Which lens to go for?

With a plethora of lenses to choose from in the Canon range, it can often be a difficult task to decide on which lens will best suit your requirements.

I run a camera website which contains reviews for most of the lenses currently available, so I thought I would share with you some of the more popular lenses on my site. Not everyone has lots of money to spend on the latest kit, so sometimes it’s worth looking out for good quality second hand lenses, as you can often save yourself a fortune. With that in mind, I’ve listed a guide price next to each lens stating how much the lens would cost brand new or second hand.

Hopefully this will give you some guidance when deciding which Canon lens is best for your photography style.

Lenses for landscape photography

Landscape photography generally works best with wide-angle lenses

If you’re into landscape photography, a wide-angle lens is generally the lens of choice with this style. This is because, with a wide-angle lens you can fit a lot more into the frame than with a telephoto or zoom lens: To get the maximum wide-angle, it is best to use a digital camera with a full frame sensor. Unfortunately this means the Canon 1D or 5D range. All the other digital cameras in Canon’s range use a cropped sensor which leads to greater magnification but less field of vision. Saying that, a wide angle lens on a cropped sensor camera can still produce excellent results!

Canon EF-S 10-22mm F3.5-4.5

Brand new: £442 or $699 | Second hand: £350 or $465

The 10-22mm is considered to have good image quality (sharp and low distortion) and build. The optical construction is similar to L-series lenses, but it is not designated as L-series (as reflected in the build quality), which some have argued is for marketing reasons. It is an excellent wide-angle lens, ideal for landscape photography

Examples of photos taken with the Canon 10-22mm lens:

Full review and check prices

Canon EF 17-40mm F4 L

Brand new: £481 or $699 | Second hand: £400 or $659

The EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens is a wide-angle lens made by Canon Inc. The lens has an EF mount to work with the EOS line of cameras. The L range of Canon lenses are signified by a red ring around the rim and is meant to symbolise superior quality. The Canon 17-40mm is one of the cheapest of the L range and due to the excellent zoom, is a very versatile lens.

Examples of photos taken with the Canon 17-40mm lens:

Full review and check prices

Canon EF 20mm F2.8

Brand new: £339 or $549 | Second hand: £220 or $275

The Canon EF 20mm lens is an ultra-wide-angle prime lens featuring rear focusing. Fixed focal length lenses are generally considered to offer a superior image quality over zoom lenses.

Examples of photos taken with the Canon 20mm lens:

Full review and check prices

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