what is your favourite lens???

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chris
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thought i would get peoples opinion,does not matter what make or model you shoot with.what is your favourite lens and why?maybe even post a few pics with your chosen lens :)
 
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My favourite lens is probably my EF 24-105L just because of how versatile it is, it's small and light enough to throw around and it has a very useful range on my 5D2 and EOS 10 film SLR. When I'm generally wandering around taking photos it hardly ever leaves my camera!

A few shots on my 5D2 with it:


Untitled by Paul Nichols, on Flickr


Untitled by Paul Nichols, on Flickr


Untitled by Paul Nichols, on Flickr


Untitled by Paul Nichols, on Flickr

And just for fun a few taken with it on film. Getting all old skool here!


Untitled by Paul Nichols, on Flickr


Untitled by Paul Nichols, on Flickr

This is going to be one of those threads that makes people want new toys, I can tell!
 
It was always my 85mm f/1.8 on my Canon 5DII but now my favourite current lens is the Olympus 75mm 1.8 on my OM-D.
 
Ahem, I think you'll find at the moment that particular 50mm lens is in fact on my RB67! :D

Would be an awful shame if I requested that back tomorrow wouldn't it? :D
 
I don't have a favourite, they all serve a different purpose so I guess my answer would be whichever is attached to the camera body.

It's like asking what's your favourite hammer.

;-)
 
It was a toss up between my Tamron 17-50 2.8 and my Canon 70-200 f4. But I'll have to say the Tamron is my fav at the moment. It's always on the camera, So sharp, so versatile and soo much better than my kit lens was. It's one reason I'm keeping a Crop format, I'm just so pleased with the lens I got myself for my Birthday :P
 
Probably my 24-70. Really versatile and very good lens overall.
May change now I've shelled out on a 135 though... :)
 
Golly, choosing just one lens is difficult, so much so that I can't :D

DSLR lenses.
Sigma 50mm f1.4... A nice lens and on my 5D I could live with it as my only lens.
Sigma 85mm f1.4... IMVHO it's even better than the 50mm but it's bigger and heavier.
Sigma 12-24mm... I liked this on my 20D and on my 5D it's... interesting! :D
Sigma 150mm f2.8... It's a great lens but so big and heavy.

Funny how they're all Sigma. I have no great love for any Canon lens I've ever owned. I suppose the Canon 50mm f2.5 "macro" almost made my list, but it didn't.

MFT.
Voigtlander 25mm f0.95... This is very possibly the best lens I've ever owned or used.
Minolta 28mm f2.8, 35mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.4... I could live with any one of these as my only MFT lens and on MFT I can't really fault the image quality they give.
 
Fish-Eye.
I have an old 3-aperture, fixed focus, 12mm Panomar on an M42 mount.
Its not a great lens. I have to take it off the camera to see what aperture I'm on.
It makes 'round' pictures... only not 'quite'... it chops the top and bottom off
And it frequently doesn't even get the circle centred on the frame.
It has big-bow front element.
Lens flare is a bludger.
You cant use any filters.
The angle of view is so wide you have to be bog off careful to make sure you look at all four corners of the frame... and tripple check them to make sure you haven;t got a finger, hanging strap, or the person stood behind you learing into the shot.
Meanwhile the magnification is so low, that anything more than about four feet away, is so tiny 'detail' is non existant, while anything less than four feet bows.
THEN there is the small matter of metering. Yeah... forget it. TTL ,metering through the thing is a wast of time. Such a wide field of view spreads the metering centre over such a huge expanse of scene as to be almost irrelevent; especially if you have, in such a wide view, a LOT of sky, or a LOT of fore-ground, or a LOT of shadow.
BUT I LOVE IT
You have to know it's foibles. Sod Sharp. Sod vignetting. Sod exposure accuracy.
This lens you HAVE to use your head, and a bit of 'craft'.

You have to look at the subject, and ponder how the lens is going to distort it.... look at it through the camera, twist it, move it, see what it does... you HAVE to loo at everything 'differently' and anew every time.

Then.... you have to look at the scene, and weigh it up. Ponder what the meter suggests. Look at the scene again. Look through the lens, ponder how much bright sky you have, or how much shaddow in the corners.... maybe get a hand-held meter out, or pop on another lens and compare EV's! Then look again, and ponder some more.

THEN when you are through pondering..... you have to make your final composition... peer at what is in the center looking very very small.... then check the edges.... and the corners, and the edges again.... and then you can press the shutter!

And what you get?

941983_607783472579907_731161764_n.jpg


Some-times!

It's just 'fun'.

I got it, ooohhh... about 1995 and the novelty still hasn't worn off.
 
Nikkor f1.4 50mm AI. I've used this on my 30D with an adapter, but it's more at home on the F2. Probably no better than the more recent offerings from Nikon and Canon, but I'm fond of the old, metal bodied, MF lenses and I've had this one since new. It has some history on it too.
 
Nikkor f1.4 50mm AI. I've used this on my 30D with an adapter, but it's more at home on the F2

A similar story. My (current) favourite lens is a Nikkor 105mm f2.5 pre - AI which I have used on a D3200 but is much better on a Nikon F.

It's like asking what's your favourite hammer.

Do you give your hammers names? My favourite two are called Brutus and Hercules.


Steve.
 
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24-105mm f4 L IS for the do-everything-lens that is always the right lens to bring.

35mm f2 as my preferred light weight prime. If I want to go somewhere with lighter gear, I'd ditch the 24-105 700g zoom and use this 200g prime.

85mm f1.8 for its sharpness.
 
wow.never expected all this response.i just purchased a 50mm 1.8 for my 1100d.still not had a proper chance to use it.
 
A lot of people love that 24-70! Mine is up for sale. have a buyer in fact. Just waiting on him to collect. It is a great lens, but since I got the 35mm it just wasn't getting much use. If they ever bring out a VR version I might snap it up though
 
50/1.4 is by far my most used/take everywhere lens.

It still is in a way, but the 135L blows it away in every way except focal length :)

Makes the 50mm seem mediocore which is a shame. Maybe I should go for a S35 or 35L......... :lol:
 
My Canon 24-70 is on the 5D2 most of the time unless I'm taking macro's, so it's my favourite lens.

Here are a few samples.

Pouncer3%20resized-L.jpg


IMG_1201%20resized-L.jpg


CRV1-L.jpg


IMG_1241%20cropped%20and%20resized-L.jpg
 
Love my Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 but just re purchased a Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 and thats the one which will be my go to lens in decent light.

Tamron 28-75mm

beach.jpg


dartmouth.jpg


england.jpg


marley1.jpg
 
Some from a local stroll round Oakwell Hall country park yesterday with the Tamron 24-135mm, lovely sharp lens

o1.jpg


o2.jpg


o3.jpg


o4.jpg


o5.jpg
 
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As a walk-about, the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 (older non-VC model) rarely comes off the 30D these days.



 
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Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f0.95 - Nothing quite like the rendition this lens gives!

j8n.jpg

(one of the first shots with this lens, 1/30s, f0.95 @ ISO 6400).

nb7b.jpg

(1/15s, f0.95, ISO12,800)

17cm minimum focus combined with razor sharp optics stopped down is a great feature :)
w1tz.jpg
 
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