Three Canon Lens Masters Pick Their Favourite Lenses

[Don Haines]

I would have to say EFS 17-55 F2.8.

It is a good quality general purpose lens, and spends more time on my camera than any other.

 

[YuengLinger]

ef 35mm f/1.4 II

But if they ever get around to making a good 50mm, that might be even more favorite. :

 

[toodamnice]

I love my new EF 16-35 f2.8L Mark III!

IMG_5788 1920x1080 by Christopher Kincaid, on Flickr

 

[Ozarker]

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM – “For me I’d have to say the 11-24mm F4L USM, because when launched, it allowed the widest angle possible on a full frame with no distortion.”

No distortion at 11mm? Is this true? No stretching of the image on the edges? I'm full of wonder if that is true.

Can anyone else attest to this? I know distortion can be corrected in post, but is he talking about straight out of the camera?

 

[PureClassA]

135L

 

[AdmiralAction]

I recently traded in my 17-40 f/4 L for the new 16-35 f/2.8 L and it has absolutely blown my mind!

Amazing what 7 years of advancement in tech can do. Love that lens! Works great as an everyday lens on my 7D Mk II.

 

[edknuff]

24mm tse mark ll.

 

[edknuff]

I recently traded in my 17-40 f/4 L for the new 16-35 f/2.8 L and it has absolutely blown my mind!

Amazing what 7 years of advancement in tech can do. Love that lens! Works great as an everyday lens on my 7D Mk II.

Yeah. I need to replace my 16-35 mark ll.

 

[privatebydesign]

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM – “For me I’d have to say the 11-24mm F4L USM, because when launched, it allowed the widest angle possible on a full frame with no distortion.”

No distortion at 11mm? Is this true? No stretching of the image on the edges? I'm full of wonder if that is true.

Can anyone else attest to this? I know distortion can be corrected in post, but is he talking about straight out of the camera?

There is close to zero barrel, pincushion or mustache distortion. There is projection distortion because that is unavoidable in a rectilinear projection at those focal lengths.

Don't confuse stretched objects in corners and edges with 'distortion' as referred to in lens design.

Straight lines stay straight, circular objects get pushed into ovals, that is an unavoidable consequence of the projection and is not an error/optical failure.

 

[privatebydesign]

I recently traded in my 17-40 f/4 L for the new 16-35 f/2.8 L and it has absolutely blown my mind!

Amazing what 7 years of advancement in tech can do. Love that lens! Works great as an everyday lens on my 7D Mk II.

The 17-40 was launched in 2003. It's true replacement, which is a massive improvement in every respect, is the 16-35 f4 L IS from 2014, 11 years difference. The MkIII 16-35 f2.8 was 2016, or 13 years tech time.

 

[SkynetTX]

Since most of the time I take macro photos and am on a budget it's the EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM. Sometimes it's really hard to get close enough to the beetles and spiders to use 1:1 or larger magnification ratio but I usually managed to solve it. If once it will be created my other favorite could be the EF-S 300mm f/5.6 IS USM Macro.

 

[IglooEater]

Kenichi Izuki referred to the 70-200 2.8 nom-IS as "so hard to design.. Any thoughts on why that one would be particularity difficult to design? Perhaps later lenses were more computer assisted in the design process? Would it really be more difficult than the IS version? Obviously he's right- he's the master.

Here's another 70-200 2.8 IS II as being my favorite.

 

[Ozarker]

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM – “For me I’d have to say the 11-24mm F4L USM, because when launched, it allowed the widest angle possible on a full frame with no distortion.”

No distortion at 11mm? Is this true? No stretching of the image on the edges? I'm full of wonder if that is true.

Can anyone else attest to this? I know distortion can be corrected in post, but is he talking about straight out of the camera?

There is close to zero barrel, pincushion or mustache distortion. There is projection distortion because that is unavoidable in a rectilinear projection at those focal lengths.

Don't confuse stretched objects in corners and edges with 'distortion' as referred to in lens design.

Straight lines stay straight, circular objects get pushed into ovals, that is an unavoidable consequence of the projection and is not an error/optical failure.

Projection Distortion. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I had no idea what to call that kind of distortion.

In that case, I am still happy with my Tamron 15-30.

Favorite lens? Probably my EF 24-70 f/2.8L II as an all around lens. I've got to be extra careful even taking it out of the pouch as just it's shadow will cut through flesh and bone. It is extremely sharp and renders very well.

 

[privatebydesign]

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM – “For me I’d have to say the 11-24mm F4L USM, because when launched, it allowed the widest angle possible on a full frame with no distortion.”

No distortion at 11mm? Is this true? No stretching of the image on the edges? I'm full of wonder if that is true.

Can anyone else attest to this? I know distortion can be corrected in post, but is he talking about straight out of the camera?

There is close to zero barrel, pincushion or mustache distortion. There is projection distortion because that is unavoidable in a rectilinear projection at those focal lengths.

Don't confuse stretched objects in corners and edges with 'distortion' as referred to in lens design.

Straight lines stay straight, circular objects get pushed into ovals, that is an unavoidable consequence of the projection and is not an error/optical failure.

Projection Distortion. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I had no idea what to call that kind of distortion.

In that case, I am still happy with my Tamron 15-30.

Favorite lens? Probably my EF 24-70 f/2.8L II as an all around lens. I've got to be extra careful even taking it out of the pouch as just it's shadow will cut through flesh and bone. It is extremely sharp and renders very well.

This is the difference in 'distortion' between your Tamron and the Canon at 15/16mm.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Distortion.aspx?Lens=977&Camera=453&FLIComp=0&LensComp=986&CameraComp=453&FLI=3

 

[Ozarker]

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM – “For me I’d have to say the 11-24mm F4L USM, because when launched, it allowed the widest angle possible on a full frame with no distortion.”

No distortion at 11mm? Is this true? No stretching of the image on the edges? I'm full of wonder if that is true.

Can anyone else attest to this? I know distortion can be corrected in post, but is he talking about straight out of the camera?

There is close to zero barrel, pincushion or mustache distortion. There is projection distortion because that is unavoidable in a rectilinear projection at those focal lengths.

Don't confuse stretched objects in corners and edges with 'distortion' as referred to in lens design.

Straight lines stay straight, circular objects get pushed into ovals, that is an unavoidable consequence of the projection and is not an error/optical failure.

Projection Distortion. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I had no idea what to call that kind of distortion.

In that case, I am still happy with my Tamron 15-30.

Favorite lens? Probably my EF 24-70 f/2.8L II as an all around lens. I've got to be extra careful even taking it out of the pouch as just it's shadow will cut through flesh and bone. It is extremely sharp and renders very well.

This is the difference in 'distortion' between your Tamron and the Canon at 15/16mm.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Distortion.aspx?Lens=977&Camera=453&FLIComp=0&LensComp=986&CameraComp=453&FLI=3

Okay, now I am not happy. :'(

 

[bgateb]

<a href="https://www.dpreview.com/articles/3376563810/we-asked-3-canon-lens-masters-to-name-their-first-and-favorite-designs">DPReview</a> asked three Canon lens masters at the Utsunomiya lens factory to name their favourite lens designs (as well as their first). One of the responses may surprise you.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Masato Okada: Deputy Chief Executive of Image Communication Products and Operation

</strong><em>Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM – “For me I’d have to say the 11-24mm F4L USM, because when launched, it allowed the widest angle possible on a full frame with no distortion.”</em></li>
<li><strong>Kenichi Izuki: Plant Manager</strong>

<em>Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM – “My favorite, which I truly remember because it was so hard to design, was the original Canon 70-200 F2.8 L USM non-IS.”</em></li>
<li><strong>Shingo Hayakawa: Deputy Chief Executive of Image Communication and Products Operations</strong>

<em>Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II – “… if I were to narrow it down, my choice would be a lens that came out in 2012: the Canon 24-70mm F2.8L II USM.”</em></li>
</ul>
<p>I’m not a lens engineer/designer, but I to have my favourite Canon lenses based on design, usability and performance. For me, my absolute favourite Canon lens is the EF 200mm f/2L IS USM.</p>
<p>What’s your favourite Canon lens?</p>
<span id="pty_trigger"></span>

The 'ol Trinity. gotta love it.

 

[privatebydesign]

Okay, now I am not happy. :'(

Now you know why the Canon 11-24 is a masterpiece

 

[vrpanorama]

Mine and without hesitation is the 8-15mm f4 L lens. This lens is the best fisheye lens achieving great vr results

 

[Viper28]

That I own the 300/2.8L
That I rent regularly the 200-400/4 1.4x just does everything I want, great design, fast focus and sharp

 

[bod]

EF 24 TSE II - Native 24 mm focal length with excellent IQ plus all the flexibility of the Shift and Tilt functionality.

A close second would be the EF 35 L II - really impressed with the IQ from wide open and if I had to have only one focal length in the bag for walk around it would be 35 mm ( or at least it will be when Canon Australia Service give the 35L back to me after having it to date for 3 months to improve an AF issue! )