Using single focal length EF lenses with your EOS camera. There's no denying that zoom lenses are popular with photographers today. In fact, professional users of EOS cameras have showered praises on the high performance EF zoom lenses like the EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM, EF 35-350mm f/3.55.6 USM, EF 28-70mm f/2.8L USM, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM and the EF 100400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM. Amateurs and beginners too have a wide selection of reasonably-priced zoom lenses in the EF line-up. The main feature of any zoom lens is that it takes the place of several focal lengths in one body, giving the photographer the freedom to compose on the subject and eliminating the need to change lenses several times during an assignment. With zoom lenses being so popular, does this mean that the end is in sight for single focal length lenses? Not really. While zoom lenses are convenient, single focal length lenses are far lighter and more compact than most zoom lenses, except for the entry-level versions. An EF 200mm f/2.8L USM is far lighter than the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM zoom lens. The same goes for the EF 100mm f/2.0 USM and EF 135mm f/2.0L USM in contrast to the same EF-L USM zoom lens in weight. In terms of lens speed, the single focal length lenses are also faster than most of the zoom lenses available. However, there are some exceptions in the EF line-up on this: Canon's previous EF 20-35mm f/2.8L AFD zoom lens was an excellent alternative to some of the single focal length lenses available currently like the EF 20mm f/2.8 USM, EF 24mm f/2.8 AFD, EF 28mm f/2.8 AFD and the EF 35mm f/2.0 AFD as the photographer's preferred choice. However, all the fastest of Canon's zoom lenses are restricted to the maximum aperture of f/2.8 whereas the single focal length lenses have wider choices like f/2.5, f/2.0, f/1.8, f/1.4 and f/1.0, to name a few. Single focal length lenses also have closer focusing distance than their zoom counterparts. For example, any of the EF super wide-angle and wide-angle lenses mentioned earlier does focus much closer than what the EF 20-35mm f/2.8L AFD zoom lens is capable of. Canon EOS-1N camera attached with EF 28mm f/1.8 USM and the EF 100mm f/2.0 USM at the side Compactness, lightweight and fast slpeeds are among the reasons why some professional and advanced amateur photographers prefer to use single focal length lenses over zooms for their assignments. If traveling light, especially to a foreign destination, is your preference, carrying two or three fast aperture single focal lenses with a compact 35mm SLR body are all you will ever need for your photographic tasks. When I attended the PMA 2000 Show held at Las Vegas in conjunction with the official launch of Canon's latest top-of-the-line model, the EOS-lv, I only brought along two single focal length lenses, the EF 28mm f/1.8 USM and EF 100mm f/2.0 USM. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 .