Best Lenses for Canon 7D

There is a lot to like about this mid-range SLR. It is fast and fluid and it borrows all the best features from Canon’s previous models.

EOS 70D is designed for enthusiastic photographers who are on the budget but still want a fantastic camera that produces outstanding results with lots of details.

In a body that feels well build and solid in hand, you’ll find all the specifications you expect and more.

With a great feature set for the price, top-notch AF system, and a smooth-running shooting design, you might say 70D is a full package.

It shoots like some more expensive cameras and it’s an overall excellent camera.

Canon Lens Comparison Table

Here’s a table of all the lenses covered in this article.  Scroll down for more detailed information about each lens.

Best Canon EOS 7D Lenses 

 

Prime Lenses

 

1. Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM

This is the fastest lens in Canon’s aligning and it is something every photographer wants to have. Besides being an exceptionally fast lens, it is also weather-sealed and has a distinguished look. The optical construction has 8 elements in six groups with an aspherical element that keeps aberration well controlled. As expected, it has an extraordinary build quality and an unchangeable physical length where the front element doesn’t rotate. And while those physical features are amazing, they wouldn’t be worth if the image results were bad. Luckily, images turn out to be really sharp and the best available sharpness is delivered when you use the lens at its widest apertures.

2. Canon EF 40mm f2.8 STM

This lens has, what they call, a pancake design and it is the smallest lens you’ll find for Canon cameras. The pancake design became really popular in recent years, probably because it barely sticks out of your camera, helping you to avoid the overloading, but it’s still capable of capturing some impressing images. Even though it doesn’t have a fast aperture, it is still a reliable performer. This incredibly compact lens provides high-quality images with exceptional color balance thanks to a bright 2.8 aperture and many other features. It is fun and practical and really good candidate for your everyday lens.

3. Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM

Here, we have a mid-range 50mm prime with the extraordinary shallow depth of field. With an internal focus motor, focusing is fast and quiet and AF is really reliable, while the manual focusing is a little crude.

This lens has a wide focusing ring, static in both auto and manual focusing modes that provide excellent ergonomics. We can say that the lens is sharp but not at its widest.

When fully opened at f/1.4 you can notice a small spot at the center of an image, but the corners are the problem. If you want the really sharp image you will have to stop down a little. You will see the improvement already at f/2.

When it comes to shading, at the f/1.4 the corners are just a little darker than the center of an image and, once again, stopping down to f/2, this light problem will disappear.

Build and quality of the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM is really good: It is small and light and really convenient to carry around with you wherever you go.

Wide Angle Lenses

 

1. Canon EF 24mm f1.4L II USM

If the first thing you notice is the high price of the lens, you should know that it is justified by not only excellent optical performance but the build quality and handling too. It provides extraordinary sharp images even at the widest aperture both in the center and towards the edges.

However, you can increase the sharpness even more by stopping the lens down. Falloff of illumination is controlled extremely well for a wide aperture lens but the distortion is slightly more barrel than you would expect from the lens that costs as much as this one.

On the other side, it is highly resistant to flare and loss of contrast even when shooting outside with the light source as strong as the Sun.

2. Canon 14mm f/2.8 L II USM

This is an ultra-wide angle lens with AF powered by an Ultrasonic motor which allows it to focus very quickly and silently but it also lets you make adjustments manually with the smooth and well damped focusing ring.

The minimum focusing distance is 20cm from the sensor plane which is great because it allows you to play with different environments and perspectives.

When it comes to the build and design, the lens is evidently Canon made of solid black plastic and metal all the way through and it is very heavy. It is designed for various situations that the photographer can find himself through the day, which makes it obvious that it is weather sealed.

The lens, basically, has everything you want from the wide angle lens, but that, of course, comes with the price.

3. Canon EF 17 – 40mm f/4.0 L USM

The high-quality lens, Canon EF 17 – 40mm f/4.0 L USM, provides the outstanding performance.

The sharpness is really great across the broad, but it gives the best results from f/5.6 to f/8 through all focal lengths. The chromatic aberration might be the problem at 40mm at large apertures, but it’s really low at 24mm and 31mm.

The vignetting is extraordinarily low too, and this applies for all apertures and focal lengths. However, it is the lowest, almost non-existent, at apertures of f/8 and higher and focal lengths from 24mm and above.

Zoom Lenses

 

1. Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L USM

With an extended coverage to the ultra-wide angle and even better optics, Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L USM replaces the previous L-series lens. It has a completely new optical design, with 18 elements in 13 groups, that provides much better imaging performance and it also reduces the distortion.

The lens is really small and light and it’s really practical with the weather-sealed construction. It was designed for professional photographers and their needs to deliver the best possible results in various conditions, but there is one thing missing and it is quite important and that is the image stabilization. if you are going to use your camera on a tripod this won’t be a big problem, but otherwise, it might cause you some problems with the sharpness.

2. Canon EF 24-105mm f4L IS USM

Since it was built and designed to Canon’s highest standards, the first thing you will most certainly notice about this lens is its superb build. It consists of 18 elements in 13 groups which provide great imaging performance, but it reduces distortion too.

With the 24 – 105 mm focal length and optical zoom range of 4.3x this lens can capture both wide landscape scenes and portraits which make it great for all purposes. The focal length is probably the most important feature of this lens. You have to be very careful with it because if you get it wrong it might cause you the lack of the shot you wanted to take.

3. Canon EF 70-200mm f4.0L USM

This compact and lightweight telephoto zoom lens is capable of delivering great results. It has a solid build and it’s weather-sealed which makes it perfect for a variety of shooting situations.

However, it doesn’t have the image stabilization, but it is still very sharp when wide open. When you stop it down, the sharpness improves even more, especially in the corners, which is really noticeable when you are reviewing your image at 100% on your monitor.

It features the aperture of f/4 which is not fast and not too slow, but wide enough to create beautiful bokeh background in the 70 – 200mm focal length.

When it comes to autofocus, this lens uses the Ring USM (Ultrasonic Motor) which delivers is very fast, quiet and accurate autofocusing, but it allows the manual focusing too.

Telephoto Lenses

1. Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM

This is one beautiful lens that delivers extraordinary image quality. It focuses quickly and accurately, taking less than a second to go through the focusing range and it barely makes any noise while doing it.

It is sharp from edge to edge even wide open at ƒ/2.8, there is hardly any chromatic aberration and the distortion is handled very well. When it comes to the build quality, it is superb. It is built like a tank but is weights like one too which doesn’t make it a lens that you would want to use every day.

The construction is mostly metal which actually makes it heavy, but the internal focus and zoom design add to the weight too while giving it the sense of solidity.

The lens is dust and moisture resistant which makes it great for a variety of shooting situations and it also has the image stabilization. However, there is one smart design move that I like the most which are making it in white color. That was actually done to reduce the effects of heating when shooting outside under direct sunlight, and it is well known that white color reflects light and heat while the black absorbs it.

2. Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS II USM

This is a typical consumer-priced telephoto zoom lens that uses Nano USM motor for a smooth almost completely silent autofocus and includes the image stabilization that reduces shake. That already makes it a very good performer, but let’s dig in a little deeper.

It has a very useful, versatile focal length range of 70-300mm. Wide ends of this focal length are great for shooting portraits, wildlife and landscape photography, or just running around chasing your kids on the vacation.

This lens provides very sharp, vibrant images and it is fairly compact for a telephoto lens, which makes it a pleasure to use. It also comes with an affordable price.

3. Canon EF 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 II USM

This is very light and compact telephoto lens that comes with fast autofocus, good focal length and great price. The autofocus is powered by the Micro USM which makes it faster than ever, quiet and accurate and that is one of my favorite features when it comes to this lens.

However, it doesn’t include FTM (full-time manual focusing) or manual focusing ring. How do you adjust the focus manually then, you might ask? Well, after switching the lens to manual focus you have to turn the extending portion of the lens barrel, but it works poorly.

Sharpness, vignetting and chromatic aberration might disappoint you a little, but everything works better when stopped down.

Macro Lenses

1. Canon EF 180mm f3.5L Macro USM

This lens has a really good optical quality which gives you images with an excellent sharpness and beautiful bokeh background. What’s really important for the macro lens is the magnification, and with the closest focusing distance supporting 1:1 magnification that projects the object in its actual size, this lens is the perfect candidate for macro photography.

The lens is physically long, but not too wide and it balances well on full frame camera. One thing I really don’t like about the lens is that it has no image stabilization, that’s why I recommend using it attached to a tripod. Now, it looks like designers taught about that too, so they supplied the lens with the metal tripod ring that can be removed for hand-held shooting.

2. Canon EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM

This is the lens inspired by its predecessor. It has long and a little heavy, weather sealed body and the brand new “Hybrid” image stabilization. The lens is really sharp, even wide open at f/2.8 and stopping down only increases the sharpness even more.

Corner shading, however, depends on a camera you are using the lens on; on some cameras it barely noticeable, while on the others you can see that the corners are almost a full stop darker than the center of an image. Luckily, distortion is very well controlled on most of the cameras.

When it comes to the autofocus, it is really fast, quiet and accurate, taking about 1.20 seconds to focus. The front element doesn’t rotate while focusing, but you can turn the focus ring to override the AF results. The full 1:1 magnification (100%) is the most important feature of this lens, offering the minimum focus distance of 30cm which decreases the risk of shadowing the subject.

3. Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro USM

This is a medium telephoto macro lens designed to cover 35mm film frame, which makes it compatible with APS-C subframe, but also the full-frame bodies. The lens is really sharp even wide open at f/2.8 and stopping down, of course, only increases the sharpness.

Chromatic aberration is very well controlled on most of the cameras and at every aperture setting, as well as distortion. However, the shading depends on the camera you are using the lens on. Autofocusing is very fast, quiet and accurate, and can be overridden by turning the focus ring.

The full magnification of 1:1 that projects the object in its full size offers the closest focusing distance of 31cm which decreases the risk of shadowing the subject.

 

All in one Lens

1. Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

This is one great all-around lens that delivers phenomenal sharpness, features really good zoom range and has a solid build that can handle the daily use. It performs really well through the whole zoom range at all apertures, especially in the center.

Stopping down from the widest aperture, of course, increases the performance of the zoom.

Chromatic aberration should be a little better since this is the “L” series lens, but stopping the lens down can help a little and make the amount of chromatic aberration acceptable in many cases.

However, falloff and distortion are very well controlled, although I didn’t expect that form the lens with the extended zoom range. So, this was a bit of a surprise.

Flare and ghosting shouldn’t be an issue too, no matter which camera you are using. I should also mention the image stabilization as one of the features of the lens, and it performs really well.

2. Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

This is one of the most popular all in one lens; probably because it features great 11x zoom range, a silent ultrasonic focusing motor and image stabilization and it all comes with an affordable price.

When wide open at 18mm it provides sharp images, especially in the center, but the corners are just a little less clear.

Chromatic aberration and distortion aren’t handled as well as you would want them to be, but stopping down the lens can help and not just with that but with increasing the sharpness too.

In spite of those problems, this lens can be a good settlement for those of you who don’t want to carry multiple lenses. It is especially convenient for traveling.

Conclusion

After careful research, we found the perfect lenses for your Canon EOS 70D. Whatever kind of lens you are looking for; just take a look at our table and you will surely find the one that really suits you. However, if you aren’t sure exactly what you want, I suggest you opt for one of All-in-One lens because you can’t go wrong with one of those.  That’s a great place to start as you learn more about your photography interests.

Enjoy your new lenses!