lens love - what's your favourite/dream lens?

[postcardcv]

Comments have been made elsewhere on the forum that there isn't enough chat on here... so I've decided to try and start a few threads to try and get things going a bit.

I guess as we're all interested in taking photos, many of us will be interested in the tools of the trade. I have no hesitation in admitting that I am emotionally attached to some of my gear and I doubt I'm the only one. Much as I love cameras I get far more attached to lenses, cameras come and go but a decent lens is here to stay.

So I'm curious to know what lens(es) you have that you can't imagine parting with or which lenses do you dream of owning? I hope I'm not the only one who loves talking about the gear I use aswell as the photos I take.

[postcardcv]

I'm going to kick off with a lens that has grown on me and now I would hate to be without (will post about other lenses later).

A few years back I was shooting my first weddings and needed a good fast lens, I couldn't afford to buy new so ended up with a used Canon 28-70 f2.8 L. My first thought was that this huge lump of glass had better be good if I was going to have to carry it all day long. An hour of test shooting later and I realised that it was worth the weight, AF is super fast and acurate and the images were pin sharp even when shooting at f2.8. For the first few weddings I played it safe and shot at f5.6-f8 but got results I was happy with.

Then the doubts kicked in, would I be better with a 24-105 f4 (IS would be good) or even bite the bullet and buy the new 24-70 f2.8. I tried both and could see the appeal of them, but the 24-105 was softer even at f8 and the only plus of the 24-70 was 4mm at the wide end. So I stuck with the lens and started shooting wider, shooting it regularly at f2.8 I finally got what the lens was about. Now, many weddings later I can't imagine shooting a wedding without this lens, a definite keeper.

[Birdsnapper]

I love my sigma 10-20 wide angle on my 20D for landscapes. But at the moment it's a case of the last one is the best one. The Panasonic 14-140 (28-280 35mm equivalent) on the GH2 is very good. The camera and lens are light and compact and are great for carrying around with bird watching gear.

[miketoll]

Horses for courses, love my Canon 100mm macro and am amazed by it's sharpness plus the IS is a bonus. Also love my 400 DO although I find it a bit heavy to carry round all day these days but any "big gun" would be the same or worse.

[Adey Baker]

My favourite lens is my Sigma 400mm F5.6 Apo/Macro HSM lens which I've used to shoot everything from damselflies (http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...7810&ppuser=43) to Mont Blanc (http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...7810&ppuser=43). I can't understand why Sigma don't still make this lens - look how many times people have bemoaned the fact that the Canon 400mm F5.6 doesn't focus as close as that company's 100-400mm zoom lens, yet there are still lots of the prime lenses around which are potential lost sales for Sigma.

The lens I dream of getting probably isn't available yet, as I would like to carry around something smaller and lighter such as a micro 4/3rds system camera but as far as I know there isn't anything that can match my 400mm in both image quality and long-range 'macro' capabilities. When you add in the HSM 'silent' focus and full-time manual-focus over-ride via a generous-size focus ring, etc., there are just too many compromises to take into account, so I'll just have to dream on for the time being...

[surfg1mp]

My Favorite Lens at the moment is the Nikon 35mm 1.8. It was my first fast lens and i love the fact that it is almost as the eye sees, or seems that way to me. Its nice to be able to shoot in low light situations without flash and still get super sharp images with dreamy blurred backgrounds and amazing bokeh. Being a prime and not having any zoom has also taught me alot about composition. Think you can get lazy when you have a zoom attached to your camera. With a prime you have to physically move to get the composition you are after.

I am currently saving for a Nikon 17-55mm 2.8, I have been lusting after this lens for a long time now and cant wait to get one. Then I want the 70-200 2.8, hopefully these two lenses will live up to my expectations.

[Al Tee]

Sigma 10-20 for me if I've ever got £400 spare..borrowed Jamies once..liked the potential..& a second hand minolta 50mm 1.8 if I ever stumble across one & can thus beg & grovel to Mrs Tee sufficiently into letting me have some cash..(had more pocket money when I was 10)!
Al.

[Arthur53]

Guess it has to be the G vario 14-45. .Yes its the kit lens that came with the camera but its the only lens I have.

[gordon g]

My workhorse lenses are the sigma 24-70 EXf2.8 and 70-200 EXf2.8. Between the two of them, they account for about 80% of my images. The other lenses that see a lot of use are the sigma 100 macro and tamron 180 macro.
Lenses to lust for? When I was more into bird photography than I am nowadays, the sigma 300-800 - totally unique lens, but some weight to carry anywhere. These days, I rather like the idea of a wide angle tilt and shift, having seen the results a friend was getting with his canon 24mm t&s lens a few months ago. The cost of it though realistically will keep this a fantasy for some time though!

[Gidders]

My most used lens is a Canon 24-104 f4 which accounts for 50%+ of my shots ... but it is very much a workhorse lens for me rather than a creative lens.

I had access to a 100mm f2.8 for a little while and I loved the creative opportunities that shooting wide open gave <<Like This>> for example
so I keep looking at the Canon 24-70 f2.8 ... but wondering ... would I miss the IS, would I miss the reach?

I'm also tempted to go for a collection of fast primes eg Sigma 30/50/85 f1.4

Thoughts anyone?