I’ve been thinking about zoom lenses lately. I bought my first SLR camera back in 1990. It was the then new Canon EOS 10s. With it I bought an EF 50mm f/1.8, an EF 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5, and an EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM. None of these lenses were particularly good lenses. This was at a time when autofocusing was still novel. When I was shopping for my camera I narrowed my choices down to the Minolta and the Canon. I knew I wanted to be able to use the automatic features but I also wanted full manual mode. Fortunately the little camera shop on North Gate in College Station helped my stay with Canon for what would end up being my third Canon.
The Holy Trinity of Lenses. Many photographers who have been at it a while develop an affinity for three lenses: a wide, a standard, and a medium telephoto. This is what I have started with an have stayed pretty consistent over the years. I never really developed a taste for the 50mm lens. For me it has really just one purpose. I use it for close quarters dark situations, sometimes with a flash. It is great for close candid shots. Nowadays, it is impractical and imposing when an iPhone is already at had. The testament to the to the utility of my nifty-fifty is that I still have my original after 30 years. It still works on my current camera, albeit with an adapter.
The second lens in the trio is what I call my walking-around lens. This is the lens that I leave on the camera and that is always with me when I travel. I still have this lens too. It sets on my shelf ready should I ever need it. The range out to 105mm while keeping f/4.5 made it ideal for framing subjects in the field. I would eventually get lured away by IS voodoo but this lens was still in my kit even after I made the move to digital 18 years later.
The final lens in my trio was my trusty 300mm zoom. This was my go-to lens for any sporting event or animal photography. Going to the zoo with this lens would allow you to frame a shot to remove most evidence of the zoo. I have several prints on my walls that passed through this lens. Simply deciding to carry this lens was a commitment since it would take time to switch lenses. This lens served me well even 19 years later when I switched to digital. I can still remember the moment when I finally decided to retire this lens.
This shot is what pushed me over the edge and I decided it was time for a new zoom lens. I love this shot. You can see bits of grass suspended in air flying off the cleat. It was a bright spring day. The camera was the then year-old Canon EOS Rebel XTi shooting at 1/1600s, ƒ/5.6, and zoomed to 195mm. Even hand-held, I should have been able to get a sharper image. I was so disappointed, I ordered an EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens the very next day.
I still have that $549 receipt though I do not have either of my early zoom lenses. I got into the habit of selling my old equipment to pay for the upgrade. This made the upgrade more affordable and allowed the lens to get a second life.
What did 19 years waiting earn me? The main difference was the Image Stabilization. That was like getting a lens that was 3-stops faster. The extra low end on the zoom at 70mm did make it a little more flexible. This lens would get me through soccer games, drill team performances, and even a Space Shuttle launch for the next four years. This was a very good lens and probably equal to my ability to actually use the camera. What pushed me over the edge was a trip.
By this point I had just replaced my camera body with the brand new T5i. This had been a bi-annual progression to leapfrog to buy every other year’s model: XTi to the T1i and then the T3i. I was about to take a trip to Alaska with a couple of side trips down the Kenai Peninsula to see glaciers and wildlife. I took this as an opportunity to buy my first “L” lens. The specs of this new lens were about the same but the overall build quality and responsiveness made all the difference. The distinctive while color made it that much harder to use discretely. I immediately fell in love with this lens.
Seven years later, what has changed? Namely it has been the move to Full-frame. You see one of the reasons that it took me so long to move to digital is that I didn’t like the quality of the images coming out of the early Rebels and I could not afford the pro EOS cameras. As the megapixels increased, the cameras were able to catch up. When you factor in the cost of film, it was just a matter of time. But for ten years I’d been using a “crop sensor”. That is, the sensor on my camera is only ⅔ the size of the professional cameras which are scaled based on the old 35mm standard. A side effect of that is any time you look at the focal length you have to multiply by 1.3 to get a sense of what the equivalent zoom would be for a full sensor. This means that my little 300mm was behaving like a 400mm from my perspective. This lens finished out my career as the photographer parent and got me started with a little astrophotography. I used this lens for the 2017 total solar eclipse and was very happy with the results. As a trusted travel companion, it’s been with me on four contents traveling as far north as Anchorage, south to Tierra del Fuego, west to Kauai, and east to Athens.
In 2019 when I moved up to the full sensor of the Canon EOS RP, it was like all of my lenses were muted just a little bit. I dabbled with an extender for a bit and actually got it to work. There’s no way that it was practical. The entire getup ended up being 16″ long. All that there was to do is wait until Canon updated their RF line with a native zoom.
Last month, they delivered the RF 100-500mm lens. I’m still in the honeymoon phase with this lens. It is really impressing me so far with how clear and fast it is. I quickly got used to the tension ring. I initially had a little trouble finding the focus ring in the dark. One of my favorite features is the filter thread size 77mm matches my walking-around 24-105mm lens. I look forward to getting a lot of use out of this lens.