looking for a wide lens for portrait for a canon EOS 60D: I am still a beginner at photography and would like some help at buying another lens for my newly purchased Canon e0s60d, have...

Nasser Lachichi Loc: North Carolina

I am still a beginner at photography and would like some help at buying another lens for my newly purchased Canon e0s60d, have been looking at Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM , is there another brand that would do good portraits and landscape pictures. Thank you for any advice.

PHIL BITTLE Loc: CALIFORNIA

You don't want a "wide" lens for portraiture, you want a "longer" lens for the most flattering results. A general rule-of-thumb is to take your format, if you're using sheet film, say 4X5, take the diagonal (5), and multiply by 2.5 or 5X2.5=12.5. Now just round off and a 12" or 300mm lens would give you beautiful results.

A "normal" lens for 35mm film is 50mm, so 50X2.5 = 125mm or go 135mm, which would be fine.

The above are for film cameras ... digital is somewhat different depending on the size of the sensor.

The important thing is that you want your portraits to have the subject appearing to be in the same vertical plane-of-focus. When taking full length portraits, you also want your camera to see the subject at waist level to avoid distortion.

Phil

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Nasser Lachichi wrote:

I am still a beginner at photography and would like some help at buying another lens for my newly purchased Canon e0s60d, have been looking at Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM , is there another brand that would do good portraits and landscape pictures. Thank you for any advice.

Generally, 85mm to 135mm, or more, on a full frame camera are considered portrait focal distances. On a crop camera like the 60D that would translate from around 50mm to 85mm. So for portraits the lens you suggest would definitely be usable. You would not want to take portraits at much wider focal distances because as you get closer with wider lens setting facial distortions will become apparent. With regard to landscapes, 24mm is not particularly wide on a crop sensor body like the 60D. Depending on the landscapes you want to take, it may not go wide enough for you. If your are set on this lens, an additional approach might be to also get Canon's new EFs 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 STM ultra wide lens. You will rarely or never miss the 6mm not covered between these lenses.

redpepper Loc: Central NY

I had the 60d and used my 50mm 1.8 as my portrait lens. I also bought the Sigma 17-50mm 2.8 APC as my walk around lens and loved it. You just have to be sure to get a good Siggy copy b/c some aren't perfect. (Downside of 3rd party lenses talking with camera). My Sigma was tack sharp but I wished it had just a tad more reach.

djtravels Loc: Georgia boy now

I've used the 85mm f/1.8 Canon on my 60D. Recently acquired a used 24-105L f/4.0 and keep it on most of the time. Good portrait range and a moderately good wide angle for land/seascapes.

IShootEverything Loc: TN

I have been reading and reading. I too am looking for a new wide angle lens. I have the Canon EF-S 17-85 and I don't like it i will never be getting a EF-S lens ever again. So what lens am i getting? The Canon EF 16-35mm 1:4L IS USM. When compared with reviews from amazon, B&H, google, and canon it had 250+ 5 star, 16 ,4 star 1,3 star 0,2 star and 1,1 star reviews. I will be betting this lens very soon. Now I know that 35mm isn't much but for me it is fine. If i ever want to go more than 35mm I can crop a little (I have plenty of pixels with my 7D) or if that is still not enough i will use my 70-200mm. Also the 16-35mm 1:4L is said to be better than the 17-40mm and just as good as the 14mm 1:2.8L. And yes it is better than the 16-35mm 1:2.8L II USM. So yes this lens would be great for landscapes.
Hope this helps.

gemlenz Loc: Gilbert Arizona

I had the 24-105 and decided to get a 24-70 for my cropped Canon bodies. I'm happier with the results.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Best zoom that is widely used for portraits is the 70-200.
For primes on a crop sensor camera, my top choices are 50MM and 85MM. All three work well on either the crop or full frame bodies.

IShootEverything Loc: TN

The thing you have to remember is that 24mm is not very wide. You would be very very surprised at the difference between 24mm and 16mm. I know I was. I will post an example soon.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Nasser Lachichi wrote:

I am still a beginner at photography and would like some help at buying another lens for my newly purchased Canon e0s60d, have been looking at Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM , is there another brand that would do good portraits and landscape pictures. Thank you for any advice.

You don't say what you have.
I decided to get a wide angle lens to go beyond what I already had.
While there is a little overlap, I chose a 10-24mm to compliment my existing 18-55mm.
I'm finding I tend to use the wide angle a lot. More than I thought I would.

IShootEverything Loc: TN

SonnyE wrote:

You don't say what you have.
I decided to get a wide angle lens to go beyond what I already had.
While there is a little overlap, I chose a 10-24mm to compliment my existing 18-55mm.
I'm finding I tend to use the wide angle a lot. More than I thought I would.

Canon does not make a 10-24mm lens although they do make a 10-18mm and a 10-22mm. the only problem with those two is that they are EF-S lenses ( poor glass quality) .

They do make 4, 18-55mm lenses but you find the same problem, they are EF-S lenses.

I think your best bet is to go with the 16-35mm 1:4L IS USM. 35mm is not a lot but it is always better to go wider and crop a little, than to go too far.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Ishootcanon wrote:

Canon does not make a 10-24mm lens although they do make a 10-18mm and a 10-22mm. the only problem with those two is that they are EF-S lenses ( poor glass quality) .

They do make 4, 18-55mm lenses but you find the same problem, they are EF-S lenses.

I think your best bet is to go with the 16-35mm 1:4L IS USM. 35mm is not a lot but it is always better to go wider and crop a little, than to go too far.

They are Efs lenses intended for crop sensors only, but they do not, by any stretch of the imagination, have poor glass as you suggest. They are both quite capable and highly respected within their price points.

IShootEverything Loc: TN

mwsilvers wrote:

They are Efs lenses intended for crop sensors only, but they do not, by any stretch of the imagination, have poor glass as you suggest. They are both quite capable and highly respected within their price points.

True, but none of them are L lenses.
Personally I don't like my EF-S 17-85mm. It is very poor glass quality.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Ishootcanon wrote:

True, but none of them are L lenses.
Personally I don't like my EF-S 17-85mm. It is very poor glass quality.

L lenses are not necessarily sharper or have less distortion then EFs lenses. That is a myth. Don't believe me. Check out DxOMark's comparative results. They do have a better professional build and professional features but the results you get won't necessarily be superior. While some L lenses are superior like the 70-200 f/2.8, not all are. The 17-40mm L will not give you any better results on a crop camera than a EFs 17-55mm f/2.8, which besides excellent optics has an almost L quality build.