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How to choose my lens

idanidan123
Enthusiast

I own the 70D, and I just want to know how can I know which lens will work with my camera, because I've heard that not all lens work with every canon DSLR. I already have the 28-105mm and the 90-300mm and they work perfectly.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

Canon EOS "EF" lenses (no suffix after the "EF") can be used on ANY Canon EOS camera body... film or digital... full-frame or crop-frame.

 

Canon "EF-S" lenses can be used only on cameras that have an "APS-C" size sensor (such as your 70D).

 

A few years back Canon launched a mirrorless line and there is a small number of lenses which are designed to be used exclusively with those mirrorless bodies.  They are labeled "EF-M" lenses.  

 

A Canon "mirrorless" camera can use any of the EF-M lenses, and via an adapter it can also use Canon EF-S lenses or Canon EF lenses.  In short, it can use any Canon EOS lens.

 

A Canon camera with an APS-C sensor can use any Canon "EF-S" lense AND can also use any Canon "EF" lens.

 

A Canon camera with a full-frame sensor (or a Canon EOS 35mm film camera even though these haven't been made in years)  can use any Canon "EF" lens (but cannot use the EF-S or EF-M lenses.)

 

There are a few specialty lenses such as the four different tilt-shiift lenses (designated as "TS-E") and one speciality macro photo lens called the "MP-E".  These can be treated like "EF" lenses which means any Canon EOS camera can use them.

 

 

 

So what's the difference?

 

The sensor inside a full frame camera measures 36mm x 24mm.    That's a diagonal measure of just over 43mm.  So as long as the lens projects an image circle into the camera body which has a diameter at least 44mm across then the image can completely cover the sensor (no vignettting in the corners).  Canon "EF", "TS-E", and "MP-E" lenses can all do this.

 

The sensor inside an APS-C camera (like your 70D) measures roughly 23mm x 15mm.  That's a diagonal of about 27mm.  It turns out the "EF-S" lenses were specifically designed for these cameras.  The lenses and it's optical elements are all smaller and it projects a smaller image circle into the camera body.  This allows Canon to reduce size, weight, and even cost... WITHOUT sacrificing optical quality.  However... since they only project a smaller image circle, the image projected into the camera body is not large enough to completely cover the size of a the larger "full frame" sensor.   Canon also pushes the lens elements back closer to the sensor (they can get away with this since the reflex mirror inside the camera is smaller and doesn't need as much space to swing clear).  A full-frame camera has a larger mirror which needs more space... and would likey crash into the rear-most elements.  For this reason, Canon designed the mount so that an EF-S lens will not actually mate properly with a full-frame body.

 

The mirrorless cameras, of course, have no mirror at all.  So the lens' optical elements can be even closer... allowing for an even smaller and lighter lens without sacrificing optical quality.  So these "EF-M" lenses can ONLY be used with the Canon EOS M series camera bodies.  However... since they're all EOS cameras and lenses, they know how to "talk" to each other.  This means with a simple adapter that holds the EF-S and EF lenses at the proper distance from the sensor (each lens is optimized for a specific back-focus distance) it is actually possible to use any EF-M or EF lens with a Canon EOS mirrorless camera (but that adapter module is needed. 

 

There are also 3rd party lenses.  Often the 3rd party lens maker will indicate if the lens is intended for use only with APS-C cameras or if it is designed for full-frame or APS-C cameras.

 

If you do NOT intend to go to full-frame then there's no advantage to buying full-frame lenses (in fact there's a disadvantage because focal length ranges are a bit different.).   If you know that you definitely DO plan to go full-frame in the future, then you may want to stick to only EF lenses.  

 

Just be aware that a normal 1x zoom is achieved on YOUR camera at roughly a 28mm focal length.  So things like the 28-135mm lens offers a "normal" focal length through a telephoto length ... but absolutely no "wide-angle" capabilities at all when used on a 70D body.    

 

A lens such as a 24-70 or 24-105 offer only a very very slight wide-angle (not much) when used on your 70D.

 

A lens such as the 16-35mm or 17-40mm zooms WILL offer some wide-angle through a rather mild amount of telephoto when used on your 70D... but on a full-frame camera those lenses will range from very-wide to moderately-wide.

 

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

View solution in original post

23 REPLIES 23

Most consumer cameras have around a "95%" viefinder.  You see about that percentage of the image that your camera will capture, so your actual image ends up taking in just a tiny bit more of the scene on all 4 sides.  

 

In instances where this makes any difference, you can fix this really easily in post by just cropping the image a little.  Better to have too much and need to crop than to have captured too little, since you can't zoom out in post to get more scenery than you actually captured.

 

The more expensive cameras do have 100% or closer to 100% viewfinders.  I definitely would not upgrade cameras based just on that though.

 

Much cheaper to get used to cropping in post.  Do you use a post-proccessing program like Lightroom, etc.?

Scott

Canon 5d mk 4, Canon 6D, EF 70-200mm L f/2.8 IS mk2; EF 16-35 f/2.8 L mk. III; Sigma 35mm f/1.4 "Art" EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro; EF 85mm f/1.8; EF 1.4x extender mk. 3; EF 24-105 f/4 L; EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS; 3x Phottix Mitros+ speedlites

Why do so many people say "FER-tographer"? Do they take "fertographs"?

Yes I do, but I don't do much of a post-prosccessing, just applying some presets.


@idanidan123 wrote:
Yes I do, but I don't do much of a post-prosccessing, just applying some presets.

Post processing can do a LOT for an image.

 Before

 

IMG_7288-2.jpg

 

AfterIMG_7290-HDR.jpg

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

You can also straighten the horizon!  Smiley Surprised

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!


@ebiggs1 wrote:

You can also straighten the horizon!  Smiley Surprised


You're good at noticing that I purpsely post imperfect pictures, instead of the finished version.

You always pick it up - SNAP - just like that.  You've got a sharp, critical eye.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."


@idanidan123 wrote:
People don't tell me I need a FF camera, it's just that most of the time when I want to take a photo, I don't like how to sensor is cropped and I don't see the whole scale of my potential photo. Actually people have told me there's really not such a big difference, but I really want the entire scale of my photos, and not just a cropped version.

I understand what you're saying.  I like to shoot landscapes and my shots were not wide enough with the crop body, although the EF-S 10-22mm on an APS-C body is equivalent to the EF 16-35mm on a full frame body.  It's up to the job.  The EF-S 10-18mm is supposed to be pretty good, too.  I prefer the 10-22mm for its' internal focusing and zooming, the 77mm filter size, and being faster than the 10-18mm.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

Yea, I think lens such as the 50mm could solve parts of the issue.


@idanidan123 wrote:
Yea, I think lens such as the 50mm could solve parts of the issue.

How so?  If you want "wider" photos, then a 50mm won't be near as wide as your 28-105mm zoom.  Yes, it is a much faster lens, and good in low light, but it will not give you "wider" photos.  Use your 28-105mm to get an idea what a fixed 50mm lens would look and feel like.  Based upon your original post, I'm not sure if it is the best lens choice to make.

 

The EF-S 10-18mm, or the EF-S 10-22mm, will give you ultra-wide images.  These lenses can give you pretty sharp images,   The 10-18mm sells for around half the price of the 10-22mm.  I think one of these will solve all of your "wider" photo complaints.

 

Then there are a handful of EF-S lenses in the 18-55mm and 18-135mm range.  Different versions reflect different designs.  Look for the "STM" at the end of the extended model number for those lenses.  !8mm means these lenses are nearly as wide as the ultra-wide zoom lenses I mentioned above.  These lenses are what are known as "standard zoom" lenses, good for walking around like a tourist.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

Canon lists *3* 18-135 lenses on the website. The newest is the EF-S 18-135 USM, which supersedes the EF-S 18-135 STM, the new nano USM technology is better than the older STM lenses.

One point.  There are no ef-s lenses made with the "L" classification.  If that is important to you.  It is to me.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!
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