You Have To Present Canon's Finest...?

I'll only recommend lenses that I actually own (or have owned) and have shot with to some extent. So I'd bring the following:

1DMkIIN
35mm f1.2L
85mm f1.2L
135mm f2L

I'm with Mark on this one.
Therefore I would Proudly walk in with:
350D
Nifty
17-40 f/4L
70-200 f/4L

Now in a Dream World
1DMkII
70-200 f/2.8 IS
85 f/1.2L IS
400 f/2.8L IS
& I would sneak Nifty in in my pocket

EOS D30 - wow... dslr 3.2mpix at a great price
50 1.8 mk2 - hey - it's a great lens at a good price
TS-E 24 L - whoa, cool!
85 1.2L - it doesn't get better than that...

(then to show off, i'd pull out a RC-701 )

1DsMKII
85mm f/1.2L
135mm f/2.0L
300mm f/2.8L IS

...a mere $14K
Yikes!

For Ultimate birding

1D MKIIn
1200 mm f/5.6
1.4 Tcon
2.0 Tcon

If Canon bring out that one, I'll buy it! At least when it's optically as good as the 85L.

P.

SolPics wrote in post #1931768
For Ultimate birding

1D MKIIn
1200 mm f/5.6
1.4 Tcon
2.0 Tcon

wow, that comes with an extremely small aperture as well.

1DsM2
50mm f1.2L (so you can shoot your friends indoors)
85mm f1.2L (makes the perfect portraits)
300mm f2.8L IS (just in case you guys decide to go birding!)

and bring a couple of TCs!

EOS-1Ds Mark II

EF 35 f/1.4L USM

EF 135 f/2L USM

EF 400 f/2.8L IS USM

It depends on whether your friends are snobs. If they are snobs, my temptation would be to walk in with medium-price lenses that are still state-of-the-art. To wit:

85/1.8
70-200/4L

I can't come up with a third that really glows in the dark without being really expensive or without being bested by someone else's offering. Maybe the 300/4L.

If money is no object, then I would include the 85/1.2L, the 300/2.8L and the 400/2.8L. These are truly state-of-the-art optics at any price.

Canon offers nothing shorter than the 85 that will really reveal Canon's true contribution to the state of the art. Canon's forte has been its high-speed telephoto lenses ever since it came out with the FD-mount 300/2.8 flourite lens. That's why they own the sports photography market.

Rick "thinking Canon's is market-savvy enough to know how to define a sexy niche--and then paint it white to highlight it" Denney

rdenney wrote in post #2080805
Canon offers nothing shorter than the 85 that will really reveal Canon's true contribution to the state of the art.

You've clearly never been introduced to the 35mm f/1.4L, then. Finest lens I've ever owned.

AE-1
50 f .95

Canon 30D (will order this on 15 OCT 2006 as soon as rebates are announced)
10-22MM EF-S
17-55MM EF-S IS
24-70MM EF L

This is hard...I had to leave out some fine primes

1DMKIIN
70-200 2.8 IS L
16-35 2.8L
300mm f2.8

Ronald S. Jr. wrote in post #2080896
You've clearly never been introduced to the 35mm f/1.4L, then. Finest lens I've ever owned.

That would probably be true for me, too. But is this lens better than the Leitz 35/1.4? The Zeiss 35/1.4? Granted, the price for the Leitz 35/1.4 is 3.5 times the (already high) price of the Canon, but is it noticeably better than the cheaper Nikon AIS manual-focus 35/1.4? Canon may stand proud in their company, but I don't think it redefines the state of the art the way Canon did with fast telephotos.

Rick "setting a high standard" Denney