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Two maxims:

1.The qualities of your photographs are only as good as the lenses you use. There is little point in laying out for a decent camera and then adding budget lenses. 2.Once you have used a L series lens you are hooked; there is no going back! Although other EF lenses are very good and I am sure the likes of Sigma and Tamron make great lenses for Canon; according to reviews, they are not quite in the same league as L series lenses. That is why I am now a Canon L series fanboy.

There is a lot to like about the red ring lenses from the solid build quality to the smooth way they operate. When it comes to images; the sharpness, the colour and the creamy bokeh seem to be unbeatable. L series lenses might not make you a better photographer but they certainly help.

In my collection so far:-

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM: the lens that came with the camera and the start of my L obsession. This is the brilliant walk around lens that I use most of the time. Not without its flaws; e.g. there is a trace of barrel distortion wide angle which thankfully can easily be remedied in Photoshop.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM: my next purchase because I wanted to get in close. I love this lens for how close you can get with it and the fact that you can use it hand held and at full aperture. It will make a great portrait lens. I love the versatility of zooms but for sheer quality, you can’t beat a prime!

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM: my latest lens takes the range to 200mm which is probably as far as I will want to go. Wildlife photographers or aircraft spotters like my friend Pete would probably find this limiting and would have probably go for the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM but that is nearly three times the price of the 70-200 and a lot heavier. I can neither justify nor do I really need that

If I ever feel that I need that extra range, I can buy the excellent Canon 1.4 extender which drops the lens by one stop in aperture and looses next to nothing in quality.

With the quantity of light we have in Spain, I am hoping that I won’t miss image stabilisation on this lens which would have near doubled the price. I’ll just have to adopt my technique to make sure I am using a fast enough shutter speed and thus avoid camera shake.