Lee Jay's reviews
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Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM
9 out of 10 points and recommendedLight, small, cheap, good optics, very fast focusingNo ISA wonderful little lens with very few downfalls. I sold mine because I needed IS more than the extra stop in this range, but I'd still recommend the 100/2 to whomever needs this particuar capability.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $370) -
Canon EF 35mm f/2
7 out of 10 points and recommendedSmall, light, cheap, fastSlow and noisy to focusGreat optics, very small size and very low cost. The focusing is a bit slow and unreliable, not to mention noisy. But I think this makes a better beginner prime than the 50/1.8, especially on 1.6 crop cameras.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $240) -
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
5 out of 10 points and not recommendedFast, small, cheapSo-so optics, horrible build qualityThe build quality on this lens is just horrible. But it's still useful if you need a fast lens in this range. The AF is pretty bad too.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $80) -
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
7 out of 10 points and recommendedRelatively cheap, very fast, smallSo-so optics wide open, inconsistent focusing in low lightDecent lens, but below f2 there's a wierd halo around everything. Focusing is sometimes great, and sometimes horrible.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $350) -
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
8 out of 10 points and recommendedGreat price, great optics, well builtSoft corners on full-frame, too short to be a walkaround on 1.6 cropThis lens is really better for what it was designed for - an ultrawide on full frame - than it is as a standard zoom on 1.6 crop. Stopping it down on full frame is usually no problem and it is outstanding in that regard. Very low price given the performance.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $700) -
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
8 out of 10 points and recommendedGood optics, low price, IS, great rangeA little long as a walkaround on 1.6 crop, slow at the long endPretty good lens. I only sold mine for the 24-105 for the extra stop on the long end and the extra 4mm on the short end.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $330) -
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
10 out of 10 points and recommendedGreat optics, great IS, great range, great flexibilityCost, sizeMy most flexible lens. I use it with stacked 1.4x TCs on a 1.6 crop camera at airshows, and on full-frame at events and for portraits. I can't say anything bad about it, it's just a fantasic lens in every way.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $1,700) -
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
7 out of 10 points and not recommendedCheap, ISSlow focusing, rotating barrel, no FTMThis lens doesn't have anywhere near as bad of image qualty as others might lead you to believe. That said, the new 70-300IS is better in every way.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $400) -
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
8 out of 10 points and recommendedIdeal range on 1.6 crop, decent optics, great IS, low priceSlowPretty good walkaround lens on 1.6 crop. Optics are pretty good, focusing is fast and accurate. If you don't need a lot of speed, I'd get this lens over the other options in this range (17-55, 17-70, 24-70, 24-105, etc.).
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $450) -
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
8 out of 10 points and recommendedGood optics, excellent IS, good range, low priceNo FTM, rotating barrel and MF ringGood lens. If you don't need speed or ultra-fast focusing, I'd chose this over either of the f4Ls.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $560) -
Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye
9 out of 10 points and recommendedFast, excellent IQNoneWhat can I say...just an outstanding lens in every way.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $370) -
Sigma 20mm f/1.8 EX DG Aspherical RF
7 out of 10 points and recommendedPretty good optically, pretty nice FL on 1.6 crop or FFSlow focusing, wierd mechanismA little soft wide open, but certainly usable. I sold it because the focusing was just terrible in low light.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $410) -
Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
10 out of 10 points and recommendedEverythingNothingThis lens deserves its reputation. Fast focusing, fast optics, outstanding optically. Just a wonderful lens in every way.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $1,140) -
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG Macro APO
2 out of 10 points and not recommendedCheap, good range, usable macroHorrible optics, terrible buildThe only truely bad lens I've ever owned (and I owned two of them). Horrible at 300mm and f5.6 doesn't begin to describe just how bad it is. In fairness, it's good below 150mm and above f11 above that. Not very useful. I replaced mine with the 70-300IS which is so much better it's laughable.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $210) -
Tokina 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 AT-X 107 AF DX Fisheye
8 out of 10 points and recommendedUnique range, works on full-frame tooField curvatureGood lens. Above 15mm it doesn't vignette on full-frame. The only trouble is the field curvature which takes a bit of getting used to. Basically, at 4 feet of focus distance, the corners are focused beyond infinity. At 3 feet focus distance, the corners are almost within the DOF wide open, but not quite. At 2 feet the corners are sharp but the center isn't within the DOF wide open.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $560)
If you want a sharp image across the frame, you need to stop down to about f8 for DOF, and focus very carefully so everything is within the DOF. -
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
9 out of 10 points and recommendedGood optics, good range, good ISCostly, only f4This is the ideal walkaround lens on full-frame, and it's still fast enough to be usable in low light on full-frame cameras since those cameras are so fast. It makes a decent walkaround on 1.6 crop if you don't need a true wide. I really like mine. The only negative thing I can say is about the zoom mechanism. It started out really stiff, but gradually loosened up so much it now zoom creeps when pointed down.
reviewed January 7th, 2007 (purchased for $1,095)