A buyer's guide to Canon digital lenses

Canon has a wide range of lenses available for its digital cameras including focal lengths from fish eye and wide angle lenses to telephoto zooms. Some of its lenses are standard equipment while others fall under its high quality L-series range - these are usually white. This article will review this equipment, pointing out the best ones for specific situations and advising about potential cost.

Wide angle and fish eye

Wide perspectives On the wide end of the scale, covering a focal length of about 8mm-22mm, Canon offers two specialist lenses for its DSLR cameras. The fish eye is designed for photographers who would like to have fun and get creative while the wide angle provides an exaggerated perspective, but is still able to produce professional images. It is ideal for landscapes and architecture photography. Although these lenses tend to be expensive, they're still reasonably priced compared with some of Canon's L-series favourites.

Standard zooms

Walkabout lenses Canon also offers standard zoom lenses - some of the more popular ones include the wider angled 17mm-40mm and the more substantial 24mm-105mm. These lenses are known for covering a suitable focal length which makes them ideal as so-called walkabout lenses. Expense is dictated by the speed of the lens, so one that offers a fast f2.8 aperture, for instance, will usually be pricier than one that offers f4.

Telephoto zooms

Sport and wildlife photography Usually regarded as specialist lenses, these cover a focal range of 100mm-800mm, and are ideal for wildlife and sport photography, and any other form where getting very close to the subject from a far distance is required. Some Canon lenses in this range include the far-reaching 100mm-400mm, and the more specialised 70mm-200mm, which has an aperture of f2.8 and is regarded as Canon's premier lens. At the top-end of the scale is the 800mm prime, which is intended for professional use.

Macro lens

Flowers and insects Canon offers two macro lenses, the 60mm and the 100mm, both of which are recognised as quality camera equipment. Both are prime lenses (which means that they are fixed to one focal length) and they are ideal for taking close up images of flowers, insects and other small objects. They are specialised because they're able to magnify the subject and allow it to fill the entire frame.