jdf's reviews
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Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM
9 out of 10 points and recommendedGreat Built quality! Fast autofocusNo tripod ringI have bought this lens in September, i the beginning i didn't like it much but after a few days on the field i looked to be much better than i had hopped.
reviewed January 12th, 2007 (purchased for $841)
I have used it on 1.6 crop body. The image is very sharp wide open from F.4.0 to f9.0 at 70mm or 200mm. So it's harmonic. Even with a 1.4 Kenko TC it gaved me great results. One of my best lenses.
The AF is very fast and precise, and you can manual overide it's AF. Zoom rings are also smooth.
One thing i have noticed is its colors, are very vibrant and contrasty. -
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 SP AF
8 out of 10 points and recommendedI have used this lens, in a very short time, but it did gave me great impressions, it's very light and compact. The AF is somewhat slow in comparison to a USM lens but very good.
reviewed January 12th, 2007
The best is the image quality. it's superb! Very sharp wide open, to f16! A very good alternative indeed.
higly recomended. -
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical IF SP AF
8 out of 10 points and recommendedI have used this lens on eos 30D. it did impressed much as it is very sharp! At 2.8 it's very good, but from there and up it's amazing.
reviewed January 12th, 2007
At 2.8 you can find a little CA, after this it's gone :)
One thing that was not so good was it's AF, it's a bit noisy and not very precise, especially in a 2.8 lens where this is crucial :S
Well I have done a little test my self wich you can find it here:
At 17 MM
http://i.pbase.com/o4/74/700874/1/66335718.dJ0J1Ixr.TESTETAMRON_17.50_17MM.jpg
At 50 MM
http://i.pbase.com/o4/74/700874/1/66336022.e1UDt1mk.TESTETAMRON_17.50_50MM.jpg -
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
7 out of 10 points and recommendedExcellent image qualityVery poor constructionThis was my very first lens, I was a little (very) disapointed with it's construction but i was amazed at it's excellent image quality.
reviewed January 12th, 2007 (purchased for $129)
The AF is a little sloppy, and not precise, even on a 30D, at 1.8 it has some CA and very vignetting!
The bokeh it somewhat harsh but you can live with that.
It's point of maximum shapness begins at 5.6.
Overall a very good start lens. -
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
10 out of 10 points and recommendedExcellent image quality, USMNoneused it the very first time on a 350D, i was amazed how fast it was compared to a sigma 105 EX, it's very fast for a macro lens. it's Build is ok, and it's nice.
reviewed January 12th, 2007
Image quality it provides is very good, some of the best lenses canon has.
The AF is very fast and precise as this is an USM lens.
If you are on "macro mode" it swings out to "normal" very fast! -
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
8 out of 10 points and recommendedUSM, SharpessAt F1.4I have used this lens from a firnd of mine with a 30D. At 1.4 it's horrible, very soft, i own a 1.8 MKII and never saw this one mine wide open. Things get better when you stop it down but only at 2.2 +/-.
reviewed January 15th, 2007
At the other apertures it's nice as crisp as it should be for a prime. Giving great results. The bokeh iisn't that great indeed it's a bit harsh so i would nor recommend this lens for portrait. (the 85mm 1.8 is much better, or 1.2 if you have the money).
All in all a good prime but with a few quirks. -
Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED DX AF-S Nikkor
6 out of 10 points and recommendedExcellent image quality, AF-SDistortion, CAI have used this lens on a friend's d50, as the kit bundle. Overall i was very impressed with it's image quality. It's a very sharp lens, despite it's consumer look, indeed it may be even better than we think of. I have made some test with my 50mm 1.8 and it isn't too far awy. A positive note to it's AF-S motor, wich enables fast and precise focusing, The major downside it's not manual overide, nor it's quality is of very presicion. Overall a good starter lens ;)
reviewed January 15th, 2007 -
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro
7 out of 10 points and recommendedGood Image qualitySlow AFHaving used this lens a lot, all i can say its that the lens element are great, and give you excellent image quality even wide open it's good, and become very good to excelent once you stop it down a little. AS macro lens i usually stop it until f13, getting very good results. The color out of it is good, very saturated, but it may be some underexposure it provoques. The AF is very very slow, especially at macro mode 1:1, and it's noisy!
reviewed January 15th, 2007 (purchased for $452)
I would recommend it as an alternative but only if have to.