freddycam's reviews

  • Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    very sharp & very wide, sturdy build yet light and small, smooth USM,
    price, lens hood is expensive and only sold seperately, 22 is not long enough on the other end

    This lens is a must on the DRebel, it is so small and light - it goes everywhere. Beautiful landscape shots and great for sightseeing. It is so wide, you can fake tilt-lens effect (for buildings etc.) by shooting in portrait orientation, holding the lens level and then only use the top third of the image (resolution permitting).

    reviewed October 20th, 2005
  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    very high quality, super sharp, nice contrast and colours (did I say contrast), cheap for an L, hood included, internal focussing (no zoom creep), eyecatching design and body-colour
    no IS version for the F4 model, odd 67mm thread, long & heavy

    It has a useful zoom range on a n APS-C body, but I am still struggling to convince myself to take it with me all the time - it's big and heavy. However, its photos have been very crisp, so sharp they look postprocessed! The colours are vivid and photos have a threedimensional feel to them. This "lifelike" imagequality makes it good for nature and people shots.
    At the tele end I miss some IS, which is more needed on this one than on the f2.8, which is a stop faster to start with (The f2.8 IS version is out of most people's price range).

    reviewed October 20th, 2005
  • Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    very sharp, excellent colours, small & light
    only half life-size, lifesize converter is expensive, very slow AF motor, AF pumping in low light, loud whirring focussing noise

    I use this lens for underwater macro work, most of the time with its life size converter. The photos are amazing, but this lens makes taking them hard work (with the lifesize converter). The AF is so slow in low light that I have extra focus lights strapped to the camera housing to give this lens something bright to look at while the motor is pumping. Some shots were missed because the lens hadn't found the focus yet.
    Without the converter it's much easier to work with, as the AF is faster.

    We really need this lens with quiet USM focussing, as it makes an annyoing whirring sound when focussing. Small wildlife get often scared and scurry off before you can press the shutter.

    But even with all the handling problems you can't beat the results : Incredible photos!

    reviewed October 20th, 2005 (purchased for $240)