Canon Extreme Lens Recommendations for 2024
Who doesn't love when the word extreme can be used as an adjective in the positive sense? And, when that word can be used to describe a positive attribute of a lens, that lens will gain the attention of most of us photographers.
Even if we cannot incorporate the extreme lens into our kits, we at least enjoy drooling over it.
Are you finding it challenging to create images that stand out? Using an extreme lens is one way to make your work rise above in a crowded photo world, and that can be what is needed for photographic success. Thus, I've compiled this list of extreme recommendations.
1. Extreme-Wide-Angle Lens
Go wide! In competent hands, an extreme-wide-angle lens can produce incredible imagery, making the viewer feel immersed in the image. When you are going for this look with a Canon DSLR, this is the lens to get:
Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L USM Fisheye Lens
Great performance including excellent image quality from a compact lens that even looks special
Keeping yourself out of the frame may be your biggest problem when using this lens. With a zoom range that starts with a 180° diagonal angle of view on an APS-C camera and a circular 180° angle of view on a full-frame camera, this lens can make a subject appear right in the viewer's face.
While the 8-15mm Fisheye is the right nominee selection for the extremest wide-angle Canon lens, there is another lens that deserves mention here (it is my favorite, the lens responsible for creating the opening image on this page. The lens I'm referring to is the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM Lens. If you prefer to avoid the heavy fisheye barrel distortion, this lens is ... awesome.
2. Extreme Telephoto Lens
When referring to focal lengths, the opposite of wide is long, and going really long can be really useful. When you need to frame a subject tightly and can't get closer, due to physical barriers, a subject that does not tolerate closer proximity or for safety reasons, you might want a really long lens. When you want to capture a compressed look from a distant perspective, you might want a really long lens. When you want to create an extreme background blur, making a subject stand out from even a busy, otherwise-distracting backdrop, a really long lens might be just what you need.
My pick?
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM Lens
It is a big, expensive lens and for wildlife and some sports events, this lens rules
There is a lot of mass to this lens, but the 600 f/4L IS II brings the full package. The fast and accurate AF can keep up with your quickest subjects, the solid weather-sealed construction is ready for whatever outdoor weather brings and the image quality delivered by this lens will satisfy.
I have to admit that, when searching for nominees for this category, the first option that came to my mind was the Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM Lens. There are no Canon lenses more extreme than this one:
But, one of my self-imposed qualifications was that the lens must be currently produced by Canon and alas, this one is not. In addition, this lens costs as much as a small house in the suburbs, which takes it beyond even extreme consideration for most.
3. Extreme Focal Length Range Lens
We talked about extreme wide and long focal lengths, so we'll stay on the subject line by picking a single lens that has the best of both. When you need/want both wide angles and long telephoto focal lengths, but can/want to carry only a single lens, cannot change lenses (perhaps in a very dusty environment), cannot change lenses fast enough to get the needed focal length, or are too lazy to change lenses, you want a super-zoom.
Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM Lens
A well-built lens with a range of focal lengths that will meet a high percentage of needs
Sacrifices must be made to enable such a long range of focal lengths, right? Sure. This lens is not small, light or inexpensive, it is not the sharpest available, and it does not have the widest aperture available, but there are times when the sacrifice more than offsets not having the right focal length immediately available.
This time you are saying, "What about the Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens? Though limited to APS-C format cameras, the EF-S 18-200mm lens is similar in its angle of view range, framing like a 28.8-320mm lens on a full-frame body. Why not choose this one? Eh ... it just doesn't seem as extreme.
4. Extreme Close-Up Lens
What is the smallest subject that can fill the frame? If you have a normal macro lens, you haven't seen anything yet! Common table salt is what you see in the uncropped sample image shared above. The lens?:
Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Lens
This lens starts where standard macro lenses end
At its most-distant focusing distance, this lens delivers a 1x maximum magnification (or 1:1 reproduction ratio), and it goes to 5x! Consider that, at this distance, a subject is rendered on your camera's imaging sensor 5x larger than life-size with a 36mm wide full-frame sensor being essentially completely covered by a 7mm-wide subject. Then consider what that subject will look like on your monitor or printed huge!
The number of subjects available for this lens may surprise you. They are found in your refrigerator, your kitchen cabinets, your garden, etc.
This lens was the sole nominee for this award. No other lens comes close.
5. Extreme Bokeh Lens
Everyone loves a diffusely-blurred background, and though the term bokeh refers to the quality of that blur, people like to refer to the blur as bokeh, and for this award, we'll go with that. To gets lots of bokeh, use a lens with both a long focal length and a wide aperture. And, when it comes down to one or the other, a long focal length gets my vote. A 24mm lens, even with an f/1.4 aperture, is not going to get the job done here.
The list of nominees for this award is quite long, including favorites such as the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II, Canon EF 135mm f/2L, and Canon EF 200mm f/2L IS lenses. While these are excellent choices, the longer focal lengths still rule for maximum background blur.
The strongest option? It is the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM Lens again. I'm arbitrarily limiting candidates to one award, so the next-best options are the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens and the lens I'll go with for this choice:
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens
This lens delivers "Wow!"
If you can get past the price, the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens will blow you away in most other regards. This lens is simply one of the most incredible available, and one of the ultimate action sports lenses. The 400 f/2.8 IS III features superb image quality at even wide-open apertures, incredibly fast AF, and best-available build quality.
The 400mm focal length is very useful, but not for everything. Those needing a strong, attention-grabbing background blur at wider angles (or a lower price) should consider one of the previously-mentioned lenses. Also, those wanting to handhold a lens should consider an alternative.
6. Extreme Effect Lens
After a round of lens announcements in August 2017, Canon's selection of "special effect" lenses was significantly bolstered with the addition of three new tilt-shift lenses. Now Canon has a grand total of seven such lenses available, five of which belong to their exclusive red ring club. Commonly, these lenses' tilt effect is used to create a "miniature" look, causing subjects to appear tiny in relation to their true size by tilting the plane of sharp focus, leaving much of the image blurred. The shift effect is used to keep vertical lines from appearing to converge in architectural imagery.
As mentioned, Canon currently has seven tilt-shift (TS-E) lenses in their lineup. Two are quite old, and five are considerably less old. I'll pick the versatile 24mm version (a relatively new one) for this choice:
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Tilt-Shift Lens
It is manual focus-only, but its tilt and shift capabilities make it a stand out
This lens has the moves! Just learning to use these movements is a valuable education. Shift the lens to adjust perspective, and tilt the lens to cause the plane of sharp focus to tilt also. While this latter feature can be used to keep everything in the image, from the foreground through the background, in focus, it can also be used to create the special effect referred to here.
Canon's pro-grade L-series Tilt-Shift lenses cover a wide range of focal lengths:
- Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift Lens
- Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Tilt-Shift Lens
- Canon TS-E 50mm f/2.8L Tilt-Shift Macro Lens
- Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8L Tilt-Shift Macro Lens
- Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Tilt-Shift Macro Lens
The latest introduced TS-E lenses (the last three listed) also feature a 0.50x maximum magnification rating allowing for an even greater array of creative captures.
7. Extreme Small/Light Lens
Everyone loves carrying and using a tiny, light lens. You barely know it is there. The only thing big about this lens is the picture above, which probably shows as much larger than life-size if you are not browsing from a mobile phone.
Even the price of this one is tiny!
It is small and light, and the price on the tag is miniscule. But, don't let those factors concern you. This lens is the real deal with sharp image quality and very nice build quality.
If 40mm is slightly long for your needs (and you use an APS-C/1.6x format camera), you will be happy to learn that this lens has a near-identical twin! The Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Lens is essentially the same lens in a 24mm focal length. The best idea is to get both - and that the price at checkout will still be far less than most other lenses cost will bring another smile to your face.
While an extremely small, light lens may not create extreme imagery, you will want to carry it all of the time. Having a camera always at-ready means you will have photo opportunities not otherwise available, and more opportunities increase the likelihood of an amazing photo happening.
I was going to include an "Extreme Large/Heavy Lens" category, but ... pick one of the biggest white super-telephoto lenses for this title. While an extremely large and heavy lens does not directly imply extreme imagery, a lens design requiring that classification is usually something on the extreme side, and just using a huge lens will get you attention.
8. Extreme Sharp Lens
There are many ways to approach the selection of Canon's sharpest lens, with some arbitrary decision-making being unavoidable. But, from a wide-open aperture sharpness from a corner-to-corner perspective, and at the risk of showing favoritism to Canon's big white lenses, I made the decision. You have to know that this lens is spectacular:
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens
This lens defines "sharp"
Check this out. The sample crops provided in the site's image quality tool are created using a low contrast picture style with a very low sharpness setting. And the corners look like the center, which is better than many lenses can produce at any aperture.
The truth is, we have some exceptionally sharp lenses available to us today. For example, check out what this zoom lens can do. Very impressive. As always, the lens matters a great deal to final image quality and seldom is "sharp" not what I want.
Check out our other lens recommendations.
