7D Walkabout lens

[protegimus22]

I am looking for a new lens for my 7D. And would welcome some opinions on options. I refer to it as a ,walkabout, lens as I want it for every day snaps when out and about around the city and at home in the garden with the kids. At the moment I am leaning towards either a 24 - 70 f2.8L or 24 - 105 f4. What does everyone think?

[wavemachine]

The problem with both those lenses as walkabout's is that when taking into account the 1.6 crop factor they lose out on the wide end, the FOV would take the wide end to 38mm which you may find a little restrictive for landscape work.

Having said that if I was going to choose one of the two lenses as a general walkabout I would opt for the 24-105 F4 IS as it has a greater zoom range along with the image stabalisation which will help with sharper images in low light. The optics of the lens aren't quite up to the 24-70 but they are still very impressive.

Currently I have a 7D and generally use the 15-85mm IS that I got with the camera and carry the 70-200 F4L also although I do wish I had gone for the IS version of that lens sometimes.

[Cathus]

I have the 24-105 & it's a great lens, good focal range giving you lots of options.

[protegimus22]

Wavemachine,

thanks for the info. I must admit I had not considered the 15 - 85. Even more food for thought.

[hssutton]

At times the 24-70mm can be a little on the long side, so I use mainly the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM Lens. The only down side being it will not fit on a full frame camera.

Harry

[Drew Smith]

The walk about lens for my 7D is the Canon 17-85mm IS. My version is very sharp and delivers pleasing images. Only minus is that it suffers from 'lens creep'.

[dan123]

This is one thing i struggle with, i have an 18-55, and a 70-200 2.8, ive used both while just wondering around, always seem to miss shots, if i use the 18 theres something interesting in the distance which i miss, so then i use the 70-200 and then thats not great for landscapes, so imo its whatever shots you want to be able to get more of, i now walk with the 70-200 most of the time,

dan

[leeristol33]

Hi Dave- have the 15-85 too, decent lens. I was contemplating the 70-200 f4L, what are your views on it?

[wavemachine]

Hi Leeristol33,

In short it is a cracking lens and good value with a street price around £500 on the minus side it has not got the weather sealing of other L series lenses.

It is not to heavy, has great optics, pin sharp and fast accurate autofocus, it also comes with a lens hood and carry bag. It does not come with the tripod ring and canon want extortionate money for one as well but cheaper alternative can be found on ebay although personally I have not found the need for one.

Sometimes I wish I had bought the IS version but I generally up the ISO if I need to it is one of my favorite lenses.

Here is a shot I took with my 70-200 F4L as you can see it is pin sharp:-

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by dan123

This is one thing i struggle with, i have an 18-55, and a 70-200 2.8, ive used both while just wondering around, always seem to miss shots, if i use the 18 theres something interesting in the distance which i miss, so then i use the 70-200 and then thats not great for landscapes, so imo its whatever shots you want to be able to get more of, i now walk with the 70-200 most of the time,

dan

I always walk around with the Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR on the camera ready for wildlife shots. If I want to shoot macros then I swap the lens, the same with landscapes. Landscapes don't move, so you have plenty of time to changes lenses but with macro and wildlife you might not have. Saying that, I have also shot landscapes with 70-200mm and with the macro when the light has changed but maybe only for a few moments. I'd rather get the shot than miss it.