Welcome back after the long wait!

This is the 8th article in this series of lens articles and the last. If you have missed the past articles, this is a series of articles about me sharing what are the lenses from the various manufacturers that I will pick & use on a personal basis. Today, I am going to pick my lenses from the Canon EOS DSLR Lens line-up.

You are reminded again that this is NOT a ”buying guide” or a technical review of each lenses. You can easily find those all over the internet. However, I am sharing based on personal experience, usability and how well these lenses compliment your work.

My Pick for Best Canon Zoom lens (General Lens).
This is the lens that I will probably bring it everywhere I go, for commercial shoot or leisure walkabouts.

My pick will be the EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM. Introduced since 2002, covering from a wide angle to medium telelphoto at a constant bright apeture at F2.8, this is the lens that I used most often for my commercial work ranging from weddings to events coverage. Trusted by professionals worldwide, this lens certainly lives up to its reputation. Sharpness is redefined with this premium zoom lens as it produces photos comparable to those shot with L Primes. This is not a light lens at 950gm, and when mounted on my 5D Mark II or 1D Mark IV plus the addition of a EX580II Flash on either unit, the combined weight can be a little too heavy for some. 🙂 Positioned as the “Top of the Line” (And the most expensive) Standard Zoom Lens, the lens build is very solid, handling ergos are well sorted and no wonder this the favourite lens for most wedding & event photographers. Though tagged with a “Macro”, this lens only managed a magnification ratio of 1:0.29X, so it gives closer focusing distance and this is not a real macro lens. (Real Macro lens is 1:1). Focusing is extremely fast with Canon’s proven Ultrasonic Motor (USM) and the color reproduction is probably the best in Canon’s Standard Zoom family. I never regretted buying this lens.

Some Quick Information:
Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM
Format: Full Frame, but can be used on cropped bodies with a corresponding 1.6X increase (1.3x for 1D series).
Focal Range: Wide Angle to Medium Telephoto 24mm-70mm or 38.4mm-112mm on 1.6X APSC. (1.3X APSH 31.3mm-91mm)
Filter Diameter: 77mm
Supplied with Box: Instruction, Lens Pouch & Lens Hood EW-83F.
Suggested Alternative Lens: Canon EF24-105mm F4L IS USM.

My Pick for Best Canon Telephoto Zoom lens (Telephoto Lens).
This is the lens that I will use for portraiture work, short range wildlife shots & street photography.

My pick for this category has to be the EF70-200mm F2.8L IS USM. A super popular “L” Series Lens (before the Mark II arrived), this lens is built top-grade-solid, precisely put together and designed for professionals. Portrait Photographers swear by this lens utilizing the sweet spot from 70mm-150mm while Sports or wildlife photographer love the flexibility of adding on a 2X extender to have a light & compact super telephoto lens that doubles the focal range. The image stabilizer (IS) work superbly well for all handheld applications as the weight distribution of this lens is very well balanced. The IS comes in 2 modes, where mode 1 is strictly for handheld use (so switch it off or to mode 2 when used on tripod) and mode 2 offers a panning mode where the compensation shift is horizontal suitable for tripod use. With 23 elements in 18 groups including 4 UD elements, this large lens is 1570gm so it is slightly on the heavy class but delivers sharp & high quality images that had set the benchmark for industry standard. Well, if all the professionals love this lens, they can’t be wrong. 🙂

Some Quick Information:
Canon EF70-200mm F2.8L IS USM.
Format: Full Frame, but can be used on cropped bodies with a corresponding 1.6X increase (1.3x for 1D series).
Focal Range: Medium Telephoto to Super Telephoto 70mm-200mm or 112mm-320mm on 1.6X APSC. (1.3X APSH 91mm-260mm)
Filter Diameter: 77mm
Supplied with Box: Instruction, Lens Pouch, Tripod Ring Mount & Lens Hood ET-86.
Suggested Alternative Lens: Canon EF70-200mm F2.8L IS USM II (If you have the extra cash)

 My Pick for Best Canon Standard lens (Prime Lens).
This is the lens that I will use for a wide variety of applications when zooming is not everything.

This will come as a surprise to many. My choice for this category is the Canon EF35mm F1.4L USM. In my view, this is the most versatile lens in the prime lenses line up and one of the most popular L Series primes. Why so? Personally I use this lens for a variety of applications. I use this lens as a walkabout lens on my 5D MkII as the 35mm standard wide is good enough for landscape shots, great for doing portraits that do not requires too tight a crop and plus its bright constant apeture of F1.4, this is a great lens for applications where flash is not allowed. Amazing fast focusing lens running on USM so no moments are missed or blurred 🙂 .
Sitting on the L Family Line, lens build is expectedly solid, and this lens is light at 580gm and compact making it a good choice to carry it everywhere. Picture quality is among the best in the competition and if I can only bring one lens out, I will only bring this gem.

Some Quick Information:
Canon EF35mm F1.4L USM.
Format: Full Frame, but can be used on cropped bodies with a corresponding 1.6X increase (1.3x for 1D series).
Focal Range: Standard Wide 35mm or 56mm on 1.6X APSC. (1.3X APSH 45.5mm)
Filter Diameter: 72mm
Supplied with Box: Instruction, Lens Pouch & Lens Hood EW-78C.
Suggested Alternative Lens: Canon EF35mm F2.

The above 3 Canon lenses are the lenses that I will ONLY buy if I can only have 3 lenses for my Canon system. (I have these lenses. :)). The selected lenses above are not your buying guide, but instead, what I will want to have in my camera bag. Canon L-Series Lenses are legendary and seriously they are excellent. Though on the pricey end, I am sure many Canon fans will buy up the scale for the best of image quality and hardware quality. Best of both worlds if you ask me.

Disclaimer:
The above reviews/statement/ findings/ comparisons/ claims are solely personal views consolidated, compiled & based on personal surveys, usage experience, feedbacks from fellow users. This article is NOT PAID by the Brand owner and this article is presented as a reading reference from 1st person point of view.