cold_fire's reviews

  • Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    sharp stopped down, small, light, good build quality
    a bit soft wide open, CAs at image borders, the cap always tends to come off in the bag, loud AF actuator

    I'm using it on a 1.3 crop factor body and, although the sharpness remains rather consistent across the frame, CAs almost ruin the picture at the edges and never vanish even at f22. Perspective is really wild and most of the times brings lots of smiles.

    Should not be used for more than one picture a mount as the FE effect tends to lose it's appeal when used often.

    reviewed November 7th, 2006 (purchased for $500)

  • Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    one of the finest lens I've ever worked with
    expensive and easy-to-break lens hood

    while a touch soft at 2.8, it gets perfect from f4 up untill f16. the only annoyance with this lens (although it can be applied to all super-tele Ls) is the carbon fiber lens hood that can get broken very easy and it is really expensive to replace (500$ a piece). A monopod is mandatory, obviously.

    reviewed November 7th, 2006 (purchased for $7,000)

  • Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    THE best lens Canon ever produced
    expensive hood if broken

    Never ever I have seen such a magnificent lens. While it does benefit from stopping down, the increase in resolution is very slight as the lens is almost as good at 2.8 as it is at 5.6. Nothing else to say. This is THE lens.

    reviewed November 7th, 2006 (purchased for $4,000)

  • Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    L build quality, sealed
    corners quite soft at 17/f4 on 1.3 crop, inadequate lens hood for crop factors

    my weapon of choice in the search for the Pulitzer winning picture. brilliantly sharp in the center, less so on the edges. one copy that I have used was decentered. 24/1.4 or 24-105 IS lens hood work better than the standard hood for crop factors as then lens is a little prone to flare and needs to be protected.

    reviewed November 7th, 2006 (purchased for $700)

  • Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X 124 AF PRO DX SD

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Superb image quality, great build, works on 1.3 from 15mm, constant f4
    CAs, not USM

    great for 1.6 bodies, works ok on 1.3 bodies. one of the best built lenses shorter than 300mm. it's the CAs that sometimes mar this lens, otherwise it's perfect.

    reviewed November 15th, 2006 (purchased for $500)