Deuts Into the World of Photography

This represents my lens collection (Click on the picture to enlarge). This is, of course, exclusive of the lens I used to take this particular picture, the EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM.

So far we have the following:

– Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM
– Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
– Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
– Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM

Focal Range Coverage

These lenses cover a focal range from 17mm to 300mm in a 1.6 crop body. In a full-frame body, this translates to an equivalent 27mm to 480mm. Just enough (I guess) for my needs.

Lenses that almost complement each other

I said “almost” because I should be lucky to be so sure. Yet, I have this feeling that this collection complement each other in a symmetrical manner. There appears to be a pattern. To wit:

• I have two primes (fixed focal length) and two zooms
• The zooms have IS (Image Stabilization), while the primes don’t have. Yet, the whole range described above is covered by the IS
• The primes are basically for low-light photography both with maximum apertures of 1.8, one for wide-angle (28mm) and the other for medium telephoto (85mm)
• The zooms both have maximum apertures at f/4-5.6, one for general walk around (17-85mm) and the other for super telephoto (70-300). The two lenses overlap at negligible range 70-85mm.

No L Lens

What? No red stripe in any of my lenses? No L Lens?

Yeah, unfortunately, unlike Mark, who already have the EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM and EF 70-200 f/4L USM, I don’t have any L-series lenses in my arsenal. I think that’s fine, sour grapes aside. Anyway, from the start I thought that if I should get an L lens, it would be for the superphoto lens, just like Mark Q’s EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM.

I’ll be fine with my EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM for the following reasons:

• It is capable of delivering quality pictures already, provided that you take the shots at well lit places like outdoors in a sunny day.
• It is very much lighter compared to those L lenses and easy to carry around.
• It is black, as compared to white L lenses, that helps you keep a low profile. It can be inconspicuous if you don’t want to blow your cover while sneaking around taking pictures.
• You get an extra 100mm focal range at 300mm, which converts to extra reach, as compared to the 70-200’s

Yet, if the time comes when I have virtually unlimited access to resources (who knows! LOL!), I might as well collect the best in the L-series.

Fill in the bag

A sneak peak into the contents of my camera bag, you will get to see the gears as shown in the picture that follow:

The next lens

I guess so far I’m satisfied with what I currently have in my arsenal. And oh, a macro lens. What do I think of the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM? Hmmmmmm…. let me check…

• No budget
• No more room for it in my bag
• Redundancy, focal length already covered, it will most likely serve only as a macro lens

Yet, pretty interesting lens, huh….LOL..!