Best walkaround lens for a Canon DSLR

When Canon 5D Mark II  came out, the camera was available as a kit, bundled with a 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. I really liked the lens, and for a long time, it was my favourite walkaround lens – something than can work in most everyday situations. I shot landscapes, street travel photos and family portraits with it.

The problem is that while the 24-105mm f/4L works well for almost everything, it is also not particularly spectacular in any given situation. It is, basically, a compromise, albeit a very good one.

The wide end of the zoom range (24 mm) is not wide enough for creating really unusual perspective of confined spaces and wrapping the view around corners, which works well for closeups of architectural details (the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM or the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM are better for these types of shots). The 104 mm focal distance is also not long enough for compressing perspective and isolating far-away details of landscapes (the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM is better for this, although it is quite a bit more expensive).

Also, the maximum aperture of f4 is Ok, but not fantastic in terms of bokeh and simply does not gather enough light for indoor sports or concert photography.

Currently, my favourite walkaround lens is Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM. (The photos in this post are taken with this lens.) It may seem less flexible than the 24-105mm f/4L, but in reality, it is not so. I find the 35 mm focal lens ideal for portraits and street photos. I need to get very close to the subjects for an interesting composition, though. The sharpness is superb. The wide aperture allows shooting in near darkness with a modern DSLR and produces very pleasing bokeh and subject isolation.

There are a few challenges, of course. The fixed focal length (lack of zoom) means less flexibility with composition. To complicate this aspect further, if you are shooting wide open, at f1.4 (and why wouldn’t you? After all, this is the main feature of this lens!), the depth of field is so shallow that you cannot half-press the stutter button to focus on the subject and then re-compose the shot, as slightest change in the angle of the camera after focus has been obtained will cause a blurry image. It took me quite a while to get used to, but with practice, getting close to the subjects, placing a focus marker exactly on the subject’s front eye and not re-composing became second nature.

The super-wide maximum aperture is really the key feature, and not only for light-gathering capacity, but mostly for the incredibly shallow depth of field it produces. The ability to isolate the subject in almost any situation is what often makes the difference between an artistic photo and a snapshot. I really appreciated it during our recent trip to Disneyland.

Basically, the 35mm f/1.4L makes no compromises, and is unforgiving because of this. But for the same reason, it can produce unique images.