Chazz D's reviews

  • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Great value, Lightweight, Image Stabilized, capable of pretty good pics
    Build quality could be better, Manual focus not smooth, End turns when focusing

    Let me just start with saying for the price, this is probably the best bang for the buck lens that canon makes. If you are still shooting with the older Non IS version of the 18-55 you should for sure upgrade. I Have used both and the IQ of this newer lens is much superior. Add the newer 4 stop IS to the package and its not even in the same ballpark.

    The newer Image Stabilization is also much quieter than the older generation IS which is nice since the older louder ones could be somewhat distracting.

    You can also get some surprisingly good detail shots of closeups of flowers, butterflies, etc due to the fairly close min focusing distance.

    The lens if very light partially due to its plastic mounting ring, which really doesn't bother me on a lens this size and it makes it a more carry-able. If you do a lot of hiking with camera you will appreciate this.

    Now for the cons:

    The build quality: I have seen worse but it would have been nice if canon would have made the manual focusing a bit nicer, smoother etc. The end of lens which is also the manual focus ring feels somewhat loose in camera ( which is fairly common for this price lenses ).

    I know that most if not all lenses in this price range are built in such a way that the end of the lens turns during focusing but for people that use filters & polarizers etc this is very annoying. It would be great if canon would make a small light lens like this but step it up a bit with a little better build quality and non rotating front ring.

    reviewed October 4th, 2009 (purchased for $119)

  • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

    3 out of 10 points and not recommended
    lightweight, better than no lens,
    poor image quality, poor build quality,

    I used this lens for about a week on a 20D.

    I could not get any decent pictures from this lens, if all you are doing is small pics for printing 4x6" or for emails etc or maybe for facebook pics it might do the job.

    I seriously have seen much better quality pictures from decent compact (non SLR) cameras.

    If you have put money into a SLR digital camera you owe it to yourself to at least step up to the newer IS version of this lens. night and day difference, and well worth the money to upgrade.

    reviewed October 4th, 2009

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    Sharp lens for the money, Small, Lightweight
    not very sharp below f2.0, cheap build quality, poor bokeh (background blur)

    The good:

    This has got to be the best bang for the buck of any lens Canon makes.

    If you learn how to use this lens to get the best out of it it will give you some stunningly sharp images for the price.

    It is super light, and small, I think the lightest lens that Canon makes so its easy to take along with you.

    The bad:

    My copy of this lens is not very sharp below F2.0 ( I have read that some are better than others so its luck of the draw i guess).

    Not great for low light conditions, focus hunts around quite a bit and with no IS you are better off looking at other lenses if you are wanting a great lens for indoor low light unless you are planning on using a tripod.

    Bokeh or (background blur) this is one spot that is fairly annoying since it would not have cost Canon much more to use rounded aperture blades which would have at least helped. But with this lens you often see the hexagons in the background and its not often nice and soft. so you have to be careful with this. I am sure they really just want to sell there more expensive versions of the 50mm primes.

    reviewed October 4th, 2009 (purchased for $50)

  • Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

    5 out of 10 points and not recommended
    Build quality ok, end of lens does not rotate during focusing, Ring type USM,
    End of lens a bit wobbly, IS mechanism is older generation and loud, Image Quality

    I used this lens for a few months on a Canon 20D and finally decided it was not worth the money. I know some people brag like there is no tomorrow about the image quality of this lens. But I can say that the copy I had was nothing to brag about. I get consistently sharper and clearer pictures with my 18-55IS kit lens. If you are lucky and you get a good copy of this lens then it might be worth it. Otherwise I would look at other lenses.

    Also if you are using this on a crop camera, like most people, the 28mm (44.8mm on a crop camera) will often leave you wanting a lens that will go wider. So for me it does not make an ideal walk around lens even if the image quality was great.

    If mine had the image quality of even my kit lens I would have kept it and went with a 10-22mm or something for the wide angle stuff.

    reviewed December 17th, 2009