Lens Fever!

I have lens fever, which I am learning is very dangerous!

As you are well aware, from my last post, I am in the market for a new lens and with Christmas around the corner, my timing is perfect! However, Santa may be on a budget. There are two lenses I am looking at. Option A: EF-S 18-135 mm. Option B:EF 24-105mm L. I very quickly learned the benefit to buying an L lens.

Most of you might ask, what is the big difference?...PRICE, about $600 to be exact. Now when I really think about it, this is going to be an investment so I want to make an educated decision. I did a little reading on-line and read some reviews. Of course, the reviews for option B are out of this world, I mean it is a luxury lens from Canon and takes pristine shots, prevents dust from getting in the lens, is amazing for landscape, portrait, action....Honestly, I could not find a bad thing about it accept for the price tag.

Option A had some very solid reviews...everyone loved the price, love the capability and photos it takes. Someone even said they tested it against their 24-105 L lens and on a few photos they could not tell the difference. Now there are some negatives, new terminology I learned - Vignetting and lens creep. Lens creep I am not so concerned about. Basically it is when the lens will zoom itself out if you hold it vertically...solution, keep it on your camera and hold it horizontally. That is not a deal breaker for me. The vignette I learned it when the color brightness starts to fade from the center of a picture to the outer edges. You have probably seen this when people edit their photo in photoshop and have a picture that they make the edges fuzzy. Some like it because it causes you to focus on the center of the photo. For me, not a fan. I like a clean picture. But there is a solution to vignette...dial the f stop down some.

I wanted to share my frustration. I was exited, thinking I would do some reading and the reviews would help me make my decision, but sadly I am still confused. One thing I am leaning on...I am still a beginner and the L lens is used by a lot of professionals. With that said, I may turn to the EF-S lens as it is still a GREAT lens. Maybe when I get to that professional level the L lens will be back on my list.

For now, the L lens may stay on my fantasy Santa list....