These are our best lenses for Canon 6D and what we recommend to both amateur and professional photographers.
What did we look for? Image quality, overall usability (can be used for many situations), price and whether all of that gives you the best value for your money. They’re all great for many different photography situations, from portraits and streets, to sports, landscape and much more.
Best prime lenses for 6D:
- Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM
- Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
- Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
- Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di SP Macro
- Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro
Best zoom lenses for 6D:
- Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM
- Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
- Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
- Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
- Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM UD
- Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM
Best Wideangle Lenses for Canon 6D
Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM – An excellent lens if you’re looking for a wideangle zoom with Image Stabilization, USM and high image quality. On the 6D, the focal length is perfect for a ton of different styles, from landscape, group shots, weddings, architecture, indoor photography and more. You can see reviews here.
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM – Slightly more affordable than the lens above, but you do lose Image Stabilization. Is that a problem? Well, if you often shoot without a tripod and/or photograph with slow shutter speeds and want crisp results, Image Stabilization can help a lot, so you’ll have to ask yourself if the IS is worth an extra $250 to you. You can see reviews here.
Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM – For improved sharpness and even better low light performance, prime lenses almost always outperform zooms. I recommend the 24mm only if you’ve previously shot with a wideangle lens and already know that this length suits your needs perfectly, as people often forget that having too much in your shot is also not a good thing, a common thing with extremely wide lenses (which the 24mm is not, but still nice to know). Basically, if your photography also includes night time or indoor/club scenes, f/1.4 is a big help. You can see reviews here.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG – Compared to Canon’s 35mm f/1.4L, the Sigma is sharper, costs less and is by far a better deal. It’s on the far end of a wideangle lens, but it’s still perfect as a street, wedding, walkaround, night time and indoor lens. You can see reviews here.
Best Standard Lenses for Canon 6D
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM – Our most recommended and popular lens! The 50mm is affordable, has a big f/1.8 aperture perfect for portraits, low light or just isolating your subject, the 50mm length is great for every photographer and there’s a STM (Stepping Motor) for silent and accurate auto focus. If you just bought the 6D and want something light and affordable that’ll deliver great results, this is it! You can see more reviews here.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM – I recommend the f/1.4 version only if you often shoot in low light (weddings, night time) or are really into portraits. As far as image quality goes these two are almost identical, but the build quality and auto focus are slightly better. You can see more reviews here.
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM – If you bought the 6D for portraits, weddings or concerts and want to really improve the quality and bokeh of your shots, you’ll love the 85mm f/1.8. It’s one of the sharpest primes I’ve used and the length is absolutely brilliant for situations where you can’t/don’t want to be too close to your subject. Bokeh, colors and sharpness are absolutely stunning and the lens isn’t expensive either. You can see reviews here.
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM – In case you haven’t bought the 6D with the 24-105mm as a bundle already, I seriously recommend it to you if you want one all-around L lens with great image quality. Most people either go with this one, or the 24-70mm below when choosing an all-around lens, with the main advantages of the 24-105mm being IS and longer range. You can see more reviews here.
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM – If you need the f/2.8 (for weddings, portraits and anything in darker situations) then the 24-70mm is definitely a better option as it still covers a big range that most of us on a day to day basis, but gives you more available light to work with, not to mention a nice shallow depth of field. You can see more reviews here.
Best Telephoto Lenses for Canon 6D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM – Canon’s most popular line is definitely the 70-200mm, which includes 4 different lenses. Besides the f/4L IS USM, there’s also a version without the IS. It’s an ideal lens for indoor and outdoor action such as sports, animals, journalism, weddings and concerts. You should also check out the f/4L USM version if you know you don’t need the IS. You can see reviews here.
Canon EF 70-200m f/2.8L IS II USM – If you know you need the 70-200 range and absolutely need f/2.8 with IS as well, then this is the best you can get. Canon’s best selling telephoto zoom delivers optically amazing images, contrast and sharpness and is built very well so you can use it in all sorts of weather/nature conditions. However, it’s also the heaviest and most expensive 70-200mm version so you better be prepared for some extra weight. You can see reviews here.
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4L IS USM UD – Another L lens but with 100mm extra reach. Mostly aimed at outdoor wildlife, travel, nature and sports photographers, but you can use it inside just remember that you’ll have to bump up the ISO quite a lot. You can see reviews here.
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM – Replacing the older, popular wildlife lens, the new version brings better image quality, a normal way to zoom (compared to push/pull mechanism on the old one), improved Image Stabilization and faster auto focusing. At around $2,000 it’s not the cheapest but is definitely the best choice if you’re into animal photography! You can see reviews here.
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM – If wildlife excites you and you see yourself out in the nature just waiting for that perfect shot, but you don’t want to spend too much money nor sacrifice image quality for something cheap, the new Sigma 150-600mm is for you. Why? Years ago long zooms weren’t that good, but companies have caught up and we now get optically great zoom lenses even at 600mm! As expected, there’s HSM for fast focusing and OS for helping you at getting crisp shots. Unfortunately its aperture isn’t appropriate for indoor use. You can see reviews here.
Best Macro Lenses for Canon 6D
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di SP – Brilliant if you find macro photography interesting and would like to photograph moving subjects, or products, portraits and other details. It’s cheaper than Canon’s non-L version and is just as good. The closest focusing distance is 11.4 inches and it takes 55mm sized filters. You can see reviews here.
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro – Get this only if you’re really serious about macro photography! While the image quality is a little bit better, the main reasons for a higher price tag are the Hybrid IS for photographing without a tripod (at 100mm it’s not the easiest thing to get sharp shots unless shooting with high shutter speeds) and much better build quality. You can see reviews here.
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