jdf's reviews

  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Great Built quality! Fast autofocus
    No tripod ring

    I 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.

    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.

    reviewed January 12th, 2007 (purchased for $841)
  • Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 SP AF

    8 out of 10 points and recommended

    I 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.
    The best is the image quality. it's superb! Very sharp wide open, to f16! A very good alternative indeed.
    higly recomended.

    reviewed January 12th, 2007
  • Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical IF SP AF

    8 out of 10 points and recommended

    I 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.
    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

    reviewed January 12th, 2007
  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

    7 out of 10 points and recommended
    Excellent image quality
    Very poor construction

    This 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.

    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.

    reviewed January 12th, 2007 (purchased for $129)
  • Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Excellent image quality, USM
    None

    used 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.

    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!

    reviewed January 12th, 2007
  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

    8 out of 10 points and recommended
    USM, Sharpess
    At F1.4

    I 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 +/-.

    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.

    reviewed January 15th, 2007
  • Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED DX AF-S Nikkor

    6 out of 10 points and recommended
    Excellent image quality, AF-S
    Distortion, CA

    I 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 recommended
    Good Image quality
    Slow AF

    Having 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!

    I would recommend it as an alternative but only if have to.

    reviewed January 15th, 2007 (purchased for $452)