If you want a quality telephoto zoom with longer reach, consider the EF 100-400mm IS USM, now available in a Mark II edition. Compatible with both cropped and full-frame bodies (and delivering equivalent coverage up to 640mm on the former), it’s ideal for capturing distant action or wildlife. The ‘L’ build quality is superb and…
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Canon’s EF 70-300mm f4-5.6L IS USM brings L quality to this popular zoom range. You get tough build quality, quick and quiet USM autofocusing, full-time manual focusing, effective image stabilisation and great optical quality in a barrel that’s comfortably shorter (albeit fatter and heavier) than the EF 70-200mm f4L IS USM. It may not feature…
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Canon’s EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS III USM is a professional workhorse for both cropped and full-frame bodies. It enjoys USM focusing, Image Stabilisation and ‘L’ quality, but what makes it really special is the constant f2.8 aperture allowing faster exposures for action shots and delivering nice blurred backgrounds for portraits. This aperture makes the lens…
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Canon’s EF 70-200mm f4.0L IS USM is the first ‘L’ lens in this list and really delivers the goods on both cropped and full-frame bodies. The range may not extend as far as 70-300mm models, but the optical quality is superb and as an ‘L’ lens, the build quality is also excellent. The lens also…
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The EF 70-300mm IS USM also works on both cropped and full-frame bodies, delivering a classic telephoto range. The price may be a lot higher than the model above considering it shares a similar range, but crucially this lens features both USM for quick and quiet focusing, along with Image Stabilisation to iron-out any camera-shake…
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The EF 75-300mm III is Canon’s most affordable telephoto zoom, and as an EF model it’s also compatible with both cropped and full-frame bodies, although its low price means it’s best-suited to entry-level cameras. The lens delivers a classic telephoto range, which extends to an equivalent of 480mm on a cropped body. There’s no Image…
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Canon’s EF-S 55-250mm is an affordable telephoto zoom designed for owners of mainstream cropped-bodies; as an EF-S model, it’s not compatible with full-frame bodies. The EF-S 55-250mm picks-up where the standard 18-55mm kit lens stops, extending the equivalent coverage to a maximum of 400mm. This is the second edition of the lens which now features…
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Canon’s EF 24-70mm f2.8L USM is a favourite of pro portrait and wedding photographers, and is now more popular than ever in an improved Mark II version. It delivers a perfect range on full-frame bodies for events from group shots to single portraits, and is also great for cropped bodies if wide-angle isn’t important. The…
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Canon’s EF 85mm f1.8 USM is an affordable classic portrait lens for both full-frame and cropped bodies. The 85mm focal length allows you to stand a little further away than 50mm models, while accentuating the blurred background effect. The f1.8 aperture is sufficiently large to achieve very blurred backgrounds and the USM focusing is quick…
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Canon’s EF 50mm f1.4 USM is another ideal portrait lens for cropped bodies and a step-up from the f1.8 model above. The higher price gets you a brighter aperture which at f1.4 can gather 16 times more light than the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens when zoomed-in. You also get USM focusing which is quicker and…
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