Confessions Of An L Lens Junkie. If you read this guide in its entirety and enjoyed or learned from it, please check off "helpful" at the bottom of the guide. Nice gestures set us apart from the "rest". Thank you...steve.
To quickly respond to this question,
"Yes".....but only....
If you intend to publish;
If you intend to use the L at least 5 days a week;
If you are constantly working in hardship or adverse climatic conditions;
If your company will pay for it;
If you don't mind that it feels like the weight of a full one liter glass bottle of Coke slung around your neck for hours on end;
If you recently came into an inheritance
If you like to try and impress people and recently came into an inheritance;
If you own one of more of the following: a Mercedes, BMW, Rolex, Blancpain, Louis Vitton or if you are over 21,  prefer only single malt scotch, work out every day, bench press your weight and recently came into an inheritance.



While on the surface, the above response may appear to some as being glib, I can assure you that for many, the last several reasons are not too far off the mark . The majority of non professionals that I have spoken with who buy an L Lens do so for reasons that don't relate to the true purpose and unique value and function of  the L. Non professionals, besides pride of ownership in wanting to be seen with a trophy lens, buy one hoping to take better pictures. That latter "reason" is totally the wrong reason! That "simple" feat can be done with Canon Consumer Lenses costing hundreds, perhaps even thousands less. We will show you one example in this guide.

Some of us hate the unvarnished truth. It's no fun and doesn't capture the theater of the mind. We much rather be enticed by mystical tales of magic lenses that will immediately transform our run-of-the mill snaps into "Guggenheim Gorgeous". I will freely admit my weaknesses, in the hopes of saving you from my mistakes. I bought my first L to "take better pictures" and yes, to look good holding a "trophy lens". There , I've said it! The first 500 pictures I took with the 20-35 f/2.8 L were a "disaster" in that they were completely sub par to my expectations and seemed not one bit better than those taken with my nearly 20 year old EF 28-70mm MKII Kit Lens  that I uncoupled from my EOS 620 when I converted to digital in 2003. I was so convinced it was the lens, I sent the L to Canon Repair in Jamesburg, NJ.

Turns out the L Lens was perfect. It was my unreasonable expectations and my lack of understanding of the real strengths of Canon's  L Series Lens that caused my short lived disappointment. After a little seasoning, the L won me over to such an extent that if I win the NJ lottery, I have vowed to buy every L lens Canon ever makes. But on hot, hot dusty days, hiking for miles, the Ls can relax back at camp and two of my favorite light, well designed consumer lenses can suffer right along with me on foot.

The L lens pure and simple is the quintessential untiring work horse lens. It is designed for ultimate durability. Once again for emphasis. It is designed for ultimate durability and for producing  consistently excellent images under a myriad of "extremes"that would stress any normal consumer lens. These extremes include combinations of bright light, low light, high temperatures, low temperature, "abusive" physical environments, impact events and above average target speeds to name a few. For these, the L is worth its weight in gold (well, almost).

If spending anywhere between $600 to $1,000 to $1,500 to $2,000 +++, probably well beyond the initial cost of most camera bodies just for an L Lens, the real reason for owning an L should include at least one of the serious reasons listed above. 

The casual photographer does not and will never need  to spend that kind of money just to decently capture an image. If you don't believe it, take a look at the photos below. One image and its center enlargement was taken with a used Canon Kit Lens costing $60.00 ($100.00 new) and the other set with my perfectly tuned Canon L lens costing $850 used, ($1300 when new). Which images look better to you? Study them carefully  before you decide. Answers are at the very bottom of this guide..

In a Canon L Lens, there is a precision in the build quality absolutely unique and in complete contrast to any Canon Consumer Lens. Despite some aggressive reseller claims and biased combination reviewer/seller claims, you can take this to the bank....there is not one single Canon consumer or prosumer lens that can match the L for build quality and that includes physical ruggedness and  mechanical  precision! While the "L" designation may  mean "Luxury" by definition,  but for many, "LL" would be more to to the point standing for just plain "longer lasting".  Understandably, Canon charges for this heavy duty build quality.

Other specific feature differences from a consumer lens: The lens diameter of the L in most cases is larger  than the Consumer Lenses (averaging 72mm-77mm vs 52mm-57mm) allowing more light gathering, the core task of any lens. The L uses, low dispersion Fluorite glass (actually a crystal) . The term low dispersion is often cited as an advantage, but what does it mean? It means simply the reduction of light transmission interference when compared to normal "crown glass" lenses. The less light interference traveling from the subject through the glass lens elements, through the barrel to the sensor or film, the cleaner, brighter and more life-like the image. Optically, the Canon L Lens produces a brighter image than any  Canon Consumer/Prosumer Lens.  Again, Canon charges for this advantage. Is it worth the money? Absolutely! Nothing new with these "revelations" so far, right?

But, does that mean we aren't able to take an equivalent quality image with a consumer lens? Absolutely not! This is often where there is a conflicting perception in image producing performance between the Canon Professional L Lens and the Canon Consumer/Prosumer Lens.

A perfect example of this are the pictures shown above. You can produce an equivalent image to an L under normal lighting and with a "normal" subject with a standard consumer lens. Remember, the real strength of the L Lens is dealing day after day with  "extremes" that would stress a normal consumer lens. Example.  It's when our consumer lens is starved for light near dusk and our subject is a low flying F16 at an air show that we wish we had the L.

The L Lens is not for everybody. Sometimes the most obvious offers the best insight. For example, look at how many used Ls there are for sale on eBay (once you link, scroll down for the used L's). If the Ls consistently produced  award winning pictures for all of their owners, excluding those opting for a different L or experiencing hardship and needing money, why would so many give up these lenses for less than they paid for them?

 There is an obvious cache to owning an L Lens. It is the best of the best, but owning an L does not guarantee that the average owner shooting an average subject will shoot above average pictures. The majority of those selling their L Lenses you see on eBay found this out the hard way. Besides, they really do weight a "ton", especially the deceptively compact looking small zooms, just ask my wife.

The next installment of this guide will include some specific details on 3 L lenses that for me and to many others seem to be a cut above their peers, readily available and fairly priced.

Here's that link again below in case you missed it. I think it is quite telling and worth your time even if you are experienced to take a look, if nothing else, just to gain perspective. I  did the comparison testing and wrote the guide in response to emails from those starting out with digital asking for advice replacing "the cheap kit lens"" (their words, not mine) that came with their Xt's and Xti's. Some actually took my suggestions to heart, immediately gave their kit lenses a fair and honest trial and have enthusiastically reported taking great photos with (gasp) their kit lens! That's really great!  Now, have you tried yours yet?

Steve, Canon_Treasures


"The L Series Lens proves itself  over and over again when physical and optical conditions are at their  extremes." sz

Which lenses took which pictures above? All the left images were taken with the $60.00 used Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Kit Lens. All the right images were taken with the $850 used Canon 16-35 f/2.8 L USM. Neither was enhanced using software or any kind except for cropping and sizing.

In closing, what I did after my first L purchase you, you might be interested in trying yourself. I rented several L's using on line rental companies. It worked out very well. The details are in a short guide listed below.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Steve-apos-s-Canon-EF-L-Lens-Guide-Try-It-Before-You-Buy-It_W0QQugidZ10000000004245166

Now, stop reading this stuff, grab your gear and go take some great pictures!    Steve ...Canon_Treasures

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