CyranoB's reviews

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    IQ for the price
    AF, build quality

    Let's face it for this price you won't get a better portrait lens. It's a must have for any photography starters on a budget. It'll allow you to take pictures you just cannot take with your standard kit or even most zoom lenses.
    Got it for a year, once I got more serious about my new hobby I updated it for the 1.4 model, sold it for the price I bought it.

    It's very cheaply built, doesn't always focus correctly, and manual focus is more or less useless, so anybody who's got some extra hundreds in his pocket is better of going directly for the 1.4 version directly. But still a nice starter lens to fall in love for prime lenses.

    Some examples:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/3578779708/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/2778382587/

    reviewed November 9th, 2009 (purchased for $150)

  • Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    Good Normal lens. Nicely built. Relatively light. Fast.
    APS-C/DX only.

    I bought this lens mainly to have a normal lens on my Canon 7D for general walk around. I quite happy with it.
    The build quality is quite good for the price. AF is fast (at least as fast as my Canon 50 1.4). Basically a good general purpose fast lens (which can also be used for portrait but for this I usually prefer the 50 1.4).
    CA, distortion and vignetting are ok, but nothing stellar for a prime lens.

    Some samples:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/4136465159/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/4110539748/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/4136066675/

    A portrait:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/4136044997/

    Overall I highly recommend it for those seeking a fast normal lens on an APS-C/DX body.

    reviewed December 19th, 2009 (purchased for $600)

  • Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 R

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Very good IQ, nice bokeh, perfectly usable from f/1.4
    Uncomfortable manual focus

    The perfect companion for X-Pro1.

    I used to shoot Canon 7D & 30/1.4 then 5DMkII & 50/1.4. The Fuji has a much nice bokeh, especially than Canon 50/1.4. Overall lens is better than all, both in build quality and IQ.

    Really nice to shoot f/1.4-2.8

    The construction is good, with nice aperture ring.

    Manual focus is not practical at all.

    Samples:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/7327128960
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/7327122564
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/7327135044
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/7327130540
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddie_pick/7327125488

    reviewed June 17th, 2012 (purchased for $630)