119: Tier List of Camera Lenses

We tier-rank each major camera lens type, from telephoto zooms to fisheyes. Along the way, we discover some surprising differences in which types of lenses we feel are better or worse. How do our rankings line up with yours?

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Notes:

• Our tier rankings:
  • S:
    • 85mm 1.4 prime
    • 70-200 2.8 fast telephoto zoom
  • A:
    • 50mm 1.8 “Nifty Fifty”
    • 24-70 2.8 (fast standard zoom)
    • Canon 24-105 f/4 Mark II L
  • B: 
    • 24-105 f/4 ,18-80 f/4
    • Ultrawide primes
    • 14-24 (15-30, 8-16, etc) UW 2.8 zoom
    • 24mm 1.4 prime
    • 35mm 1.4 prime
    • Pancake prime (24, 27, or 35)
    • 500 f/5.6
    • 150-600 or 150-500 UW
    • Superzoom (24-240, f/4-5.6, 28-400 f/4-8, 18-300 f/3.5-6.s, 12-100 f/4 m43)
  • C:
    • 27mm f/2.0
    • 135mm f/1.8 (plena)
    • <f/1.0 primes
    • 1200mm f/8
    • 100mm macro 1:1 (2.8 or 4)
  • D: 
    • 70-200 f/4
  • F: 
    • <15mm fisheye
  • F minus:
    • 26mm f/8 L mount