marshaa's reviews

  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    great range, light weight, black, quick AF
    images at long range slightly soft

    I always carry this lens when travelling; often it is the only one I take. Although I have numerous L lens, I would keep this one above almost all others (actually HAVE kept it when realigning my lens collection and selling 60% ). You can't rate the small size and unobtrusive black color highly enough.

    I have zoo photos, family photos, soccer photos, etc all taken with this lens which are outstanding. It is true that sometimes the images taken closer to 300 are slightly soft, but with today's photo programs that is easily fixed. Highly recommend and I have used it for several years. Other lens I own: 24,105 L, 70-200 f4L, 35 f1.4, 135L, 200 f2.8L, etc.

    reviewed June 7th, 2008 (purchased for $1,100)
  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    sharp, sharp, sharp....light weight, IS, relatively small
    f4

    An astonishing lens. I owned an earlier version, not IS, which I sold due to non-use. This version is simply an amazing lens - sharp, stunning color, easily handheld. Would recommend to anyone.

    Only downside is 4f - but when you move to f2.8 it becomes MUCH heavier, bigger, less sharp (I also owned 70-200 f2.8 and chose to keep this over it).

    reviewed June 7th, 2008 (purchased for $900)
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    light weight, beautiful color, IS, great on full frame
    soft until calibrated, really better for FF camera

    I have had 3 copies of this lens. The first and second soft & I returned them. A couple of years later after reading positive reviews I decided to try again & when it just wasn't up to par with my 40D I sent to Canon for calibration - it came back sharp but until I put it on my 5D I didn't appreciate the full possibilities. Just an outstanding lens on the 5D - it lives on my camera and has produced many gorgeous photos.

    I personally have not been happy with it on a crop camera.

    reviewed June 7th, 2008 (purchased for $950)
  • Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    very wide, sharp, deep contrasty colors
    no hood included

    Contrary to expectations, this lens is better than my 17-40 in all respects on the 40D. I rarely use the 17-40 now because this was so good on the crop camera & I use a prime on the 5D. The colors are beautiful right out of the camera, it is very wide....VERY wide....and a fun lens to experiment with.
    I bought a cheap hood on eBay which I always use, and would highly recommend this to anyone wanting really wide on a crop camera.

    reviewed June 7th, 2008 (purchased for $700)
  • Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    great image quality, very sharp, f2.8, IS
    no hood included; flare occasionally occurs

    I have had this lens for quite some time and overall it is a high quality lens which is fast enough for low light photos indoors ...I have a high quality filter on it and have had no dust issues. After taking photos without the hood, it became apparent that a hood is a necessity under backlight conditions; I never use it without one. Still get an occasional photo with flare issues but less than 1% and I can live with that given the high quality of this lens. It's glass really is L quality. Much better on the 30D and 40D than the 17-40L in my opinion. It gets a lot of use in my household

    reviewed June 7th, 2008 (purchased for $950)
  • Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    sharp, light, gorgeous colors and clarity -
    none

    No negatives with this lens - great on a 40D as it approximates the "normal" 50 lens; used most of the time on my 5D. Images can be used straight out of the camera - deep, clear colors, wonderful contrast, my favorite lens.

    reviewed June 7th, 2008 (purchased for $1,000)