helper94's reviews

  • Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical IF SP AF

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Very sharp, great contrast, fast, relatively compact
    Build is not as good as Canon L

    After agonizing between this lens and the Canon 17-40L, I decided to go for this one for my Rebel Xti to replace my kit lens, primarily because of its speed advantage and smaller size. I don't intend to take the lens to extremes, so the slightly-less-solid build did not matter as much to me. Bought it new at MAP Camera in Shinjuku in Tokyo. By paying 5% more than the list price, they gave me a three year in-store warranty. I was a little disappointed to see they were selling the "assembled in China" version, and not the "made in Japan" version, so I had some concerns about having the back focusing or front focusing problems that others have talked about.

    However, after using it, I have no complaints. At 50mm, the picture is as sharp to my eye as my EF-S 60mm 2.8, which actually makes me think about returning the EF-S due to redundancy. The 17mm has some barrel distortion, but nothing that can't be corrected by software - it's also great to be able to get a full picture of my 1 year old son in his car seat, with me sitting right next to him in the car!

    It's a little bigger in size than the kit 18-55 lens, but seemed a lot smaller than the 17-40L - the Tamron on my Xti fits snugly but easily into the Canon digital hard case.

    No complaints so far.

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $339)

  • Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Super sharp, fast, 1:1 macro
    none

    Bought on Amazon as the first addition to my Rebel Xti purchase, along with the 50mm 1.8. Though the 1.8 is obviously faster, I find that I like this lens a great deal better for its better build, and excellent sharpness and contract. When my son is asleep, I'm easily able to fill up the frame with his whole foot or ear or eye, with such narrow depth of field, that his big toe is sharply in focus while his little toe is blurry. Look forward to using it for other macro purposes as well, once I get good enough. Would definitely recommend.

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $380)