Canon EF 50mm f1.8 STMCanon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM

Price: £119

Website: www.canon.co.uk

Compatible with full-frame and APS-C DSLRs, this ‘nifty fifty’ is a short telephoto lens with an equivalent focal length of 80mm on an APS-C. It incorporates a stepper motor (STM) for smooth and quiet AF. Stopping down from f/1.8 to f/2.8 improves sharpness, and all traces of vignetting disappear by f/4.


Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM

Price: £239

Website: www.canon.co.uk

If you’re after a wideangle zoom for your Canon APS-C DSLR, this is a fine example to contemplate. Its stepping motor technology (STM) helps keep focus operation inaudible, and with 4-stop stabilisation it’s possible to shoot sharp, handheld images with shutter speeds as slow as 1/5sec.


Canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS II USMCanon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM

Price: £464

Website: www.canon.co.uk

This telephoto zoom incorporates 4-stop image stabilisation and a new Nano USM motor for fast and silent AF. It weighs 720g, has a nine-bladed diaphragm for attractive background blur and is equivalent to 112-480mm when used on APS-C-sensor bodies. The only thing it really lacks is a rubber seal around the mount.


Canon EF-S 60mm f2.8 USM macro

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM Macro

Price: £439

Website: www.canon.co.uk

This dedicated macro lens for Canon APS-C users is equivalent to 96mm in the 35mm format and will enable you to capture stunning close-ups at true life size (1:1). It has a minimum focusing distance of 20cm, in addition to full-time manual- focus override, and can double up as a useful portrait lens.


Canon EF 85mm f1.4L IS USMCanon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM

Price: £1,379

Website: www.canon.co.uk

If the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM II (£1,929) is out of your budget but you want a lens that excels for portraiture, wedding or documentary work, this optic comes highly recommended. It features optical image stabilisation and uses an ultrasonic motor to deliver fast, quiet and accurate autofocus.