Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Covering the Middle Canon's 24-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM wide angle to telephoto zoom lens was introduced as the "kit" lens companion to the Canon EOS IX APS slr. Given the 16x24mm APS film frame,it functioned as a 35-105mm mild wide angle to portrait lens on that camera. However, unlike the current EF-S lenses,which fit Canons APS-C digital cameras only, Canon designed all their APS film lenses to work with their 24x36 full frame camera. Thus Canon eventually offered this lens in a black housing for the 35mm market. Its advantages are that its compact, and it covers a good, useful set of focal lengths, from true wide angle to a short portrait telephoto. It's disadvantages are that your filter size is 67 mm, there is no macro setting and, there is noticeable barrel distortion at 24mm, noticeable especially when you are taking a picture of a brick wall, a single tree, or anything that is vertical or horizontal. It has also been more expensive than it's better known relative, Canon's 28-105 USM which I consider the best lens of its kind other than a Canon "L" model lens. So, why by it? Well, I got a good price, and despite some six years with the original owner, this particular lens is still in good shape. Finally, there are the above listed advantages, plus the fact that it is the designated normal lens for my Canon EOS 7ne, the last film SLR I will ever buy. Besides, my photography has changed. Once I took pictures of people. Now, it's more often landscapes and architecture, things were a 24mm focal length is desirable. However, there is still that classic 85mm portrait focal length at the other end. With careful consideration, you can get some really good portraits with that one. So that's my reasons. My one bit of advice is that before you buy, take a look at it and see if it fits the bill. John Bateson -Canon owner since 1972Read full review

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS I bought this lens used and used it for about 2 months. I had a couple fall day trips planned and I wanted something to reach a little farther than my 70-200mm. I picked this lens because there are one or two other long zooms I plan to try and I feel this lens was the standard to compare them to in the Canon arena. I liked that the lens is fairly compact for a lens with 400mm reach. When at 100mm, its about the same length as my 70-200mm f2.8 IS. Its a bit heavier than the 70-200, but not very noticeably. It seems well made. The zoom action is push-pull like some of the old Canon fd lenses except you use a separate ring to focus. The focus is quite fast, I was able to keep track on some relatively slow birds as well as some football players in action. This lens can be hand held in decent light (sunny), since its relatively light and fairly short compared to other pro-level solutions. The zoom does not creep as long as you tighten the variable friction ring before you sling the camera. The lens isn't very fast aperture-wise, but its as good or better as any other zoom in its class. You have to spend a lot more money and move to a prime to get a large aperture in these focal lengths. The Image Stabilization works well, but I can't help think this lens should have been updated to the newer 4 stop system Canon is using now. I have heard that a new version is right around the corner (early 2010). While don't mind the push-pull zoom, it makes accuracy a little more difficult. I tended to over-zoom, then under-zoom before getting the composition right. Also I think this type of mechanism tends to move the lens barrel around more during action which can make it hard to keep the lens on target while tracking moving subjects. While I liked this lens a lot and may end up with another one in the end, I'm anxious to try out the Sigma 150-500mm OS lens first. One additional detail I will add is that I recently dropped my 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens and had to ship it to Canon for repairs. The cost was very reasonable for the work required and the lens literally works better than it did when I bought it (and it was new!). The turnaround time was fast. MY point? Canons repair service reputation is another good reason to consider a Canon lens over other manufacturers, especially for the L lenses. WadeRead full review

Simply an incredible lense This lens has perfect image quality, seemless zoom and focusing controls, and the optimum telephoto range for outdoor and sports photography. Clarity is continuous from 100mm all the way to 400mm. With my old 100-300mm lense, I rarely shot over 250mm because I began to lose clarity. I compensated by cropping when I got home. With this lense, 95% of my wildlife photos don't need cropping (not to mention the improved color and clarity). It does work well with my 2x extender, but I find that I don't need it very often any more. I don't think you could find a better lense for photographing wildlife and sports. Drawbacks: 1. You pay for what you get. Even though clarity, focus, and zoom are the best available, I wouldn't say they are 10x better than an off-brand lense that you can get for 1/10th the price. 2. Weight. Did I mention wildlife photography? This lense rarely goes hiking. Though when it does, it is worth a few extra aches and pains in your shoulders, back, hips, thighs, quads, knees, calves, ankles, and feet. You WILL need to add the weight of a tripod to your pack as well. You won't be holding this lense up waiting for an animal to strike the perfect pose for long without some support.Read full review