Understanding Canon Lens Options

J

jrod81

Veteran
Could someone take a moment for those of us new to Canon and explain the options in their lenses. Perhaps list them in the order of nicest to cheapest. I know there is EOS, EL, or something like that, what is the difference in all these and what works with the 7d?
thanks
jared
 
Basically you've got EF lenses, which have an image circle large enough to accommodate Full Frame sensors. These lenses will work on the 5D and the 7D.

Then you've got EF-S lenses, which have an image circle large enough to accommodate an APS-C sensor. These lenses will only work on the 7D. They are usually somewhat cheaper than their Full Frame counterpart.

There are "L" lenses, which some consider "luxury" lenses. In general, they are just all around better than plain EF and EF-S lenses - better construction, tighter tolerances, smoother zoom and focus rings, and higher quality optics. These lenses, like Jaguars or Bentleys, are expensive.

There are "prime" lenses that have a single focus length. In order words, they don't zoom at all. These lenses are usually faster and of higher optical quality than zooms. For example, a 50mm f/1.4 is a prime lens.

There are "zoom" lenses which allow the user to adjust focus length. If you are on a budget, zooms can save you money, if you shop smart*. For example, an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.5 is a zoom lens. You may notice that the f-stops have a range. This is because as you increase the focal length, the lens gets "slower". So wide open at 18mm you can shoot at f/3.5, but at 135mm you can only shoot as fast as f/5.5. Some zoom lenses are of a fixed aperture - they don't get slower as the focal length increases. That's a benefit, but it will cost you.

*Shop S-Mart!
 
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EOS refers to the DSLR camera line. I've never heard of "EL."

EDIT: You beat me to it, Michael!
 
Jurno said:
Right. But Michael's answer was helpful rather than just snarky.
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Sorry for the offense. I didn't mean it be snarky.

By the way, you didn't read what I originally wrote. I provided an explanation of the difference between EF and EF-S lenses. Then when I saw that Michael had already posted a great explanation, I deleted mine. So I also apologize for the confusion. I did not mean to just say there what "EOS" and "EL" are or are not.
 
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ydgmdlu said:
Sorry for the offense. I didn't mean it be snarky.

By the way, you didn't read what I originally wrote. I provided an explanation of the difference between EF and EF-S lenses. Then when I saw that Michael had already posted a great explanation, I deleted mine. So I also apologize for the confusion. I did not mean to just say there what "EOS" and "EL" are or are not.
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I would like to back this up, just for the sake of doing so. ydgmdlu did indeed post something very similar to what I wrote and it was, in no way, snarky.

P.S. Nothing on the evil dead reference? Really?
 
ydgmdlu said:
Sorry for the offense. I didn't mean it be snarky.

By the way, you didn't read what I originally wrote. I provided an explanation of the difference between EF and EF-S lenses. Then when I saw that Michael had already posted a great explanation, I deleted mine. So I also apologize for the confusion. I did not mean to just say there what "EOS" and "EL" are or are not.
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Fair enough. Well said. I was only going by what I saw. All is clear now.
 
Don't forget Canon's TS-E lenses which stand for "Time Shift Effect" and allow you to shoot backwards or forwards in time.
 
this is so helpful guys, I really appreciate it!
one more quick one for you: since the 7d has the APS-C sensor does buying the EF-S lenses take into account the 1.6 math difference- man, I don't know how to explain my question... I guess what I am saying is that a 50mm that is set up for a full frame sensor is actually going to be 80mm (50mm x 1.6) but would buying a 50mm EF-S do away with the need for that math and actually be 50mm???
I hope that is clear enough for an answer...
thanks
jared
 
An image captured on the 7D using a 50mm EF will be exactly the same in terms of magnification and FOV as an image captured using a 50mm EF-S.

The EF-S just projects a smaller image circle, which allows Canon to cut costs.
 
michael, thanks so much!
i hate to do it, but rather than start another thread, i have one more question...
right now I have a Nikon 50mm 1.8 and a Nikon 28mm 2.0 and I am just wondering if I should sell them to get Canon lenses or if I should buy adapters to have them work on the 7d? Will the adapter cause vignetting or any issues of that sort? should i hang onto the Nikon Nikor lenses or let them go and buy Canon EF-S (EF-S instead of EF for money purposes)...
thanks
jared
 
Well, some of it is personal preference. I am actually looking to acquire some fast manual aperture Nikon primes for use on the 7D.

So, my personal recommendation would be to get these guys: http://cgi.ebay.com/Fotodiox-Nikon-...ad3059c5d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_5664wt_1165

And mount your Nikons to the 7D. I'm guessing your Nikons are for 35mm (i.e. Full-Frame), so they should work beautifully - no vignetting or anything like that. The downside is that you will lose any electronic camera controls.
 
jrod81 said:
also, what are canon fd lenses or fd mount?
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FD mount lenses were for their old (i.e. up to 1987) camera systems. They won't work on the 7D (or any other camera produced by canon since 1987...) without an optical adapter. Unfortunately, these adapters are 3rd party OEM productions which many don't trust to produce decent image quality.
 
thanks for the help... i was just reading some other posts on the FD lenses and since i don't have any I see no reason in risking making them work with the 7d...
but if I can use my Nikon 28mm and Nikon 50mm, that saves some stress for certain.
is the zoom that comes with the 7D worth it at all or should I just go with the 7d body and save money for a better quality zoom later down the road?
thanks for that link to the nikon adapter
 
jrod81 said:
is the zoom that comes with the 7D worth it at all or should I just go with the 7d body and save money for a better quality zoom later down the road?
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If you can find the kit with the 18-135mm lens, which only costs $100 more than the other (more common) kit, then it might be worthwhile for the zoom range alone. The 28-135mm may not be "junk," but it's also not a great lens. Another problem is that 28mm provides what is considered to be a normal field of view on an APS-C camera such as the 7D. So the "wide" end won't be very wide at all. Neither kit lens is particularly fast, and both have variable maximum apertures across their zoom ranges. I recommend considering a faster zoom with a constant maximum F2.8 aperture.
 
Michael Olsen said:
I would like to back this up, just for the sake of doing so. ydgmdlu did indeed post something very similar to what I wrote and it was, in no way, snarky.

P.S. Nothing on the evil dead reference? Really?
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Thanks for the back-up! :beer:

P.S. I don't know about anyone else, but I haven't seen the Evil Dead movies, so I'm not a fan. I wish that I'd caught it, though!
 
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