zoomfreak's reviews

  • Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    outstanding resolution, outstanding AF speed, excellent build quality
    none.

    perfect as it gets , better than all primes .

    this and the 70-200f4LIS kill all primes.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $980)

  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    resolution , lack of CA , lack of distortion , super fast AF,
    none

    my copy is EXTREMELY sharp , in fact , sharper than all my primes in this range.

    the DO Af is super fast , there is no CA .

    the color rendition is beautiful with this lens.

    highly recommended , considering its over all IQ and build quality and AF speed , this is the best tele zoom for handheld photography.

    I also have the EF70-200f4LIS and both are superb.

    But I perfer my DO for 2 reasons: 1 it is shorter .2 it is BLACK.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $1,100)

  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

    4 out of 10 points and not recommended
    none
    horrible lens ,slow AF, lots of CA, lack of contrast.

    just simply worst Canon tele lens , PERIOD.
    AF slowly and hunts like annoying bee behind your ear.

    It feels cheap , the front element rotates and the IS is not as effective as the one on my DO or f4LIS.

    I bought it in Bangkok and thought use it as back up to my DO and 70-200F4 LIs , but sold it as it was truly horrible lens.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $450)

  • Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    superb resolution, super accurate AF , fast HSM focus, well built.
    a bit pronounced CA in high contrast area

    a great lens, my copy is extremely sharp , maybe as sharp as my EF-S10-22 , and a bit less sharp than my EF-S17-55f2.8IS.

    I think this lens is much sharper than my Tokina 12-24 and 17-40L, both of which are replaced by this lens.

    this is the only one lens from third party that I love and keeping in my kit.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $450)

  • Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

    2 out of 10 points and not recommended
    build quality (that is good)
    horrible color , horribe resolution , pronounced CA, pronounced distortion

    bought this to try to replace my travel lens the EF-S17-85IS , but this is a horrible lens.

    I kept my Canon Ef-S17-85IS as my travel and day light lens.

    I have EF-S17-55f2.8IS for my work and serious shooting so this lens has no place in my kit.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $450)

  • Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    freakishly fast AF, extremely sharp , excelelnt flare resistance, inconspicuous look
    CA.

    get it if you need this forcal length.

    there is no better lens than this , I sold my 70-200f4LIS to get this one since I needed a inconspicuous , samll lens for street and PJ work.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $300)

  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    fast AF (although not as fast as my 85f1.8), sharper than all primes in this range.
    expensive and white .

    Although this lens is almost perfect optically , I sold it for a couple of small lenses (85f1.8 and 100f2) because it was just simply too conspicuous and bold.

    I was arrested in Burma and other places for this .


    I love the quality of this lens but I can not have it because it got me arrested or my face punched a few times times .
    When you are working as some kind of travel photog for a mag or like that , you some times need to be in dangerous places like Burma or Iran , and you are not safe with a white lens there.

    People kill you seriously.

    That said , if I were shooting landscapes or day light sports , or even some portrait as a hobbist , I love this insanely sharp lens, though, I think people especially L snobs are too obsessed with resolution chart sharpness and forget about anything else.

    If I were a hobbist and printing out no bigger than A3 , I will buy an EF-S55-250IS(just very sharp and light , though not as contrasty as this L lens).

    But for pro sport in day light or landscapes in night(IS gives me about 5 stop advantage, so when I usually need ISO1600 , I can use ISO200) , it is a super lens because of the Af and weather-sealing.

    Just not use it in Burma.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $1,200)

  • Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    light , inconspicuous , fast Af , lack of CA, good resolution not excelelnt , though
    micro USM rather than the RING, cheap buid.

    just got it to replace my 70-300IS , it is ok , though AF to slow for my needs , so replaced with the DO IS.

    it is at least as sharp as the EF70-300IS non DO, the DO is a bit sharper with better color.

    if you are a hibbist or back packer and wanna go light and inconspicous , then get it .

    you wont regret it, but I do not use it for my work.

    I use 200L for my work .

    UP date: I got it in Japan as well ,when I worked there 5 days a go , and I bought it at a Fuji camera , which is known to be the cheapest camera store in the world.

    reviewed December 8th, 2007 (purchased for $230)

  • Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    super fast AF when not used as a macro, the super sharp optics , excellent build
    none at all.

    this is the lens I love more than any other lenses I 've used , this lens is sharper than all Ls . PERIOD.

    there is no better lens than this , this lens is not comparable to the low level Tamorn Sigma macros priced around this one........... this one does NOT extend when it focuses and this lens is so compact , with super fast AF .

    I use this for many applications but I think this one really shines when shooting street candid stuffs .

    I was shooting cats chasing a rat , fighting , this lens AFed stop on all the time .

    last monday , I went to Cambodia for Thai visa , shooting many people in really shockingly poor country especialy at border , this lens took amazingly honest simle of people there , if I had my 70-200f2.8 or 4 LIS , people never smiled and even before that I am not sure if I got through there safe.

    This is a super lens , no doubt about that.

    This is the best example of how much better an EFS could be than an EF counterpart.

    Compare this to the lousy 100 f2.8 , you will know what I mean.

    Also , compare the superb EF-S10-22 against the old and over priced EF17-40L, you will know FF is not the future, in 10 years , there will be no FF hopefully.

    I hope EOS 1 and Nikon D3 will be gone with these L and 5D snobs with FF -film nostalgia ......

    We need an EF-S100 f1.4IS to work with this stunning lens.

    reviewed December 12th, 2007 (purchased for $340)