stm lenses or usm lenses
Dec 6, 2014 21:20:59 #
Hi, all. Im new to slr photography. I used a D 70 of a friend for a while and amazed by the things which it could do. I search for a good cam to buy and came across 7D mark 11. It comes with body only. I need to decide on a lens to buy along with it. Need to choose to between a usm and stm lenses. I need a lens for day to day photos & one for portraits too. Thanks all.
Dec 6, 2014 21:29:32 #
The Villages
Loc: The Villages, Florida
prageeth wrote:
Hi, all. Im new to slr photography. I used a D 70 of a friend for a while and amazed by the things which it could do. I search for a good cam to buy and came across 7D mark 11. It comes with body only. I need to decide on a lens to buy along with it. Need to choose to between a usm and stm lenses. I need a lens for day to day photos & one for portraits too. Thanks all.
Following is a response from one of the forum participants (don't rember who) Might be of interest.
Canon L lenses are their top of the line lenses (L=luxury), and all L lenses are optimized for full frame cameras, although they can be used with APS-C sensor cameras, the EF-S lenses are specifically for APS-C sensor cameras and can not be used on full frame models. STM stands for stepping motor that is used for auto focusing instead of the USM ring motor found in most other lenses. The stepping motors are thought to be better for video as they do not produce any sound that could be picked up by the mike while shooting video and it also works better with the kind of focus used by live view. STM motors can be found in full frame lenses as well as lenses made for APS-C.
Dec 7, 2014 07:03:39 #
prageeth - you should become familiar with the various online review sites. I've listed two below that are not the final answer but provide very informative and detailed reviews of Canon equipment, including probably every specific lens recommendation you'll receive for this question.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/
The 7DII is the newest Canon camera with a lot of buzz. It brings an extremely fast frames per second shooting sequence, rugged weather proofing and the focus system of Canon's top line professional camera. It's also more expensive than other cameras that might be more appropriate to your needs if you don't plan on shooting sports and wildlife on all types of weather.
As mentioned already the STM lenses are new technology intended to minimize noise when focusing while shooting video.
If interested in Canon cameras, look too at the 70D and the 6D. An all purpose lens that will work well on both would be the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, although the wide end of this lens will be limited on the 70D. If you plan to buy new, this lens is typically kitted with the 6D.
For portrait, the 24-105 includes the typical 50 - 105 focal lengths used for portraits. Something dedicated might be the EF 85mm f/1.8 USM.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/
The 7DII is the newest Canon camera with a lot of buzz. It brings an extremely fast frames per second shooting sequence, rugged weather proofing and the focus system of Canon's top line professional camera. It's also more expensive than other cameras that might be more appropriate to your needs if you don't plan on shooting sports and wildlife on all types of weather.
As mentioned already the STM lenses are new technology intended to minimize noise when focusing while shooting video.
If interested in Canon cameras, look too at the 70D and the 6D. An all purpose lens that will work well on both would be the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, although the wide end of this lens will be limited on the 70D. If you plan to buy new, this lens is typically kitted with the 6D.
For portrait, the 24-105 includes the typical 50 - 105 focal lengths used for portraits. Something dedicated might be the EF 85mm f/1.8 USM.
Dec 7, 2014 07:33:13 #
prageeth wrote:
Hi, all. Im new to slr photography. I used a D 70 of a friend for a while and amazed by the things which it could do. I search for a good cam to buy and came across 7D mark 11. It comes with body only. I need to decide on a lens to buy along with it. Need to choose to between a usm and stm lenses. I need a lens for day to day photos & one for portraits too. Thanks all.
Since this is your first lens purchase with a supposedly awesome body (7DII), suggest you go with the 24-105 4.0L to start with. It's a great all purpose lens and will serve you well in most situations and very sharp. Once you are broken in, you can supplement with other lenses. You'll probably find that this combination of the 7DII and the 24-105 will satisfy your needs for quite sometime.
Dec 7, 2014 09:12:22 #
Great answers and to the point. I agree with your response.
CHG_CANON wrote:
prageeth - you should become familiar with the var... (show quote)
Dec 7, 2014 11:11:58 #
Welcome to the Forum Prageeth, good luck on your purchase of lens, I myself have USM lenses and they work
really well.
really well.
Dec 7, 2014 15:44:35 #
amfoto1
Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
Hi and welcome...
First of all, if you are new to SLR photography a 7D Mark II is likely massive overkill for you and may end up being very frustrating. It is a pro-oriented camera with capabilities way, way beyond "day to day" shooting and "portrait" requirements. Of course it can be used to take those shots, but with 7DII you're paying a premium for advanced features you will not find necessary for those simpler and less active purposes. You should expect a long and hard learning curve with a lot of mistakes, trying to jump into photography with one of the most complex cameras Canon makes, designed with experienced pros and advanced professionals in mind, and with little support for new photographers.
If you were teaching someone to drive, would you plop them down in the driver's seat of a Formula 1 car, a $1,000,000 classic Ferrari, or a 1500 horsepower 250mph drag racer? Or would you maybe put them behind the wheel of a Ford Focus to start out?
70D might be a much better choice... Has essentially the same 20MP image quality but would cost you around $600-$700 less, that you might instead put toward better lenses or other necessary accessories. It has more support for new users than the 7DII, yet still has many advanced features. The Rebel/xxxD series offer even more "new user friendly" features for folks just starting out with DSLRs, at even lower cost. A T5i/700D might be a good choice and is perfectly capable of day to day photography and portraiture, with reasonably high image quality (18MP).
The same is true with Canon's full frame models. The 6D is the most "new user friendly". The 5D Mark III is a significant step up for experienced users such as advanced amateurs and professionals. And the 1DX is the top of the line designed for the very most demanding of advanced amateurs and pro shooters.
Enough about cameras... I'd just counsel you to learn to walk before you try to fly!
Canon makes lenses with four different focusing drives.
1. Manual focus. Pretty self explanatory and used on a few Canon lenses such as the Tilt-Shift TS-E series and ultra-high magnification macro MP-E 65mm.
2. Micro motor is an inexpensive form of focus drive used particularly on cheaper "kit" lenses and more entry level models. It tends to be slower, noisier and in some cases isn't as precise. Still, for many common forms of photography it can be fine. I wouldn't recommend for sports/action, but slower paced work such as portraiture or scenic shots it can be fine. The noise may be a problem if shooting video with the camera. All micro motor lenses must be turned off at the switch, before manually focusing them. If this isn't done, the focus mechanism can pretty easily be damaged.
3. STM or Stepper Motor is a newer form of focus drive that Canon has been using on a few lenses. It has primarily been promoted as ideal for videography because it is the quietest of all (aside from manual focus). It's also smoother operating than the other forms of focus drive, which can be desirable for video. It's faster than micro motor, but not as fast and precise as USM. Also, it is "fly by wire" meaning that in order to focus manually, there must be power to the lens. If wanting to override AF manually, one must first half-press the shutter release button on the camera. Or, switch the lens to MF.
Some common lenses come in both micro motor and STM versions. In general the STM versions cost about $50 more per lens. In many cases, the newer STM version also may have seen optical or other improvements, too.
4. USM or Ultrasonic is generally the fastest and most precise form of autofocus drive. It is found mostly on more expensive step-up or premium lenses. If shooting stills of sports and other fast action, USM is usually the best choice, will give the highest percentage of properly focused "keepers". It is fast, precise, reasonably smooth and quiet (although STM is even quieter and smoother, so would generally a better choice for video).
I shoot mostly sports/action and I don't use my DSLRs for video, so I mostly use USM lenses.
Some lenses don't need USM... for example ultrawide lenses only need to move their focusing group a tiny amount, so can be plenty quick without it (example, Tokina 12-24 or 11-16, which are "crop only" lenses).
Other lenses are not particularly fast focusing even with USM. Extra large aperture lenses that render very shallow depth of field and macro lenses, for example, both use what's called "long throw" focus mechanisms that are designed for high precision, at the cost of slower response. Canon 85/1.2L, for example, as well as the Canon macro lenses, all tend to be a little slower than some other USM lenses.
But, in general, you can expect most USM lenses to be fast performers and more ideal for any sort of action photography. USM lenses are usually, but not always more expensive.
Canon publishes a book that's loaded with info about their lens system. It's called "Lens Work - Eyes of EOS" and, as a hard-bound 275 book, might be one of the most expensive, hard bound sales brochures you'll ever see! However, it's also a great reference with tables of specifications and a wealth of detail about each and every lens they make. It can be difficult to find a hard copy... But fortunately it's also downloadable free in PDF form (11 different files) from the Canon Europe website: http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/Documents/digital_slr_educational_tools/en/ef_lens_work_iii_en.aspx
Highly recommended!
There are also some excellent third party lenses available for Canon.
But, sticking with Canon offerings, if I were putting together an APS-C (crop) camera kit today, I might want:
Canon EF-S 10-18mm IS STM
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM
Canon EF 70-200mm f4L IS USM
If wanting a stronger telephoto for wildlife or sports photography or other purposes, I might instead get:
Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM
Canon EF 24-70/2.8L USM or 24-70/4L IS USM or 24-104/4L IS USM.
Or a cheaper choice is the Canon EF 28-135mm IS USM
Canon 100-400mm IS USM (either version... though I'd personally prefer the recently announced Mark II).
Or, after I win the lottery... EF 200-400/4L 1.4X IS USM
For portraits, in particular, with crop cameras I use:
Canon EF 50/1.4 USM
Canon EF 50/1.8 USM
And when a zoom is required, 24-70/2.8L USM
For portraits with full frame camera, I use:
Canon 85/1.8 USM
Canon 135/2L USM
And when a zoom is required, 70-200/2.8L IS USM
There are lots of possible combinations. If you are looking at a single lens to start out with the APS-C cameras you're considering, the EF-S 18-135 IS or EF-S 18-135 IS STM is pretty good and often offered in combo with cameras. A very good step-up choice would be the EF-S 15-85 IS USM. All these cover a reasonable range of focal lengths, and can serve as a good, general purpose "walk-around" lens.
Actually, I often use Canon EF 28-135 IS USM as a walk-around lens on crop cameras. Some will say "it's not wide enough" on a crop camera, so I have Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM and Tokina 12-24, too.
Actually, for "normal to moderate telephoto" I find the relatively inexpensive EF 28-135 IS USM a very useful lens. I mention it because sometimes you can find it in kit with various Canon models, for only $100 or a little more additional cost. This lens normally sells for over $400 separately. Plus it's image quality and performance it rivals all the far more expensive Canon 24-70L and 24-105L. The L-series lenses are a bit better built and sealed, but you'd have a hard time telling about images made with 28-135 or any of those L's.
First of all, if you are new to SLR photography a 7D Mark II is likely massive overkill for you and may end up being very frustrating. It is a pro-oriented camera with capabilities way, way beyond "day to day" shooting and "portrait" requirements. Of course it can be used to take those shots, but with 7DII you're paying a premium for advanced features you will not find necessary for those simpler and less active purposes. You should expect a long and hard learning curve with a lot of mistakes, trying to jump into photography with one of the most complex cameras Canon makes, designed with experienced pros and advanced professionals in mind, and with little support for new photographers.
If you were teaching someone to drive, would you plop them down in the driver's seat of a Formula 1 car, a $1,000,000 classic Ferrari, or a 1500 horsepower 250mph drag racer? Or would you maybe put them behind the wheel of a Ford Focus to start out?
70D might be a much better choice... Has essentially the same 20MP image quality but would cost you around $600-$700 less, that you might instead put toward better lenses or other necessary accessories. It has more support for new users than the 7DII, yet still has many advanced features. The Rebel/xxxD series offer even more "new user friendly" features for folks just starting out with DSLRs, at even lower cost. A T5i/700D might be a good choice and is perfectly capable of day to day photography and portraiture, with reasonably high image quality (18MP).
The same is true with Canon's full frame models. The 6D is the most "new user friendly". The 5D Mark III is a significant step up for experienced users such as advanced amateurs and professionals. And the 1DX is the top of the line designed for the very most demanding of advanced amateurs and pro shooters.
Enough about cameras... I'd just counsel you to learn to walk before you try to fly!
Canon makes lenses with four different focusing drives.
1. Manual focus. Pretty self explanatory and used on a few Canon lenses such as the Tilt-Shift TS-E series and ultra-high magnification macro MP-E 65mm.
2. Micro motor is an inexpensive form of focus drive used particularly on cheaper "kit" lenses and more entry level models. It tends to be slower, noisier and in some cases isn't as precise. Still, for many common forms of photography it can be fine. I wouldn't recommend for sports/action, but slower paced work such as portraiture or scenic shots it can be fine. The noise may be a problem if shooting video with the camera. All micro motor lenses must be turned off at the switch, before manually focusing them. If this isn't done, the focus mechanism can pretty easily be damaged.
3. STM or Stepper Motor is a newer form of focus drive that Canon has been using on a few lenses. It has primarily been promoted as ideal for videography because it is the quietest of all (aside from manual focus). It's also smoother operating than the other forms of focus drive, which can be desirable for video. It's faster than micro motor, but not as fast and precise as USM. Also, it is "fly by wire" meaning that in order to focus manually, there must be power to the lens. If wanting to override AF manually, one must first half-press the shutter release button on the camera. Or, switch the lens to MF.
Some common lenses come in both micro motor and STM versions. In general the STM versions cost about $50 more per lens. In many cases, the newer STM version also may have seen optical or other improvements, too.
4. USM or Ultrasonic is generally the fastest and most precise form of autofocus drive. It is found mostly on more expensive step-up or premium lenses. If shooting stills of sports and other fast action, USM is usually the best choice, will give the highest percentage of properly focused "keepers". It is fast, precise, reasonably smooth and quiet (although STM is even quieter and smoother, so would generally a better choice for video).
I shoot mostly sports/action and I don't use my DSLRs for video, so I mostly use USM lenses.
Some lenses don't need USM... for example ultrawide lenses only need to move their focusing group a tiny amount, so can be plenty quick without it (example, Tokina 12-24 or 11-16, which are "crop only" lenses).
Other lenses are not particularly fast focusing even with USM. Extra large aperture lenses that render very shallow depth of field and macro lenses, for example, both use what's called "long throw" focus mechanisms that are designed for high precision, at the cost of slower response. Canon 85/1.2L, for example, as well as the Canon macro lenses, all tend to be a little slower than some other USM lenses.
But, in general, you can expect most USM lenses to be fast performers and more ideal for any sort of action photography. USM lenses are usually, but not always more expensive.
Canon publishes a book that's loaded with info about their lens system. It's called "Lens Work - Eyes of EOS" and, as a hard-bound 275 book, might be one of the most expensive, hard bound sales brochures you'll ever see! However, it's also a great reference with tables of specifications and a wealth of detail about each and every lens they make. It can be difficult to find a hard copy... But fortunately it's also downloadable free in PDF form (11 different files) from the Canon Europe website: http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/Documents/digital_slr_educational_tools/en/ef_lens_work_iii_en.aspx
Highly recommended!
There are also some excellent third party lenses available for Canon.
But, sticking with Canon offerings, if I were putting together an APS-C (crop) camera kit today, I might want:
Canon EF-S 10-18mm IS STM
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM
Canon EF 70-200mm f4L IS USM
If wanting a stronger telephoto for wildlife or sports photography or other purposes, I might instead get:
Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM
Canon EF 24-70/2.8L USM or 24-70/4L IS USM or 24-104/4L IS USM.
Or a cheaper choice is the Canon EF 28-135mm IS USM
Canon 100-400mm IS USM (either version... though I'd personally prefer the recently announced Mark II).
Or, after I win the lottery... EF 200-400/4L 1.4X IS USM
For portraits, in particular, with crop cameras I use:
Canon EF 50/1.4 USM
Canon EF 50/1.8 USM
And when a zoom is required, 24-70/2.8L USM
For portraits with full frame camera, I use:
Canon 85/1.8 USM
Canon 135/2L USM
And when a zoom is required, 70-200/2.8L IS USM
There are lots of possible combinations. If you are looking at a single lens to start out with the APS-C cameras you're considering, the EF-S 18-135 IS or EF-S 18-135 IS STM is pretty good and often offered in combo with cameras. A very good step-up choice would be the EF-S 15-85 IS USM. All these cover a reasonable range of focal lengths, and can serve as a good, general purpose "walk-around" lens.
Actually, I often use Canon EF 28-135 IS USM as a walk-around lens on crop cameras. Some will say "it's not wide enough" on a crop camera, so I have Canon EF-S 10-22mm USM and Tokina 12-24, too.
Actually, for "normal to moderate telephoto" I find the relatively inexpensive EF 28-135 IS USM a very useful lens. I mention it because sometimes you can find it in kit with various Canon models, for only $100 or a little more additional cost. This lens normally sells for over $400 separately. Plus it's image quality and performance it rivals all the far more expensive Canon 24-70L and 24-105L. The L-series lenses are a bit better built and sealed, but you'd have a hard time telling about images made with 28-135 or any of those L's.
Dec 7, 2014 16:37:28 #
prageeth wrote:
Hi, all. Im new to slr photography. I used a D 70 of a friend for a while and amazed by the things which it could do. I search for a good cam to buy and came across 7D mark 11. It comes with body only. I need to decide on a lens to buy along with it. Need to choose to between a usm and stm lenses. I need a lens for day to day photos & one for portraits too. Thanks all.
The STM feature is only beneficial for shooting video with certain cameras!
Dec 7, 2014 17:04:46 #
prageeth wrote:
Hi, all. Im new to slr photography. I used a D 70 of a friend for a while and amazed by the things which it could do. I search for a good cam to buy and came across 7D mark 11. It comes with body only. I need to decide on a lens to buy along with it. Need to choose to between a usm and stm lenses. I need a lens for day to day photos & one for portraits too. Thanks all.
The EF-S 18-135mm STM is an excellent all around lens for the 7DII or any other Canon APS-C camera. Very useful focal range and very good reviews of it's optical qualities, all at a reasonable price.
If you plan to shoot any video then definitely go with the STM lenses. If not, I would still recommend the STM, which in this case is only about $50 more then the non-STM version.
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