Canon APS-C Lens Kit | EF-S 10-22mm, EF 24-105mm, EF 100-400mm II

Buying camera lenses can be difficult without properly test-driving and the fact that new lenses don’t always have good example images available to show the range of zooms (especially for APS-C sensor cameras paired with EF lenses). In this post I’ve gone through my archive and selected images that were taken from the same vantage point at both the widest and narrowest zoom settings. This will hopefully help those considering purchasing any of these lenses (or lenses of comparable zooms) for an APS-C equipped camera.

This is the kit I bring with me for Adventure times and while they aren’t the fastest lenses, they allow me to cover a range of 10-400mm or the 35mm-equivalent of 16-648mm. This is a pretty awesome range to have with only three lenses.

All the images below have been processed with Lightroom 3 and exported at 1440px widest side and are, unless noted, uncropped and unrotated. I’ve also noted the zoom (unconverted), f-stop, and shutter speed in the file name and in the lightbox if interested. My camera is a small, light, and humble, 7-year-old Canon 450D with an APS-C size sensor that results in a 1.62x crop factor. As such, this post is primarily for those with the same size sensor (latest models are Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 70D, & 760D).
Also, off topic but relevant to this post, note that Safari is having issues with my CSS columns and insisting on unevenly distributing the text in the columns to the left, so there are always two more rows of text on the left than the right, even if there are only two rows of text total. As I look for a fix please consider viewing in Chrome.

10mm | 16mm Eq
22mm | 35mm Eq

24mm | 39mm Eq
105mm | 170mm Eq

100mm | 162mm Eq
400mm | 648mm Eq

This ultra wide angle lens is incredibly fun and excellent for landscape photography with it’s ability to capture entire scenes and sprawling vistas. It’s also useful for architectural photography indoors and out, and is interesting to use creatively for portraits, although that’ll require a calm subject who doesn’t mind being in extreme proximity to the lens. I’ve been using this lens for almost a decade and I still use it all the time and bring it on every trip. It’s seen the sunrise on Mount Rainier, the blue ice walls inside the Franz Josef Glacier, wild Atlantic Salmon on the Restigouche River, and the Indian Ocean merging with the Atlantic at Cape Agulhas.
Using this EF-S 10-22mm lens was crazy at first, especially when coming from the 50mm prime I had on my first camera since the field of view is drastically wider it felt like every time I would crouch to take a photo I’d have to reposition about 5 steps closer to the subject. But once the angle of view becomes second nature, it’s amazing what this lens can capture.

St Andrews Sunrise | 22mm | 35mm Eq
22mm | 35mm Eq

This lens obviously plays the middle ground, but with APS-C sensors it ends up with a much higher effective zoom, which can work well for portraits as well as friendly/confident wildlife. When wide it can capture a landscape and then zoomed in it can pluck a subject out of the field. This versatility makes it a great traveling lens as well as a good lens to have on while hiking where there is a mix of large scenes and forest details.

24mm | 39mm Eq
105mm | 170mm Eq

I’ve only had this lens for about a month, but it’s been awesome. My example images below are of Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson on their final day as they pushed towards the summit of the Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park. I’ve also used it on the Berkeley Pier and Sutro Tower in addition to various birds. Below is a full pixel crop of a Brown Pelican rising on Eastern winds above the Golden Gate Bridge.

Dawn Wall | 100mm | 162mm Eq
Tommy Caldwell & Kevin Jorgeson | 400mm | 648mm Eq

Brown Pelican | 400mm | 468mm Eq
Brown Pelican 1:1 Pixel Crop | 400mm | 648mm Eq

Berkeley Pier (Slightly Rotated to Level) | 400mm | 468mm Eq
Sutro Tower from 7.5 Miles Away | 400mm | 648mm Eq