• The Canon Rumors Forum has officially been shut down as of July 10, 2026.

    All data will be deleted on September 16, 2026.

    the ad free experience will return by July 17, 2026.

What was your first L lens?

My first L lens was the 35L, bought it as an upgrade to my only fast prime at the time (the 50mm f1.4), as I needed a wider lens to be my all around lens. The 135L followed a month later as a result of watching dozens of amazing shots taken with that lens on flickr!
 
Upvote 0
My first was the venerable 70-200 F4L which I promptly sold when the IS version came out. Though it's "only" F4, I really like the images this lens will produce and if my wife had to live life with only one lens, this would be it.
 
Upvote 0
Mine was a secondhand beat up 70-200 f2.8 non IS I picked up for $800 a couple of years ago. I was amazed how quick the af was and how sharp the image was but I didn't use it much because most of my shots were either side of its range. My second was a 24-105 that came with my 5D3 that I'm really happy with. Earlier this year I tried the 70-200 again and noticed there was water damage on the lens element. The short story is that insurance replaced that old beat up 70-200 with a nice new 70-200 f2.8 IS II ;D
 
Upvote 0
Mine was, as other members of the forum, the 70-200 f4L bought it in Nov 2011 in a trip to NY from Boston (where I initially went for a conference).
It completely amazed me, at the time I only had Sigmas and the 50 1.8II and an old 10D... Something like 6 months later I bought an used 5D Mark II with a 24-70 2.8L version I and this was a huge upgrade... to be able to shoot at ISO 800 and above!!! WOW!!!!

Still nowadays, almost 3 years later I still love the 70-200 f4L, versatile, lightweight for hiking and used a lot, always giving me very good results.

Since that I have decided that I won't buy any non L lenses, unless justified.

At the moment I am thinkingabout selling the 24-70 2.8L I and the 24 1.4L II that I bought 1.5 years ago to buy the 24-70 2.8L II, but I bet the 24 prime is not going to be easily sold here in Finland...

Cheers!!!
Victor
 
Upvote 0
Mine was a 17-40L which replaced my 2nd broken Tamron 16-35 Dii lens. It was a lens which also taught me the true value of Canon L lenses....I later sold it for a profit 3 years later when I needed an f2.8 version. The 17-40L was heavily used but looked and functioned in mint condition. Canon L lenses are exraordinarily well built and resistant to casing scuffs. Unlike Tamron and Sigma.
 
Upvote 0