The best Canon APS C Lenses for photography

Canon’s best lens for APS-C DSLRs. A buying guide on the best APS-C lenses for Canon users on the market.

If you’ve just bought your first Canon DSLR, you’ll be pleased to know that there are plenty of Canon APS C lenses to suit all budgets and photographic subjects.

While Canon has offered mirrorless options over the last few years, it’s fair to say that they still have a much larger number of compatible DSLR lenses than their proprietary mirrorless options, which is why you’re truly spoiled for choice.

However, this could make it difficult to identify which lens is a good buy and which is not. That’s why I want to help you buy the best Canon lens for your DSLR. I’ll reveal the best Canon lenses for APS-C DSLRs.

The best Canon lenses you could buy for your Canon APS-C camera

Without further ado, let’s see the best objectives for your cameras. Hopefully, you will find the right one according to your needs. Also, see the best gift ideas for photography enthusiasts.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM

best Canon lenses for Canon APS C camera

The best macro lens for full-frame Canon SLRs is the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro EX DG OS HSM, which we selected for its value for money. In most cases and in our experience, macro lenses are used less often than the other lenses in your kit, and therefore, in our opinion, it is often pointless to spend a lot of money on this type of lens. The Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro is therefore an excellent solution when compared to the original Canon counterpart (Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM), which costs more than double.

With a focal length of 105mm, it offers good magnification, allowing you to capture close-up details of small subjects such as insects, flowers, and more. The maximum aperture of f/2.8 allows you to obtain a good depth of field, while the HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) guarantees fast and precise focusing, even if a little noisy. In addition, the image stabilization system (OS) helps to obtain sharp images even in low-light conditions or with slower shutter speeds.

Pros

  • Value for money
  • Quality bokeh
  • There is little to envy to the Canon counterpart

Cons

  • The weather seal is missing
  • Noisy AF

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Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

Canon EF 100mm f 2 8L Macro IS USM

If price isn’t an issue, the best professional macro lens for a Canon full-frame SLR is the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. Upon close inspection of photographs taken with this macro lens, its image quality is better than its Sigma counterpart, and the build quality is higher with a weather-sealed barrel.

The IS system works well for keeping the image steady and counteracting both small vibrations (unavoidable in macro photography) and for shooting at slower shutter speeds when the light is low. The AF system is also very good, fast, and silent; it can also be used for video if it is necessary to install a microphone on the camera.

Pros

  • Excellent image quality
  • Weather sealed
  • Stabilized

Cons

  • Price

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Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro Art Lens

Top Canon DSLR Lenses For Photography

The Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro Art Lens, available in the version with Canon EF mount and therefore compatible with all Canon reflexes, is a good choice among quality-priced macro lenses, and compared to those with a 100mm focal length, it allows you to broaden the field of view and show more scenes around the subject. I would recommend it for those who need to get closer and isolate the subject less, perhaps for food photography or for photographing e-commerce products, rather than for photographing small flowers and insects.

Compared to other macro lenses, this Sigma has the particularity of extending when you operate the focus (either automatic or manual). When using AF, this process slows down operations a bit. Apart from that, it’s an interesting option at a competitive price, and it could also be the ideal choice for an APS-C Canon SLR owner because, in that case, the 70mm becomes a 105mm if the crop factor is considered.

Pros

  • Value for money
  • Greater viewing angle than 100mm
  • Fast

Cons

  • Not stabilized
  • Extension focus mechanism

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Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens

best selling Canon lens in the market for Canon APS C and Full Frame cameras

This Canon EF lens is compatible with both Canon APS-C and Full Frame cameras. It has a focal length of 50 mm and provides high performance, with good image quality both far and near and excellent color balance. It is a goal used mainly for street photography because it is more like a human view, but many use it for portraits.

Its peculiarity is to blur the background behind the subject, which is thus greatly emphasized. In this way, you can fill the framing without coming too close to the protagonist of the shot, facilitating the naturalness of the expression of the face. The goal of the Japanese company is to bring a lot of light to ensure high shutter speeds even in poor lighting conditions.

Pros

  • Sharp at f/1.8.
  • Lightweight.
  • Silent, smooth video focus.
  • Very affordable.

Cons

  • Modest barrel distortion.
  • Slower focus.
  • Some fall off at wide apertures.

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Canon EF-S 55-250mm F4-5.6 IS STM Lens

Best Canon APS C Lens Reviews

Compact and low-priced, this model is, in our opinion, the best among the Canon lenses. This is a zoom telephoto lens, featuring a focal length equivalent to 88–400 in a 35 mm format. It allows you to obtain bright images in unobtrusive light, but the best of it is outdoors with good lighting. The lens is equipped with an image stabilizer to counter the effects of camera vibration so that it can get blur-free shots. In addition, automatic panning detection guarantees amazing images of moving subjects as well.

The circular aperture diaphragm lets you blur the background so that the main protagonist of the shot is further highlighted. In addition to the excellent performance, we point to the low weight that makes it easy to use for a long time and the great selling price.

Pros

  • Great sharpness in the center throughout the zoom range
  • Lightweight
  • Fast focusing
  • Effective stabilizer

Cons

  • Plastic lens mount
  • Quite expensive compared to its predecessor

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Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III

Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

This Canon lens is compatible with all body-powered DSLR models. It is proposed as one of the best quality and price-based telephoto lenses designed to meet the needs of cameramen who want to get closer to the world of canvases. It comes with a 4x zoom and a focal length of 300 meters, and it guarantees good-quality shots, especially in full sunlight. This device does not have a stabilizer to distract the most distant subjects. It is advisable to use a tripod, especially when shooting with non-optimal lighting.

The built-in AF engine ensures quick focusing, while the electromagnetic diaphragm ensures precise position control of the aperture. It offers an extremely aggressive price. This Canon telephoto lens has excellent billing and a steel attachment bayonet, a choice that elevates it from competing products of the same price range that are often made of plastic.

Pros

  • Lightweight
  • Compact
  • Seven bladed diaphragms for nice bokeh
  • Precise and quick autofocus
  • Reasonably priced
  • Versatile zoom range

Cons

  • No image stabilization
  • Softness at corners and centers
  • No weather sealing

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EF-S 10–18 mm f/4.5–5.6 IS STM

Top Canon DSLR Lenses For great Photography sold online

If you are wondering how to choose a good Canon lens, our advice is to evaluate, in addition to the budget available, the type of subjects you love to portray. The EF-S 10–18 mm is particularly suitable for immortalizing landscapes and monuments. It has an ultra-wide aperture that allows you to create very wide shots even at close range.

Designed for EOS reflexes equipped with APS-C format sensors. It has a compact design, is lightweight, and is therefore easily transportable and usable during travel and hiking. Thanks to the four-stop image stabilizer, you can shoot crisp and still images even in low-light conditions. If in addition to the photos you like to shoot videos, you will not appreciate the STM technology that ensures a silent focus during recording.

Pros

  • Sharp throughout the range.
  • Affordably priced.
  • Ultra-wide-angle field of view.
  • Optically stabilized.
  • STM focus motor.

Cons

  • Plastic lens mount.
  • Some color is fringing.
  • Narrow aperture.

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Tokina atx-i 100mm F2.8 FF MACRO

Tokina atx i 100mm

The Tokina Atx-i 100mm F2.8 FF MACRO is a quality-price solution for a photographer looking for a macro lens for Canon SLRs without spending a lot and is versatile for many other applications besides macro photography. For example, it can be used as a portrait lens and for social photography, where having a long focal length of 100mm might be inconvenient.

This 70mm lets you do a lot, has quality bokeh, and has an aperture on par with any other macro we’ve seen so far. The only real shortcoming is the stabilization, and since Canon SLR camera bodies lack IBIS stabilization, I must remind you that with this lens you will not get any stabilization.

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Sigma 30mm F1.4 Art DC HSM

Sigma 30mm

Canon’s 1.6x crop factor makes this Sigma 30mm equivalent to approximately 48mm, which is close enough to the classic 50mm focal length loved by many. It is also one of the class objectives for for “Art” from Sigma; this means you have a nice build and a fast f/1.4 aperture. You get fast shutter speeds in low light without the need to boost your ISO settings, but you also get a nice, narrow depth of field.

Sharpness is remarkably good, even at the widest aperture available. Meanwhile, autofocus is speedy thanks to the rear focus mechanism that drives the lens’s smaller rear elements via a ring-type ultrasonic system. Also, the good news is that the front element doesn’t extend or rotate while focusing.

Small but extremely light, this “pancake” lens is less than an inch long and weighs just 125g. While f/2.8 isn’t a super-fast aperture, the image quality is excellent, plus it’s super cheap.

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Also, check out the best DSLR camera backpacks.

What is the best Canon APS-C lens, in your opinion?

If you want to see all the best Canon lenses, you can check out our Canon Lenses review. Or, take a look at the best Full-Frame lenses for Canon.

Thanks for reading this article. I hope it has helped you locate the APS-C lens for the Canon SLR that you were looking for. Please, I would be grateful if you would help me disseminate this article if you think it is worth it. And, as always, thank you.

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