Best Lenses for Canon EOS Rebel T8i in 2023

Looking for the best lenses for Canon EOS Rebel T8i? Here is the guide for you to get the top recommended lenses for Canon T8i DSLR camera.

The Canon EOS Rebel T8i (also known as Canon EOS 850D) is a lightweight and easy-to-use DSLR camera that makes the perfect addition for first-time users, or for those looking for an affordable upgrade. Featuring a 24.1MP APS-C-format CMOS sensor and DIGIC 8 image processor, high-resolution stills and UHD 4K video recording are supported, along with a wide ISO 100-25600 sensitivity range to suit working in a variety of lighting conditions. The processor also enables up to 7 fps continuous shooting to suit working with moving subjects. Benefitting the imaging attributes, the sensor’s design also facilitates Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which uses phase-detection autofocus for quick, accurate, and smooth focusing performance when recording movies or shooting stills in live view. When shooting stills using the optical viewfinder, a 45-point all cross-type phase-detection system is used for quick and accurate focusing in a variety of shooting scenarios. Compatible with an extensive line of Canon EF and EF-S lenses, this model can capture vertical video and has multiple connectivity options using Bluetooth and WiFi technology, making it ideal for vlogging, uploading content to social media platforms, and web services or for day-to-day usage when capturing life’s most precious moments.

Have you picked up a Canon EOS Rebel T8i (AmazonB&HAdorama) recently? If so, then you might be thinking about which lenses are also worth adding to your gear bag. I have read and watched hundreds of EF-S and EF mount lens reviews and I also own quite a collection myself. So I have a pretty good idea about which are the best lenses worth investing in and which should be avoided. Here we looked at all lenses from Canon and other companies, and selected the best lenses for Canon EOS Rebel T8i DSLR camera based on good price, usefulness and high image quality, including leading prime and zoom options from wide-angle to telephoto for portraits, wedding, landscapes, street, macro, videos, sports and wildlife and more.

Just a reminder about Crop Factor: Canon APS-C cameras such as the Canon T8i have a 1.6x crop factor, meaning that a 50mm lens will behave like an 80mm lens would on a 35mm camera. For example, the Canon 10-18mm wide-angle lens is equivalent to 16-28.8mm on the Canon T8i, which actually is much more useful than the listed range.

Best Lenses for Canon EOS Rebel T8i DSLR Camera

Full List of Recommended Canon T8i Lenses: To help you decide on the best lens for your intended use, I have categorized the lenses into the following groups. You can click any of the below links to jump to the type of lens that interests you the most. Just choose the one you need!


Canon T8i Top 10 Lenses

Here are my top 10 recommended lenses for the Canon EOS Rebel T8i.

  1. Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens
  2. Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens
  3. Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens
  4. Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens
  5. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens
  6. Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Lens
  7. Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens
  8. Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
  9. Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens
  10. Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM Lens

Canon T8i Kit Lens

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

For about $150 more than the cost of the Canon T8i body alone, you can get a versatile standard zoom for everyday shooting. Spanning a 28.8-88mm equivalent focal length range, this lens covers wide-angle to portrait-length perspectives, and features an Optical Image Stabilizer to minimize the appearance of camera shake by up to four stops for sharper handheld shooting. One aspherical element is used to reduce distortion and spherical aberrations throughout the zoom range in order to maintain sharpness and accurate rendering. Its small size lets it fit just about anywhere, making it a great lens to bring with you on your everyday travels. The lead screw-type stepping motor (STM) helps ensure smooth autofocus and near-silent operation while advanced image stabilization can result in sharper photos with minimal blur, even in low light. So, if you are in the process of buying the Canon T8i body, we really love the value of the Canon T8i with 18-55mm lens kit. If you already own the T8i body, there are some other attractive options below.

LensBuy Now
Canon T8i with 18-55mm lensAmazon
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STMAmazon

Canon T8i Wide-angle Zoom Lenses

Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM

Great Value! An ideal lens for everyday photography, travel, stills and video recording.

Great wide angle lens with affordable price! The EF-S 10–18mm f/4.5–5.6 IS STM lens (16-28.8mm equivalent) combines optical excellence with cutting-edge performance, providing an ultra-wide angle of view in a compact, portable package, perfect for EOS cameras with an APS-C sensor. It has a 4 group optical zoom system and includes a large-diameter element, an aspherical lens element, a UD lens element and enhanced lens coatings for high-contrast, high-resolution images with minimal glare and aberration. A circular, 7-blade aperture helps ensure fine background blur and the Canon Optical Image Stabilizer system provides up to four equivalent stops of shake correction. The lens has a stepping motor (STM) and a refined focus mechanism for smooth and continuous AF during video recording. With its STM and refined focus mechanism, the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM lens can deliver reliable, speedy and quiet wide-angle performance, making it an ideal lens for everyday photography, travel, stills and video recording.

Tokina atx-i 11-16mm f/2.8 CF

Best ultra-wide angle lens with a fast f/2.8 aperture.

The Tokina atx-i 11-16mm f/2.8 CF lens is re-designed for an improved user experience and better image quality and it is the only f/2.8 fast ultra wide angle zoom lens for APS-C sized DSLR cameras in the current market. A constant maximum aperture of f/2.8 throughout the entire zoom range is realized to achieve great results in low light environments, for depth of field control and easy manual shooting, while maintaining a reasonable size and weight of the lens. The useful 11-16mm focal length is chosen in order to position this lens as an easy demanded gear after standard zoom lenses or initial wide angle zoom lens to start with. To achieve an exceptional optical performance demanded for ultra wide angle zoom lens in still and video shooting purposes, two aspherical glass elements and two Super-Low Dispersion glass elements were used in order to minimize distortion, manage spherical aberration and astigmatism while achieving excellent edge-to edge resolution and contrast of the entire image. Ultra-wide 11-16mm focal length, constant maximum aperture of f/2.8 makes this lens an essential tool for the following genres of photography: landscape, group photos and environmental portraits, architecture (especially interiors) automobile photography, street photography and night sky photography.

More Options:

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM: Excellent optical quality and Superior AF performance and speed. The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens (16-35.2mm equivalent) is an ultra wide-angle zoom lens with dynamic expressive capability for all EF-S mount EOS cameras, and it is relatively light and compact at 3.5 inches in length and a weight of 13.6 oz. Photographers will achieve consistently excellent image quality throughout the zoom range of this lens because of its 3 Aspherical elements and 1 Super-UD element in a 13-element optical formula. Ideal for architecture interiors, general purpose, landscape, travel, video, weddings, wildlife photography and more.

Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM: With an F3.5 aperture throughout the entire zoom range, the Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 (16-32mm equivalent) is perfect for low light photography (indoor shooting as well as landscapes and creative portraiture). With its wide angle view from 102.4 degrees it can produce striking images with exaggerated perspective. The maximum aperture of F3.5 is ideal for indoor shooting and it enables photographers to emphasize the subject.

LensBuy Now
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STMAmazon
Tokina atx-i 11-16mm f/2.8 CFAmazon
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USMAmazon
Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSMAmazon

Canon T8i Wide-angle Prime Lenses

Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art: Highly recommended! With a focal length of 20mm and F1.4 aperture, this Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Art lens delivers outstanding large-aperture brightness and bokeh and it is ideal high speed lens for snapshots. The combination of advanced optics and optimized lens power distribution minimizes spherical aberration, axial chromatic aberration and field curvature, producing outstanding image quality. With class leading performance, this lens is ideal for landscape photography, videography, astrophotography, lowlight or indoor photography and event photography.

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC: Budget option. The Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC len is the highest quality affordably priced 14mm Ultra-Wide Angle lens on the market. A bright and versatile ultra-wide prime, the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC lens for Canon EF-mount features a bright f/2.8 maximum aperture and is well-suited for subjects ranging from landscape to architecture to astrophotography. The optical design incorporates a pair of aspherical elements and three high refractive index (HR) elements, which control spherical aberrations and distortion. This manual focus prime has an 11″ minimum focusing distance and also features a built-in petal-shaped lens hood to guard against flare and protect the front element. Excellent construction and superior build quality for razor sharp images.

LensBuy Now
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM ArtAmazon
Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMCAmazon
Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USMAmazon

Canon T8i All-In-One Lens

Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Best Value! An ideal general purpose and travel lens.

Compact, lightweight and a wide magnification range, this Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (equivalent to 29-320mm in the 35mm format) is an excellent and a very popular all-in-one lens for Canon APS-C DSLR cameras. DPReview said “The EF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 IS is a lens which many Canon users have been waiting for with great anticipation, as an ideal ‘all-in-one’ lens for travel and ‘walkaround’ use”.  It features an Optical Image Stabilizer for up to 4-stops of effective correction even at full zoom. And the circular aperture can give beautiful background blur effects. Excellent high-speed performance at an affordable price.

LensBuy Now
Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ISAmazon

Canon T8i Standard Zoom Lenses

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

Impressive image quality. Versatile. Excellent Event Shooting Zoom Lens.

Highly Recommended! Pairing the 27.2-88mm equivalent focal length range with a bright f/2.8 constant maximum aperture, the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM is a tremendously flexible standard zoom for APS-C-format DSLRs. Benefitting this design is a sophisticated optical layout, which includes both Ultra-Low Dispersion glass and aspherical elements to significantly reduce chromatic and spherical aberrations for improved clarity and sharpness throughout the zoom range. Image Stabilizer lens groups shift to compensate for camera movement so that the image appears steady on the image plane, ensuring clear, crisp images, even in dim light. With a Ring-type USM, inner focusing and new AF algorithms, this lens achieves autofocus quickly and quietly, and with full-time mechanical manual focusing, manually adjusting the focus is possible even in AF mode. It is an ideal lens for event shooting, landscape photographers and traveling videographers.

Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art

Big f1.8 aperture! Super fast. Ideal lens for landscapes, portraits, still life, snap shots, casual, and close-ups.

Highly Recommended! The first and fastest of its kind – Truly a revolutionary product, the Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 DC HSM is the first wide-angle to standard zoom lens to achieve a large aperture of 1.8. The 18-35mm is ideal for landscapes, portraits, still life, snap shots, casual, and close-ups and the Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) ensures smooth, fast and accurate autofocusing. A 9 blade rounded diaphragm also creates beautiful background blur. The Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 DC HSM is a new benchmark in photographic history and a must have for every camera bag.

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

An ideal travel lens!

The Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM standard zoom lens sets a new standard for everyday photography on APS-C sensors. With a focal length range equivalent to 24-136mm in 35mm format, image stabilization and high-precision optics, this lens offers stellar performance from wide-angle through to telephoto. The Image Stabilization system allows you to shoot sharp images with a 4-stop advantage under less-than-optimum lighting conditions. Plus the Ultra Sonic Motor (USM) technology provides fast and quiet focus control with on-demand manual override when shooting in AF mode.

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

NANO USM AF system. Fast and incredibly quiet. A great travel lens for stills and videos.

An all-around lens ideal for creative photography and movies, Canon’s EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM adds cutting-edge technology to an extremely flexible zoom range. Delivering remarkable performance for everyday capture, it’s equipped with Canon’s new NANO USM technology, which not only delivers high speed AF, but also makes quiet, fast and smooth AF transitions that can be ideal for movie recording. Combining ring USM and STM (lead-screw type) features, the diminutive chip-shaped ultrasonic motor is engineered to help deliver high-speed, smooth, precise and near-silent operation, plus full time manual focus (when using one-shot AF). The lens even lets you capture crisper images through its four-stop Optical Image Stabilizer. What’s more, it’s also compatible with Canon’s new Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1 for more natural zooming during movie capture. For landscapes, portraits, sports videos and everything in between, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM provides great versatility with its magnificent optics, comprehensive zoom range and premium design.

LensBuy Now
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USMAmazon
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM ArtAmazon
Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USMAmazon
Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USMAmazon

Canon T8i Portrait Lenses

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM

Best Budget/Affordable Portrait Lens! One of the most versatile focal lengths available, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens is a compact, normal-length prime well-suited to everyday shooting. With an 80mm effective focal-length on APS-C cameras, it’s an excellent prime lens for portraits, action, even nighttime photography. The bright f/1.8 maximum aperture benefits working in difficult lighting conditions and also affords increased control over depth of field for isolating subject matter. Individual elements feature a Super Spectra coating to help minimize flare and ghosting to realize greater contrast and color accuracy when working in backlit and harsh conditions. Additionally, an STM stepping AF motor is used to realize quick and near-silent autofocus performance along with full-time manual focus override.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM: Standard lens Featuring superb quality and portability. This Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens gets 87% overall score and Gold Award at DPReview, and it is a terrific choice for both casual and professional photographers and ideal for photographing landscapes and travel scenes as well as portraits and reportage. It focuses extremely quickly (and in near silence) and produces very sharp and superb quality images. Bright f/1.4 maximum aperture suits working in low-light conditions and also affords great control over depth of field for isolating subjects and using selective focus techniques. A micro Ultrasonic Motor (USM) is employed to deliver fast, precise, and quiet autofocus performance as well as full-time manual focus override. Great lens!

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art: Professional Portrait Lens! With a large 1.4 aperture, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art prime lens (80mm equivalent focal length on Canon APS-C cameras) is a pro level performer for shooting everything including portrait photography, landscape photography, studio photography and street photography. Super sharp! A Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) ensures quiet, smooth and accurate auto-focusing and paired with Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass and Super Multi-Layer coating, the Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art is a high performance lens for the modern DSLR sensors.

LensBuy Now
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USMAmazon
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM ArtAmazon
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STMAmazon
Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STMAmazon
Sigma 35mm F1.4 ArtAmazon
Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USMAmazon

Canon T8i Vlogging Lens

Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM

The Lightest Lens. Popular lens for video shooters and landscape photography!

Highly recommended! The Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM lens is one of best and most popular lenses, particularly for video shooters, which is incredibly light, compact and designed with a smooth video autofocus. It weights only 4.4 ounces – the lightest lens on the list. Modestly bright f/2.8 maximum aperture benefits working in low-light, affords control over depth of field, and helps to keep the overall physical design compact and lightweight. Whereas it is an excellent prime lens, it is widely used for video shooters, astrophotography enthusiasts, street photography and landscape photography.

LensBuy Now
Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STMAmazon

Canon T8i Macro Lenses

Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM

Canon’s widest angle, smallest, lightest and least expensive APS-C-format macro lens. Offering a life-size 1:1 maximum magnification and a 5.1″ minimum focusing distance, the Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM lens (56mm-equivalent) further distinguishes itself with an integrated Macro Lite LED on the front of the lens to provide additional illumination to close-up subjects. Aiding its ability to reproduce small subjects at life size, the optical design incorporates one aspherical element to reduce spherical aberrations in order to provide a high degree of sharpness and clarity. Hybrid IS image stabilization minimizes the appearance of camera shake for sharper imagery when shooting handheld. Lead-screw-type STM stepping motor offers fast, quiet, smooth, and accurate autofocus performance that is ideal for video recording as well as still shooting. Characterized by its unique design and close-up capabilities, this Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM (56mm-equivalent) is a fantastic walk-around lens for snapshots, street photography, portraits and anything where lots of detail is a bonus.

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM: As a true macro optic, the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens affords a life-size 1:1 maximum magnification along with a 7.9″ minimum focusing distance, and its 96mm equivalent focal length also makes it an ideal option for portraiture. The optical design affords a high degree of sharpness and resolution across the image frame and individual elements have been treated with a Super Spectra coating to minimize lens flare and ghosting for greater contrast and color accuracy when working in strong lighting conditions. The inner focusing system, meanwhile, is driven by a silent and powerful ring-type ultra-sonic monitor (USM), meaning the lens’s overall length never changes during focus. Ultimately, the multi-purpose lens is equally at home shooting macro shots, portraits, or available-light photos.

LensBuy Now
Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STMAmazon
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USMAmazon
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USMAmazon

Canon T8i Telephoto Lenses

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

Best value telephoto zoom lens for sports and video.

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM (88-400mm-equivalent) telephoto zoom lens is a dream come true for photographers and videographers looking to add versatility and range to their lens collection. Compact and lightweight with Optical Image Stabilizer for up to 3.5 equivalent stops of shake correction, it extends the camera’s reach significantly, capturing sharp images of faraway objects, even when handheld. It features Canon’s amazing STM stepping motor and a newly designed high-speed CPU, rear focus mechanism and improved AF algorithm for high-speed performance, supporting Canon’s Movie Servo AF for smooth, quiet and continuous focus adjustments. This lens features one UD lens element that reduces chromatic aberration, helping to achieve excellent image quality with high resolution and contrast. The front element does not rotate, ensuring easy compatibility with accessories like polarizing filters, and full-time manual focus is available even while in AF mode.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM

Combining a wide zoom range with fast autofocus and high-quality optics, the Canon EF 70–300mm f/4–5.6 IS II USM (35mm equivalent: 112-480mm) is a flexible zoom well-suited for a variety of subjects, ranging from portraiture to wildlife. Similarly versatile, the lens utilizes NANO USM technology that combines a fast, stills-optimized ring-type Ultrasonic Motor and a smooth, silent video-optimized Stepping Motor for all-around focusing performance to benefit multimedia image-makers. This dual-purpose AF motor also offers notably quicker performance throughout the zoom range for more responsive shooting from near to far. Additionally, also aiding both photo and movie recording, an Image Stabilizer system compensates for up to four stops of camera shake for sharper handheld shooting when working with slower shutter speeds.

More Options:

Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports: High action-capture performance and Dust and splash-proof construction. Designed and executed for the most demanding types of photography, the Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 DG HSM OS Sports lens is the new standard for telephoto zooms. Boasting 2 FLD glass elements (performance equal to fluorite) and 3 SLD glass elements, the new Sigma 150-600mm Sport produces incredibly sharp images through the entire zoom range. An updated optical stabilizer (OS) features an accelerometer for improved panning photography both horizontally and vertically, essential for birding, wildlife and motorsports photography.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM: Pro lens for sports and wildlife photography! The EF 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS II USM lens delivers a superb combination of cutting-edge performance, compact construction and brilliant resolving power that’s great for sports and wildlife photography. The lens features one fluorite and one super UD element to help provide impressive contrast and resolution with reduced chromatic aberration across the entire zoom range. Canon’s new Air Sphere Coating (ASC) helps significantly reduce backlit flaring and ghosting, while fluorine coatings on the front and rear lens surfaces help lessen smears and fingerprints. A 9-blade circular aperture renders beautiful, soft backgrounds, and a 3 mode (standard, panning and exposure only) Optical Image Stabilizer provides up to 4 steps of image correction. The new inner focusing AF system helps ensure fast and accurate focus down to 3.2 ft. with a .31x maximum magnification. Usability enhancements include a rotation-type zoom ring with adjustable zoom torque for more precise, customizable zoom performance, a redesigned tripod mount that can be attached and detached without removing the lens from the camera, and an all-new lens hood with a side window that makes it simple to adjust specialty filters–like polarizers–without the need to remove the hood. Ruggedly constructed with advanced dust and water sealing for durability in a range of environments, the EF 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS II USM lens is a stellar performer with refined controls for a wide variety of situations.

LensBuy Now
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STMAmazon
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USMAmazon
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USMAmazon
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM SportsAmazon
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USMAmazon