What are Canon's top 3 lenses for IQ?

EF 24-105mm f/4 IS L USM
EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
EF 100mm f/2.8 IS L USM

MatthewK wrote in post #14410577
Sweet, your getting a 50L. I knew it was good to go in on that thread and sway your decision

you can't believe how many times i wanted to cancel the order because it was delayed til next week.

i was never even decided to get it, i was just anxious because the tamron 24-70 won't be available til end of the month or june over here and i thought that if the dealer gave me a discount, that would be the final nail in the coffin.

i normally feel buyer's remorse on lenses i'm 100% sure of, now i feel super remorseful for this, especially for the long leadtime.

wife said i should cancel, i said i cannot cancel for no reason (no legit reason). mulling it over, the only other options are the sigma 50 and canon 50 1.4 ... i don't think i wanna play those odds. the local canon service center also said calibrating the 50L would cost just 21 bucks, hooray for cheap labor.

mike cabilangan wrote in post #14412693
i normally feel buyer's remorse on lenses i'm 100% sure of, now i feel super remorseful for this, especially for the long leadtime.

Interesting. I normally beat myself up so much before pulling the trigger even talking myself out of stuff I am 100% sure of and then reconvincing myself. By the time I actually pull the trigger I have all the remorse worked out.

i think 70-200 2.8 II is deff 1 of 3

to revive the thread....in my arsenal of lenses:
1. 300 f2.8L IS II
2. 135L
3. 85L

Its generally easier to make long lens sharp due to the (more or less) parallel ray of light which is easier to correct. The MTF chart of the 300 f2.8 II is ridiculous for example. Of course, as the focal length gets longer the size/cost constraints will cause some design compromise.

I think the sweet spot lies somewhere around 200mm - 400mm. Thats why we see the 200mm and 300mm lens as the sharpest lens for not just Canon but also Nikon.

I haven't had the luck to use any, but from what I have seen, and read:

No.1 is the Canon EF 200mm f/2 L IS USM

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Not sure what is the top 3 as I have not used some of the highly rated telephotos.
The 70-200L IS II appears on several lists here and I would then like to point to the 70-300L since the 2 lenses have similar IQ. The 70-300 is extremely sharp from edge to edge and has excellent color rendition.

Of the lenses in my bag now or have been in my bag...

135 f2L
80-200 f2.8L 'magic black pipe'
200 f2.8L II

I might throw in the 85 f1.8 instead of the 200, but I haven't used the 80 enough to make a comparison.

My sharpest/best IQ:
300 f/2.8L IS
500 f/4L IS II
70-200 f/2.8L IS II

mike cabilangan wrote in post #14408815
i hope so.

but it really is for another use, i'l never bring it for travel, it's not small, it's not light and it's expensive.
i just hope i'm wrong with the focus issue. when i stop the 50 1.8 to 2.8 ... it's razor, i hope i don't miss that.

Mine was complete turd in low light. The excellent sharpness is useless if it can't focus. Also, the bokeh - or specifically the OOF highlights - were rather bizarre.

I think the "top 3 lenses" really varies based on the price range.

from what I own and pure IQ for me in this order it's 500f4 II, 300 f2.8 II and 200 f2. that being said they all are close to great and will produce world class shots when used properly.

hairy_moth wrote in post #14409871
It depends on how you define IQ. If you are concerned only with sharpness -- the 50 f/1.8 at f/8 is hard to beat at any price. Take a look at this:
http://the-digital-picture.com …omp=0&FLIComp=0​&APIComp=8

According to my interpretation of that tool (less than perfect I know) there is no f/stop on the 50mm f/1.2L that compares to the 50mm f/1.8 @f/8 on sharpness alone (the center is sharp on all --- look at the mid-frame and corners). But there is more to IQ than simply sharpness. The 50 f/1.8 is notorious for ugly bokeh -- it produces as much blur as the other 50s at the same f/stops, but the blur is edgy and ugly.

[edit] I just noticed arentol's post who said almost the same thing as me.. GMTA

Holy crap the nifty 50 looks better at f8

200L f2 - 135L f2 – 85L f1.2