thf's reviews

  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    excellent optics (sharp), IS, fairly lightweight
    lens hood not included, front element rotates

    I have been using Canon EF 75-300 III for some time, waiting for 70-300 IS USM to come back on sale (it's been withdrawn from the market due to an issue with vertical shots). 70-300 IS USM finally sorted all issues I had with the old lens: sharpness is excellent, CA is so much better controlled, there's no zoom creep (although zoom is not silky smooth either). IS works miracles in low light. It's a fantastic feature of this lens! The lens gets a bit softer at 300mm but compared to 75-300 there's nothing to worry about. Auto focus speed is ok, slower at longer end when used at very low light (better and quieter than the 75-300 non-USM).

    Lens hood is sold separately and is rather expensive - come on Canon, you can do better! It's also big when compared to lens hood for 75-300 III. I can't put the the lens with the hood on into my Lowe Pro Off Trail II lens pouch (this was possible with the old lens+hood), I have to take it off and place in main camera compartment. On the other hand it's easier to take lens cap off with the hood on.

    Generally: excellent optics, IS, fair build quality, not heavy nor big. Travel lens I have been waiting for!

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $720)

  • Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    very versatile lens, fast AF, IS
    no lens hood included, barrel distortion at wide end, some CA

    It's an extremely versatile travel lens! It covers 27-136mm in 35mm terms. AF is fast. IS helps in low light conditions. Good image quality and sharpness. It has a bit irritating barrel distortion at wide end and some CA when wide open. It gets much, much better at standard and long end. There's some vigneting when used wide open with not-slim filters, e.g. with polarizer.

    Lens hood is unfortunately not included and is rather expensive. On the good side, it's rather nice, not too big and very useful. It's possible to operate polarizing filter with the hood on.

    I've been traveling with this lens all around the world and am very happy with it.

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $570)

  • Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III

    5 out of 10 points and recommended
    good zoom range, cheap
    soft over 200mm, slow AF, lack of contrast

    If you are on tight budget or (like me when I bought this lens) want to find out if you like these focal lengths, get it. Optical quality is not so bad at wide end but the lens gets rather soft and with CA over 200mm, especially wide open. Stop it down! Image contrast is rather low. You'll have to spend some time working on the images on the computer but it's possible to get decent photos from this lens if you are ready to spent some time on them later.

    My copy had some zoom creep and made strange noises but otherwise worked.

    Lens hood is sold separately, not a surprise really at this price range.

    I can recommend this lens only because it's really cheap.. However if you can afford it, get the new 70-300 IS USM, which is excellent for its price.

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $160)

  • Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    good consumer zoom, better than the kit 28-90mm
    non really at this price...

    I used this lens with EOS 50E and have been happy with the results. AF is ok, image quality ok for the price. Good build quality, nice for travel. Probably best choice at this price for a film camera.

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $300)

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    cheap and very light!, sharp (stopped down)
    soft at f1.8

    Very sharp when stopped down, soft at f1.8, much better at f2.5 and excellent over f4. Good for portraits on a 1.6 crop camera. I have been impressed with results.

    AF is not fast and motor is rather loud but at this price it's hard to fault... I missed focus quite often when used in continuous AF with a model walking towards me -> switch to one shot AF and shoot fast!

    Get one! You will not regret it.

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $130)

  • Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    image quality, AF, lightweigth, build quality
    lens hood not included, a bit expensive

    It's a rather expensive piece of glass but what a glass it is! It's very well corrected, even at 10mm there's very little distortion. It's wide, very, very wide! Image quality is very good.

    Build quality is very good, the lens does not change its length when focusing. Polarizing filter can be expensive since it's 77mm diameter and should be slim or you'll get vignetting wide open.

    Lens hood is not included. At this price! Hey, Canon! Still, I have the lens hood and find it rather cumbersome -- it has very wide diameter makes it hard to fit it Lowe Pro Off Trail II camera bag. More often than not it stays at home :(

    reviewed January 14th, 2007 (purchased for $1,000)