if you could only own one lens ?

[beachy]

i just thought i would start this thread to find out peoples lens preference,s, all hypertetical of course, so if you could only own one lens which one would you pick, please mention the brand, and state for what reasons you would choose that particular lens.

[Liquid101]

Simple.

I would have a 28mm prime lens. It gives the most natural field of view - putting the viewer in the photographers shoes.

The closest I can get on my Nikon DSLR is a 20mm which is about 30mm

[edward]

Overall, the 24-84 on my old film-fed Canon EOS RT. I've got a 35-135 and a 100-300 but the Wide-Angle give some great scenery shots, and being able to take a shot inside and often catches opposing walls... on a 24" Eizo monitor, it really does impress.

[barongreenback]

The Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS. One of the most versatile and finest quality lenses I've ever tried. Sadly, I don't own one although as it's Christmas, I'll willingly accept donations

[alfienoakes]

At the moment I have a wide, macro and the kit 18-70 with my D80. For versatility i'd pick the 18-70 as my lens of choice. I'd quite like to replace that with a 18-200VR if I could find one.

[Radiohead]

Tricky one - for the type of shooting I prefer it would probably be the 85/1.2L or a 70-200L of any flavour.

[Kaoshan]

By far my favourite is the 70-200 f2.8 IS L. It stays on my 30D most of the time A very versatile lens.

[HCking]

easy for me Canon 600mm f4 L IS USM

[Pirate!!]

May well depend on the cameras crop factor. Olympus has x2 as per my E500, so apart from a 300mm (600mm SLR) the 14-54mm would be in my shopping basket. But as with most dSLR, the prices are a killer.

[spanna]

Canon 500mm F4 L IS.

got to be the ultimate nature photographers lens.

(I just need to find 4k from somewhere )

[Chunder]

To paraphrase a response in one of the Flickr groups to this very question, in a hypothetical ideal world I'd like the:

Canon EF 10-1000 f/1.0 L DO IS USM GTi PDQ RTFM ***

It's a beast of a lens that's suitable for every possible situation you can think of. It's lightweight because of the diffractive optics lens technology, is weather and vacuum sealed, and only weighs 227g! Remarkable stuff.

In the real world, however, I made do for a long time with a Sigma 28-300 f/3.5-63 Aspherical IF DL Hyperzoom (whatever all that means, and it's taken from the lens body, not made up this time!). The range is truly fantastic (especially on the crop sensor of the D30 and similar.
The downside is the variable, and not particularly large aperture, and somewhat slow autofocus. And the lack of IS is a pain, too.
On my 5D, however, there's some noticeable distortion at the 28mm end, and chromatic aberration if you peek close enough.
As a cheap-ish starter, all rounder, if-you-can-only-carry-one-lens jobbie, though, it's pretty cool.

[RobDickinson]

If I only could have one lens I'd have saved some money and not bought a dSLR...

[salubrious_k]

I don't actually have this lens and I haven't tried it (so how on earth can I say this?), however I think if I were to have just one lens I'd want the Canon EF 24-70 L f/2.8. It's fast and it's got a really nice range.

[richard plumb]

canon 24-105 f4L IS

I already own it and if I had to get rid of all my lenses except one, thats the one i'd keep

[tomson]

17-55mm 2.8 IS - It's the lens I use most and I find it much more useful than the 16-35 & 24-70 it replaced. It rarely comes off my camera and it's the reason I haven't bought a 5D...yet.