Canon Lenses

Hi All,

Would like to find out from all the Canon Users out there... The MUST HAVE LENSES... you have in your kit and why????

Zooms would be 17-40L for the money. 70-200 f/4.0L IS and the 70-200 f/2.8L IS mark II variants.

The 17-55 f/2.8 IS EF-S lens should be considered an L lens...but Canon has weird restrictions for them.

The 24-70 f/2.8L is soft for the price...the update should be a lot better but is very pricey.

Canon shines in it's primes.
24 f1/1.4L II
35 f/1.4L (My favorite)
85 f/1.2L mark II
135 f/2.0L
100mm L macro lens, the current one is quite sharp.
MP-E 65mm Macro lens (this lens is INSANE but the learning curve is quite steep)
All the super primes are very nice.


I didn't include the 50mm f/1.2L lens because of design flaws (focus shifting from floating elements) .so your results may vary.

Omg... thats a lot of Lenses to carry not to mention the price... If you do (weddings/family portraits & kids) what will be the 2 best lenses to have... sorry about all the questions Scotty but am just unsure of the lenses I have atm if its worth to have or not...

I agree with what Scotty said.

But some changes from my personal experience.

The 17-55 is quite nice. But not as good as people make it out to me. It does tend to collect dust on the inside. Personally I'd prefer the 16-35 2.8L II even though it doesn't have IS and isn't as long.

So 16-35 2.8L II (or 17-40L F/4 if you can't afford it).

Then the 24-105 to me a a great walk around lens. The f/4 constant aperture may be a bit slow for some, but I found it quite useful and sharp.

That said, I'd probably get the new 24-70 2.8L II if I were back with Canon these days. If it's anything like the Nikon version, it'll be worth the money.

I'd couple that with the 70-200 2.8L IS II. IMHO it's Canon's most awesome lens (the Nikon version is just as good FYI). You could go for the 70-200 f/4 IS too, that's very sharp, smaller, cheaper and has great IS. BUT the 70-200 2.8L IS II is just awesome on a stick.

The 100 2.8L (macro) is awesome too. I'd put that on the list as a portrait lens too, though it's so sharp that you'll definitely need to soften the skins on more elderly ladies (they'll claim "I don't really look like that" I know, I've had it happen to me).

That's it, I don't feel the other primes are really necessary, though they're excellent to have for the speed.

So this is what I'd get if I were to go Canon again:

16-35 2.8L II (I owned this and it's awesome)
24-70 2.8L II (didn't own this, but judging from what the Nikon can do, I'll assume the Canon is just as good now).
70-200 2.8L IS II (owned this, BRILLIANT lens).
100 2.8L IS (I owned this, the Canon 100 2.8 macro and the Nikon 105 2.8 VR. The Canon 2.8L IS is similar to the Nikon, but slightly better because it is more effective at using IS when doing macro).

FOudy wrote: Omg... thats a lot of Lenses to carry not to mention the price... If you do (weddings/family portraits & kids) what will be the 2 best lenses to have... sorry about all the questions Scotty but am just unsure of the lenses I have atm if its worth to have or not...

Depends on your style. If you're going into this from a business perspective prepare to destroy your bank account.

FOudy wrote: Omg... thats a lot of Lenses to carry not to mention the price... If you do (weddings/family portraits & kids) what will be the 2 best lenses to have... sorry about all the questions Scotty but am just unsure of the lenses I have atm if its worth to have or not...

24-70 2.8L II is a lens you should get for weddings. If you're going to be making money from it, then you'll get it back. Then second to that is the 70-200 2.8L IS II. With those two lenses you have everything covered.

Though, no offence intended. I do wonder if you're doing weddings, then you should be good enough to do weddings. Therefore you should be good enough to know what you need to do weddings. Therefore I ask with the kindest of intentions... are you good enough to do weddings?

Hi there Stealthy, I would like to think I'm good enough to do weddings I've done around 10 paid weddings so far (in the past 2yrs) ...and a couple of friends as a secondary photographer (looking at getting into more weddings in the future and thats why Im asking all the questions...) Im doing more family & kids portraits atm & also working for a company doing schools/ kinders/child cares etc... Im hoping to get myself out there more as I do enjoy doing my own stuff....

I have 2x Canon 7D's ... one Im using and a second camera just in case.. Lenses: Canon Lenses I have 50mm f1.4 in which I hardly use.. Canon 18-200mm ( love this lense as I dont need to change my lens much at all, in which I find easier very lame reason...lol..) Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 LII & Canon EF 135mm f2 L... now these 2 lenses are new (6mths) to my kit and haven't yet use one of these for a shoot as I am more confident with my 28-200mm...

What would you suggest I should add/get rid off lenses wise from my kit... hoping to do more weddings, family portraits & kids..... appreciate your help & not to worry I will not take any of what you say to heart....

Scotty wrote:

FOudy wrote: Omg... thats a lot of Lenses to carry not to mention the price... If you do (weddings/family portraits & kids) what will be the 2 best lenses to have... sorry about all the questions Scotty but am just unsure of the lenses I have atm if its worth to have or not...

Depends on your style. If you're going into this from a business perspective prepare to destroy your bank account.

FOudy wrote: Hi there Stealthy, I would like to think I'm good enough to do weddings I've done around 10 paid weddings so far (in the past 2yrs) ...and a couple of friends as a secondary photographer (looking at getting into more weddings in the future and thats why Im asking all the questions...) Im doing more family & kids portraits atm & also working for a company doing schools/ kinders/child cares etc... Im hoping to get myself out there more as I do enjoy doing my own stuff....

I have 2x Canon 7D's ... one Im using and a second camera just in case.. Lenses: Canon Lenses I have 50mm f1.4 in which I hardly use.. Canon 18-200mm ( love this lense as I dont need to change my lens much at all, in which I find easier very lame reason...lol..) Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 LII & Canon EF 135mm f2 L... now these 2 lenses are new (6mths) to my kit and haven't yet use one of these for a shoot as I am more confident with my 28-200mm...

What would you suggest I should add/get rid off lenses wise from my kit... hoping to do more weddings, family portraits & kids..... appreciate your help & not to worry I will not take any of what you say to heart....

That's cool. I just worry (and it's a real worry) about people who say they want to be a wedding photographer without any real experience. You don't seem to be in this category.

I own a Nikon 28-300 which is the FF equivalent of your 18-200, I can totally understand your reasoning.

200 2.8L II and 135 f/2 L are great lenses (I owned the 200 2.8L II). I'd sell them and get a 70-200 2.8L IS II though. Seriously you won't miss those other two lenses. The 70-200 2.8L IS II is just as sharp and only a tad slower than the 135 f/2. If you only want to get rid of one, get rid of the 200 2.8L IS II.

You can see here:

This is a comparison (100% crop) of the 70-200 2.8L IS II and the 200 2.8L II. IMHO the 70-200 is just as sharp or sharper.

So this is what I'd do. Sell everything but keep one 7D. Buy the new 24-70 2.8L II and the 70-200 2.8L IS II and a 5DIII.

IF you can afford it get two 5DIII.

If you can't afford that, just sell all your lenses and get the 24-70 2.8L II and the 70-200 2.8L IS II.

OR you could sell everything, buy the 24-70 2.8L II and the 70-200 2.8L IS II and get a 5DIII and keep doing weddings till the 1DX comes out and buy that too.


Or sell everything, switch to Nikon and get D800x2, 14-24, 24-70, 70-200 2.8 VR II.