Sanjeed's reviews

  • Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    a. Lightweight b. Affordable c. Sharp d. Fast autofocus
    a. Lack of weather sealing

    This is the ultimate best birding lens for hobbyist photographers. I agree, in theory the EF 300mm f/4L IS + 1.4x extender should be better but actually it isn't as per users' opinions.

    I have owned this lens for 17 months and shot thousands of images with it mounted on my EOS 450D and EOS 50D. It has never failed to deliver the goods. The bad images were due to my incompetence, not fault of this lens.

    Issue of being non-IS is a non-issue to seasoned photogs. This technology came into being only years ago. Before that photogs captured excellent images with tele lenses. When it comes to capturing high quality images in low light; the higher end pro lenses have a role to play. However, hobbyists don’t enter thick forests every other day or shoot in dim lights regularly unlike the pros. Therefore, this is the lens that would deliver the goods every time a hobbyist shoots with it and I defend this notion as a user.

    reviewed January 23rd, 2011

  • Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    1. Great IQ 2. Fast Autofocus 3. Easy to carry 4. Flexibility
    1. IS little noisy

    I agree with the main review that Canon mislabeled this lens as not being an “L”. It does deliver top notch performance when used for the purposes it is intended for. I can safely bet; it will make its L brother’s price tag look clownish when compared. There may be hairline difference in IQ that common viewers won’t be able to detect. Moreover, modern processors/editors can easily perform the slight refinements that some of its images might stand in need of. Well even images of highest level L glasses also need post processing/editing. I don’t see a better zoom lens at this price point.

    I used it on wildlife safari in Kenya and captured all the images nicely that I wanted to. It is little soft wide open at 300mm but when stopped down to f/8; you get highest quality images. The current copies are probably better than the initial ones as I don’t experience any zoom sloppiness when the camera is pointed downwards with the zoom level at 70mm i.e., it doesn’t extend automatically as claimed in many reviews.

    My conclusion is; any hobbyist wildlife shooter must have this lens in his/her arsenal. Once you own and test it; you won’t ever want to part with it.

    reviewed January 24th, 2011

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Image quality, Lightweight, Affordable
    Little noisy while focusing, Looks unglamorous

    Canon is an expert when it comes to springing up surprises. It builds some outstanding quality lenses while running an unnecessary mad pixel race in their bodies.

    Now I can safely talk about the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II as I’ve used it substantially. This is the gem of a portrait lens. It can capture the tiniest details with lovely colors to the level unimaginable by photography until now. I don't know much about other brands as I have not used them however, I did use Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens together with Canon. The Canon simply puts the Sigma to extreme shame in performance. Sigma misfocused on most of the occasions whereas Canon nailed all perfectly and brought up all the minutest details not visible to human eyes. I don't care about the build quality and looks as that would unnecessarily push prices up.

    This is a dream portrait lens and Canon shooters must have it in their arsenal. Ignore all the negative remarks about its looks; rest assured your main objective that is the results will look outstanding.

    reviewed February 27th, 2011 (purchased for $114)