You don’t need to spend over $1,000 to get a great lens for your Canon DSLR. Heck, you don’t even need to spend over $400. Canon and third party manufacturers have great lenses available for your DSLR at fairly affordable prices. Some are surprisingly good, and some will possibly stay glued to your camera.
Over our years of reviewing lenses and cameras, we’ve rounded up our top five choices for the best Cheap Lenses for Canon DSLRs.
Canon 50mm f1.8 STM
Though we haven’t reviewed the new 50mm f1.8 III yet, it’s bound to have better optics than the previous version. It’s also been updated to include seven aperture blades, a metal mount, and new focusing motors to overall make it a better product. The lens is designed for full frame DSLRs but will also work with APS-C sensor DSLRs with a field of view of 80mm.
Buy Now $125: Amazon / B&H Photo
Canon 40mm f2.8 STM
In our review, we said:
“I was extremely surprised with the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens, the image quality delivered was beyond what I expected from a lens at this price point. I do wish the manual focus feel was a bit more responsive, and the AF speed just a touch faster, but I can certainly live with it as-is and have no issues. For $150 (as of Nov’ 2012) I feel like this should be a no-brainer purchase if you want the smallest lens that Canon currently produces.”
Buy Now $149: Amazon / B&H Photo
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 II
Though we never formally reviewed the 55-250mm f4-5.6 II, we used it many times with the Rebel cameras and were pleasantly surprised at how sharp the image quality is. For a small lens that is bundled as a kit option, you’ve got a heck of a sharp optic that most people may be forever happy with.
Buy Now $299: Amazon / B&H Photo
Rokinon 85mm f1.4
In our review, we state
“For the money, many photographers are bound to swarm to it due to its great construction, small size, light weight, and sharpness. With the supply of products coming out of Japan being limited as well at the time of writing this, the South Korean lens looks a bit more tempting.”
Buy Now $269: Amazon / B&H Photo
Rokinon 14mm 2.8
In our review, we state
“For the price at around $400, you really can’t beat it. Canon and Zeiss’s options offer either autofocusing or assistance, but this lens offers essentially the same quality at a much more affordable price.”
