Canon Digital Cameras

The Canon EOS range of digital single-lens reflex (SLR) bodies and lenses is the universal choice of camera among professional photographers worldwide.

However, an increasing number of amateur photographers are also turning to the Canon digital range and this article will show you how easy it is to shop for Canon digital bodies and EOS lenses.

Every component manufactured by Canon is covered, plus a few exceptionally good third-party components.This articles goes through all the different Canon EOS systems and also make some good Canon digital camera starter recommendations.

Small sensor bodies are good for telephoto work, such as wildlife photography. A 100mm telephoto lens that is perfect for portraits on a film or full-frame sensor body gives a 150mm equivalent perspective on a small sensor (”APS-C”) body. The full-frame sensor bodies are good for wide-angle photography, low-light photography, and ultimate image quality.

Small sensor:-

* Canon Digital Rebel XTi (Black) introduced October 2006, the right camera for most photographers who want a responsive accurate machine (replaces the similarly named, but obsolete, Canon Digital Rebel XT.

* Canon Digital Rebel XSi, the new replacement for the Rebel XTi. * Canon EOS 40D (review), larger and heavier than the Rebel with comparable image quality and capabilities, but more convenient controls; great camera for wildlife and sports photography.* Canon EOS 50D, an upgrade to the EOS 40D, which includes Live View.* Canon EOS 1D Mark III, the ideal camera for professional sports photographers.

Full-frame sensor:-

* Canon EOS 5D, the best camera for most advanced amateurs and professionals.

* Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 21MP and HD video capabilities—do more with a camera than you have ever been able to before.

* Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III, same size and weight as a brick; weather-sealed against rain and dust.

For nostalgia buffs, Canon still makes some film bodies that work with all of the lenses below, except those marked “small sensor only”. * Canon EOS-1V Professional SLR Body, fully weather-sealed professional body with 100 percent viewfinder coverage.

* Canon EOS-3 35mm SLR Camera (Body Only), just about as useful as the 1V, without the 100-percent viewfinder. * Canon EOS Elan 7ne 35mm Film Body, bulkier than the Rebel with a rear control wheel just like the big Canon bodies.

* Canon Rebel T2, pair with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, for a cheap, light, high-quality, general-purpose camera. * Canon EOS Rebel K2, pair with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. An EOS-3 is good enough for almost any photographic purpose, it is incredibly rugged, and you should be able to buy one cheap online. F-number: lower is better. IS stands for “image stabilization”, a technology lifted from camcorders in which the camera electronically compensates for unsteady hands.

IS is especially important at long focal lengths, e.g., 200mm and above, because the lens magnifies camera shake at the same time it is magnifying the subject. An IS lens will allow you to use slower shutter speeds without introducing camera shake. The alternative to an IS lens would be mounting the camera on a tripod or using a high ISO setting, which reduces image quality but allows the use of higher shutter speeds. USM is “ultrasonic motor”.

All Canon EOS-system lenses have built-in focus motors. There is no motor in the body as is the case with Nikon, for example. The cheaper Canon lenses have a motor that must be clutched out with a switch if the photographer wishes to focus manually.

When using a USM lens, the photographer can push the shutter release (or a button on the rear of the camera, if a custom function is set) and let the autofocus system do its best, then touch up the focus manually by twisting the lens ring. The L lenses are Canon’s expensive lenses designed for professional photographers.

An L lens will always have good optical performance, even if it is a wide-range zoom that is challenging to design. An L lens will always be mechanically tough and well-sealed against water and dust. An L lens might be very heavy and expensive. Note that there are some non-L prime (fixed focal length or non-zoom) lenses, such as the 50/1.4, that offer extremely high optical quality.

The non-L Canon zoom lenses are optimized for light weight and low cost and won’t be especially high in optical quality. EF-S lenses are designed for Canon’s small-sensor digital cameras, such as the Digital Rebel. The “EF” in “EF-S” is the standard Canon EOS “Electro-Focus” mount, introduced in 1987. The “-S” stands for “short back focus” and means that the lens design protrudes more deeply into the camera body.

This protrusion would damage a full-frame camera’s mirror, so a mechanical interlock prevents these lenses from being mounted on a standard EOS camera. An EF-S lens will work with any of the small-sensor bodies introduced since 2003, including the original Digital Rebel (300D) and the 20D.

Normal Lenses A normal or standard lens is light in weight and approximates the perspective of the human eye. Normal lenses have large maximum apertures, indicated by small f-numbers such as f/1.4 or f/1.8, and thereby gather much more light than zoom lenses. It may be possible to take a photo with a normal lens in light only 1/8th or 1/16th as bright as would be required for the same photo with a consumer-priced zoom lens.

Another advantage of the large maximum aperture is that the viewfinder will be correspondingly brighter and therefore easier to use in dim light. (SLRs keep the lens wide open for viewing and stop down to whatever aperture you have set just before taking the picture; this is why the viewfinder always looks the same even if you switch from f/1.4 to f/8 to f/16.) Small sensor (Rebel and 30D).

* Sigma 30/1.4, ultrasonic motor, equivalent to a 45mm perspective on a film or full-frame camera; Canon does not bother to make a competitive lens Full-frame sensor (EOS 5D) * Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, includes an ultrasonic motor that allows simultaneous use of manual and autofocus, high quality (metal) mechanical construction.

* Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, cheap plastic case, high image quality, no ultrasonic motor and therefore autofocus is slower, noisier, and harder to override with a manual twist In terms of flare, contrast, and sharpness, these are the highest quality lenses that you will ever attach to your camera.

If you can do the job with a 50/1.4, as many of the 20th Century’s greatest photographers did, you can save yourself a lot of weight and cost. There are good zoom lenses, mostly in the Canon L series, but they are very expensive and heavy. Wide-to-Telephoto Zoom Lenses A wide-to-tele zoom is what you get as a standard “kit” lens with a cheaper digital SLR body.

The range goes from moderately wide through normal to moderately telephoto. They are good when you are too busy to change lenses, e.g., at a wedding reception. The 24mm perspective (full-frame) will capture a table of guests; the 70mm or 105mm long end is good for a flattering portrait.

The main weakness of these lenses is that the cheaper ones have a very small maximum aperture, e.g., f/4 or f/5.6, and can only be used in bright light, on a tripod, or with a blast of on-camera flash that gives everyone a moon face. Digital-only:- * Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, if you have a small sensor and must have a midrange zoom, this is the one to get; f/2.8 and L-class image quality would make it a good lens; image stabilization makes it a great lens.

* Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, image stabilization will enable you to handhold slower shutter speeds indoors and therefore despite the slow maximum aperture, you might not have to use flash all the time–you will still suffer with a dim viewfinder * Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM the “kit” lens that Canon tosses in with most of Digital Rebels sold, works well enough outdoors on bright sunny days.

Full-frame:- * Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, heavy, but very high quality and the ultimate wedding reception tool * Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM * Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, much lighter than the 24-70, but still superb optical quality, the loss of one f-stop compensated for somewhat by the provision of image stabilization * Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 II, cheap “kit” lens designed for the film Rebel.

* Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II USM, cheap “kit” lens with a faster quieter autofocus * Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM, reasonably cheap, reasonably good for outdoor use * Canon EF 28-105mm f/4-5.6 USM, spectacularly cheap, spectacularly crummy * Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, average image quality, image stabilization useful if you must take pictures from an unstable platform, such as a boat.

* Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM, convenient range, acceptable image quality if used on a tripod and stopped down to f/8 * Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM, incredibly heavy, exceptional range, reasonably good quality, image stabilizer enables handheld use at longer focal lengths without the use of a tripod or flash Small sensor (Rebel and 30D):- * Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, a touch slow, but dramatically wide Full-frame sensor:- * Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM, zoom from very dramatic (16mm) to boring (35mm) wide angle * Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, * Canon EF 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Telephoto Zoom Lenses:- These are good complements to a normal lens when traveling. The long end may not be useful indoors due to a small maximum aperture.

Small-sensor:- * Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM, cheap, slow, and crummy * Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS, Canon’s latest zoom IS lens Full-frame:- * Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, the image-stabilized version of the classic 70-200 zoom lens, good for portraits and stretchable with a Canon EF 1.4X II Extender, * Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, just as good (and heavy) optically, but without image stabilization * Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM, a good lens for travel, especially given the digital camera’s ability to be reset for a higher ISO speed; too bad that it doesn’t come with image stabilization * Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM, all the same details as the previous lens but includes image stabilization.

* Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, remember that these slow maximum aperture lenses aren’t good for stopping action, even if the image stabilizer cuts down on camera shake; sports photography would require a maximum aperture of f/4 or f/2.8 rather than the f/5.6 this lens provides * Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM * Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III. * Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM. * Canon EF 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II. * Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM. * Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM.

A prime wide angle lens will have much lower distortion of vertical and horizontal lines than a zoom lens and is therefore preferred for architectural photography. All of these lenses are designed for film and full-frame sensor cameras. * Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L USM, a great lens, but difficult to use effectively * Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens, the fisheye effect was cool when Playboy magazine was “groovy” * Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM, the modern photojournalist’s standard lens * Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM * Canon EF 24mm f/2.8, an old design without USM * Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM, * Canon EF 28mm f/2.8, an old design without USM * Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM, designed for professional photojournalists who need a somewhat wide perspective and who need to work in dim light * Canon EF 35mm f/2, an old design without USM A prime or fixed focal length telephoto lens offers maximum image quality, light gathering capability (aperture), and magnification. The good ones are big, heavy, and designed for use on a monopod or tripod.

Sports and wildlife photography require these lenses. * Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM. * Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, a great gift for a family with a new baby and a small-sensor digital camera * Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM. * Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM one f-stop slower, but usable for portraits and also has macro capability * Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM, superb optical quality, ultrasonic motor * Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus, clunky focusing due to lack of ultrasonic motor, unique soft focus feature, adjustable from completely sharp to flatteringly soft the bigger iron starts here * Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM, good for fashion photography * Canon EF 200mm f/2L IS USM, * Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM, the standard sports photographer’s starting lens; heavy, so plan on using a monopod * Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, much lighter, but not as amenable to autofocus operation with a teleconverter as the 300/2.8 * Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM, * Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM, * Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM, * Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, * Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM, the starting point for serious bird photographers * Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM, * There is a 1200/5.6L lens that Canon will make to special order for use with any of the above * Canon EF 1.4X II Extender, turns a 300/2.8, for example, into a 420/4 (lose one f-stop) * Canon EF 2X II Extenderturns a 300/2.8, for example, into a 600/5.6 (lose two f-stops) The better Canon telephoto lenses are designed to work optically with the tele-extenders. Image quality will be acceptable, even at maximum aperture. As noted above, however, there is no free lunch. A tele-extender provides additional magnification, but the overall amount of light gathered by the lens remains the same.

Thus, you lose one f-stop of light with the 1.4X converter and two f-stops with the 2X converter. The viewfinder will be dimmer and the camera will have a tougher time autofocusing. With the 2X converter and a slower lens, therefore, you will lose the ability to autofocus with many bodies. These are heavy lenses. If you have a tripod quick-release system, get plates for each lens and remember to mount the lens, not the camera body, to the tripod. Macro Lenses Macro lenses let you fill your photograph with a subject that is physically small. The longer the focal length of the macro lens, the farther away you can be from your subject, which is important with live insects, for example. A macro lens that goes down to “1:1″ can be used to take a frame-filling photo of something that is 24×36mm (1×1.5 inches) in size, the same dimensions as a frame of 35mm film or the sensor on a full-frame digital body.

All Canon macro lenses, except for the MP-E 65mm, can be used for ordinary photographic projects as well, i.e., they will focus out to infinity if desired. In the old days, a lot of photographers would get a 50mm normal lens and then a 100mm macro lens that would double for use with portraits and macro projects. Canon EOS-5, 70-200/2.8, 540EZ flash, Sto-Fen diffuser, Fuji ISO 400 color negative film The easiest way to ruin a photograph is to use on-camera flash, which blasts the subject with an unflattering light.

The resulting lack of shadows means that it is tough for a viewer to make out the features of the subject. On-camera flash is useful outdoors for filling in harsh shadows. Otherwise, the professional uses flash mostly bouncing up towards the ceiling or held as far away from the camera as possible. This is why the professional camera bodies don’t incorporate the pop-top flashes the way that consumer bodies do. * Canon Speedlite 220EX Flash, cannot be tilted up for bouncing, good for fill-in light * Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flashtilts up, swivels sideways, powerful enough for most projects, especially with * a Sto-Fen bounce diffuser Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash, monster power, tilt up at 45-degree angle and add a bounce diffuser * No product information for canon_580ex_II * Canon STE2 Speedlite Transmitter, wireless control of EOS flash units that are held or mounted away from the camera (this is the way that most professionals use flash) * Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord the same idea, but corded and you hold the flash in your left hand while holding the camera body in your right (or use a flash bracket like a wedding photographer) Macro flash * Canon MR-14EX Macro Ring Lite, shadowless uniform illumination; this is what dentists use * Canon MT-24EX Macro Twin Lite Flash, a little more potential for artistic lighting For a camera body and one lens, the average professional photographer would not use a case at all. To hold a camera system, you should probably find a nearby professional camera shop and experiment to see how your gear fits.

I usually end up preferring Tamrac and Lowe cases. Here are a few ideas: * Tamrac Velocity 7, for a Digital Rebel and small prime or small zoom lenses * LowePro Off Trail 1, belt back for smaller bodies and lenses * Tamrac 5606, one 30D or EOS 5D body, two or three professional-sized lenses, one flash Recommended Starter Systems Average family: * Canon Digital Rebel XTi (Black) Alternative: Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, * Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, for travel * Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM, $799 for sports (equivalent to 300mm on a full-frame camera), or possibly a telephoto zoom. Canon doesn’t make any good telephoto zoom lenses designed specifically for the small-sensor cameras, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM, $599 (review) is probably the best match) Serious photographer: * Canon EOS 5D (review) * Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, * Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM, * Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Digital SLR Cameras • Canon EOS 20D vs 30D vs 5D vs Nikon D200? • Comparison of Canon 5D and Canon 20D • CMOS Sensor Cleaning on Digital SLRs • EOS 1D • EOS 10D • EOS 10D vs EOS 300D (Digital Rebel) • EOS 1D (Josh Root) • EOS D60 • EOS D30 Powershot Point and Shoot Cameras • Powershot A610 • Powershot A80 • Powershot A85 • Powershot A95 • Powershot A400 • Powershot G1 • Powershot G2 • Powershot G3 • Powershot G5 • Powershot Pro1 • S100 (Digital ELPH) 35mm Film Cameras • EOS 1N • EOS 5/A2E • EOS Elan 7 • EOS Elan II • Rebel 2000 (EOS 300) • Rebel G (EOS 500N) Lenses • EF Lens Motors • IS Lenses • How Shift Lenses Change Your Life • EF-S 18-55mm/3.5-5.6 vs. EF24-70/2.8L Shootout! • EF 20-35mm/2.8 • EF 28-70mm/2.8L • EF 35-350mm • EF 50mm/1.0 • EF 50mm/f1.4 vs. f1.8 • MP-E 65mm 1-5X Macro • EF 70-210mm/3.5-4.5 • EF 80-200mm/2.8L • EF 100mm Macro vs Tamron 90mm Macro • EF 180mm/3.5L USM Macro • EF 600mm/4L • EF 600mm/4L IS,