"My favorite lens is the Canon 10-22mm EF-S," says TDS member, Jim Austin. "It travels well. The autofocus is 007 silent. Zooming is a pleasure. I used the 10-22mm for this picture of St. Mary's church. Notice how the foreground and background are sharp with good contrast. Flare and distortion are low."

"The price is within earth's orbit ($690 US). One last thing? The EW83 lens shade is totally cool -- it looks like you could use it to film a Hollywood blockbuster."

To tell us about your favorite lens, all you have to do is send an email to derrick[at the]thedigitalstory.com with "Your Name: My Favorite Lens" in the subject line. Provide a paragraph or two about why you like your favorite lens so much. Include the brand, focal length, maximum aperture, and camera body you mount it on. If you have an anecdote about your lens, please include it. You may also submit a picture you took with the lens to illustrate why you like it so much.

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"My favorite lens is the 12-24mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor," says Klifton Keplinger.

"I shoot mainly child and wedding photography, and surprisingly this lens works into both. I use it along with the 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.4 to make my perfect kit."

"Even though I shoot more with the 50mm and 85mm, the 12-24mm adds a dimension to the compositions that really makes things look out of the ordinary. Instead of thinking 'traditional portrait' when I view a photo made with the 12-24mm, I tend to think 'National Geographic.' It also leads more to the environment the portrait was taken it, making you feel more involved in the photograph and what is going on."

To tell us about your favorite lens, all you have to do is send an email to derrick@thedigitalstory.com with "Your Name: My Favorite Lens" in the subject line. Provide a paragraph or two about why you like your favorite lens so much. Include the brand, focal length, maximum aperture, and camera body you mount it on. If you have an anecdote about your lens, please include it. You may also submit a picture you took with the lens to illustrate why you like it so much.

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"My favourite lens is the Canon 85mm F1.8," says Peter Moxom, "as much of my favourite things to shoot are portraits, both indoor and location based. It's purely a hobby, but i do love this lens, the depth of field, the sharpness and the softness in it too are amazing."

"I shoot on a 5D, and have a bag full of great glass, but this is still my favourite..."

To tell us about your favorite lens, all you have to do is send an email to derrick@thedigitalstory.com with "Your Name: My Favorite Lens" in the subject line. Provide a paragraph or two about why you like your favorite lens so much. Include the brand, focal length, maximum aperture, and camera body you mount it on. If you have an anecdote about your lens, please include it. You may also submit a picture you took with the lens to illustrate why you like it so much.

Technorati Tags: equipment, digital photography, my favorite lens

"My favorite lens is the Nikon 50mm f/1.8," says Matt Jorgensen. "My dad suggested that I get a 50mm lens to complement the kit lens on my Nikon D70. I took him up on it mostly because he's usually right about most things and the lens only cost $99."

"I soon found myself turning to it quite frequently for candids and low-light shots. It is fantastic for portraits of my kids when I want a shallow depth of field (see attached shot of my son Lucas).

"I also think it improves my photography because it is a fixed focal length lens. I tend to get too caught up in determining the best focal length with zoom lenses and this simple lens seems to make me think more about composition and forces me to move around more. In short, I think everyone should go out and get a low-end 50mm lens. I use mine for both digital and film (Nikon N75 - the attached shot was taken on film)."

"For me the extra speed of an f/1.4 lens isn't worth the added cost. An f/1.8 50mm lens costs under $100, is much faster than any kit zoom lens, is small enough to bring along just about anywhere, and will definitely improve your photography."

To tell us about your favorite lens, all you have to do is send an email to derrick@thedigitalstory.com with "Your Name: My Favorite Lens" in the subject line. Provide a paragraph or two about why you like your favorite lens so much. Include the brand, focal length, maximum aperture, and camera body you mount it on. If you have an anecdote about your lens, please include it. You may also submit a picture you took with the lens to illustrate why you like it so much.

Technorati Tags: equipment, digital photography, my favorite lens

"When I ordered my Nikon D200 I decided to get the current hot lens designed to go with it," said Mark Thalman, "the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor. This lens has been getting rave reviews in both lab and real world tests. I think Pop Photo said it was the best superzoom ever. I was excited when my order went through."

"The day the package arrived, The Raptor Project was doing a show in the parking lot of my office. In fact the show was to start in less than half an hour. I couldn't get my D200 set up in time, so I decided to use a Nikon body I had been borrowing. I put away the Nikkor 80-200 F/2.8 lens, a large hunk of glass weighing in at roughly 2.8 pounds, that was already mounted on the camera. I unwrapped and mounted the brand new 18-200."

"I set the camera to Aperture priority mode, set the lens to wide open, turned VR on and only thought about image composition for the next hour and a half. This is the fastest focusing, smoothest focusing, quietest lens I have ever used. But the most important aspect of a lens is the final product. I went inside to view the images and was happy with my decision to buy this lens."

"About a week later, I decided to print one of my images as large as I could to see how it would turn out. This is where the rubber meets the road. The 11"X17" (A3) size print that I made of the Bald Eagle (Uncle Sam) with a backlit flag as the background was better than I had expected. The image on the screen is good, but the print is spectacular. With the zoom range and VRII this is my favorite lens for all of my photography."

To tell us about your favorite lens, all you have to do is send an email to derrick@thedigitalstory.com with "Your Name: My Favorite Lens" in the subject line. Provide a paragraph or two about why you like your favorite lens so much. Include the brand, focal length, maximum aperture, and camera body you mount it on. If you have an anecdote about your lens, please include it. You may also submit a picture you took with the lens to illustrate why you like it so much.

Technorati Tags: equipment, digital photography, my favorite lens

I'm launching a new feature on The Digital Story that I think you're going to like. It's called My Favorite Lens. To participate, all you have to do is send an email to derrick@thedigitalstory.com with "Your Name: My Favorite Lens" in the subject line. Provide a paragraph or two about why you like your favorite lens so much. Include the brand, focal length, maximum aperture, and camera body you mount it on. If you have an anecdote about your lens, please include it. You may also submit a picture you took with the lens to illustrate why you like it so much.

To get the party rolling, I'll tell you about my favorite lens, the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens.