These are our best prime lenses for Canon 80D. If you want better image quality than what most zooms can offer, and also be able to shoot with large apertures at night, or making your background blurry, you’ll love prime lenses!
We recommend you to get the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 if you’re starting out, because of its great image quality, great length for everyday shooting and the ability to blur the background.
For wide-angle shots, check out the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM, and if you’re into night, sky, architecture photography and want something even wider, there’s a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8.
In situations where you don’t want to be too close to your subject, such as concerts, portraits or weddings, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM rocks. It’s razor sharp and has beautiful bokeh to make your subject truly stand out.
These are the 7 best prime lenses for Canon 80D:
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Zoom vs. Prime
As many readers are aware there are two basic types of lenses. A Zoom or variable lens and a Prime or fixed lens.
This article is of course about the best Canon Prime lenses, but it’s important to understand a few things about Zoom lenses first to help you make the best choice about what will fit your needs.
With a Zoom lens, such as a Canon 24-70mm, you can go from a 24 mm focal range to a 70mm focal range (or anything in-between) by simply twisting the zoom ring on the lens.
Zoom Lenses: The Pros
- Much more control over the framing of the shot, you don’t have to move as much, simply twist the ring and you are closer or further.
- For beginners, zooms are usually much more friendly since you are exploring and don’t even know what you need. In many cases, you also have little control over the environment. For example if you are traveling, and you want to be able to take a picture of something close to you, but then a second later you see something far away to want to capture. With a Zoom you can take pictures of both with no problems.
Zoom Lenses: The Cons
- The lens has more elements inside, and that (usually) results in worse image quality. It can also bring more issues on the shot.
- They tend to be bigger and heavier. You may find a cheap one that is not bigger or heavier, but then that means there is definitely a compromise in the image quality you’ll get.
- If you want a quality zoom, they can be quite expensive.
- An important reason why some shots look amazing is because of the actual distance of the photographer to their subject. Zooming can make you lazy, and sometimes walking to/away from the subject makes the shot much more appealing. So the convenience of just turning your zoom ring often prevents you from moving around to find a better shot.
A Prime lens only has one focal length. Since you can never change it it’s referred to as a ‘fixed lens’.
Prime Lenses: The Pros
- Outstanding image quality. This is because there are fewer glass elements required.
- Smaller and lighter then a Zoom.
- When talking about lenses under ~$600, they usually give more bang for buck than a Zoom. For example, the quality of a Canon 50mm will blow the Zoom kit lens (the one that comes with the camera) out of the water, even though they cost about the same.
- The aperture can be much bigger which helps with low light situations and bokeh.
Prime Lenses: The Cons
- Less control. For example, pretend you’re shooting a wedding and you only brought a 50mm lens. It’s great for portraits, but when everyone wants a group shot your 50mm is going to be too “long”. Meaning it will be hard to capture the whole scene. [This can be combated by owning 2-3 prime lenses, or having a combination of 1 zoom and a few primes.]
Speaking of weddings. If you’re interested check out the Best Canon lenses for Wedding Photography.
Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC
The Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC is a manual focus lens, but since it’s got such a wide angle, almost everything on your shot will be in complete focus.
It’s highly affordable, delivers crisp images, although you may need to stop down to f/4-f/5.6 to get maximum sharpness, and is truly a steal for the money! There’s also little to no chromatic aberration. For a 14mm lens that costs less than $350, while Canon’s 14mm lens goes for $2,000, the lens is really amazing.
While it’s recommended to do landscape with a tripod, you’ll still be fine due to the wide angle that makes everything in focus. However, if you’re shooting at slower shutter speeds and want maximum sharpness, there’s no denying that a tripod is the way to go.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 STM
The Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 STM is what we call a “pancake” lens because of its slim look.
It’s only compatible with APS-C cameras, but is still a much wider choice than any other EF-S prime from Canon. It weighs only 4.4oz/125g and is so thin you’ll forget you have it mounted.
Even though it’s super cheap, it still comes with FTM (Full Time Manual focus), a feature that allows you to focus manually at any time, even when set to AF mode.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM
The sharpest Prime lens on our list is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM. Since the Canon 80D has a crop factor of 1.6x, it’s actually equivalent to a 55mm lens, making it ideal for street, portrait and everyday photography. It’s a perfect match for the 80D if you’re looking for a high quality prime lens that can work in extreme low light as well, thanks to f/1.4.
It’s got good looking bokeh and is perfect for isolating your subject, giving it the most attention on the shot, but you can just as well stop down a little bit and use the 30mm lens for normal shots, even landscape where a you want as much in focus as possible. If you’ve never owned a Sigma lens before and are worried that it might not be a good choice, it’s understandable, but I can assure you that it blows the majority of Canon’s lenses out of the water (and a few other third-party lenses).
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM
The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM fits on both APS-C and FF Canon cameras, making it a perfect choice for street photography regardless of your mount.
It’s super thin and light, so you won’t really attract too much attention with it. The colors, sharpness and overall quality are excellent, and the AF speed is quick as well. Thanks to STM the lens focuses silently and accurately, so you’re covered for videos as well.
It also features FTM (Full Time Manual focus) so you can focus manually even when AF is turned on, allowing you to quickly adjust the focus as you wish (in case your camera couldn’t focus properly). This is a big time saver, especially for concert and wedding photography!
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM
The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is the best-selling Prime lens from Canon, which already says a lot. It’s affordable, compact and delivers high quality images.
It’s amazing for low light photography because the maximum f/1.8 gathers a ton of light, meaning you’ll be able to shoot at night without getting so many blurred images.
Another reason why f/1.8 is so good is because it allows you to completely blur the background, making your subject stand out (called shallow depth of field). It’s the easiest and quickest way to make your shots look professional. For a even shallower depth of field, check out the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM and Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM.
The 50mm f/1.8 length is great on both APS-C and FF cameras, and is great for general wedding-photography, portraits and similar situations.
Auto focus is quick, silent and accurate thanks to STM (Stepping Motor), which is also a plus for videographers because you won’t have any noise from auto focusing in your videos.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
How to describe the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM? Beautiful colors, razor sharp images, superb quality, creamy bokeh and most importantly, affordable! It’s one of the sharpest Prime lenses Canon has ever made, and is a steal for the money.
Featuring an Ultra Sonic Motor, it’ll quickly focus on your subject even in darker conditions. With f/1.8 and 85mm focal length, you can’t even imagine what kind of amazing photographs you’ll be able to take!
Where this lens truly shines at is concert, portrait and wedding photography.
For concert photography, it allows you to shoot at f/1.8 and get amazingly sharp results without having to raise your ISO speed too much. I’ve been using it for years, and it’s also the first Prime Canon lens I bought to shoot a concert.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM
The Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 USM is the only EF-S macro lens, meaning its field of view on APS-C is equivalent to a 100mm lens.
It’s got a closest focusing distance of 0.65 feet, takes 52mm filters and features Ring-type USM for fast, silent and accurate auto focusing. While focusing, the lens does not extend, making it good for photographing subjects that could easily get scared.
When it comes to image quality and sharpness, the 60mm f/2.8 is one of, if not the sharpest EF-S lens out there. It’s the shortest and lightest of all the lenses on this list, so it’s a great choice for traveling and photographing for hours without a tripod.
You can buy it at Amazon or read more reviews here.
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