2.8L and either an EF-S 10-22mm or an EF 20mm f/2.8 in my camera bag for occasional use. Also a Tamron SP 60mm f/2 macro/portrait lens. 

If I know I'll be doing a lot of portrait shots, I'll leave the Tamron lens out and switch to 28mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8 and/or 135mm f/2.

Some other lenses in my kit are more specialized... a 500mm, several macro, tilt-shift, etc. They're all invaluable when necessary, but not something that I need and use nearly as often as the above.

Oh, and most of my shooting with the above is on APS-C cameras. I have a full frame camera, too... but it sees a lot less use. (Probably about 90% APS-C.... 10% FF.)

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & ZENFOLIO