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Veino
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Registered: Sep 30, 2007
Location: Finland
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Oct 12, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp, fast AF, weight, price
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Cons:
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Tripod collar would help the balance on tripod, but it's not necessary. Not weather sealed.
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My first L lens definitely didn't let me down. It's very sharp and the USM AF is very fast. Lens is pretty light for what it is, so it's not bad to carry around. F/4 without IS needs pretty much light, but F/2.8 or IS would make it a lot heavier and much more expensive.
Bang for the buck rating is very good, highly recommended!
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 Oct 12, 2007
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Chris Fawkes
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Registered: Feb 1, 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 3441
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Review Date: Sep 28, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $700.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, fast auto focus, light.
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Cons:
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Great lens. I also use the 2.8 I.S but if i know i'm doing an outdoor shoot i'll use the f4.
Sample from this lens can be seen at
http://photo.xanga.com/chrisfawkes/c7893149435281/photo.html
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Sep 28, 2007
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Ghost
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Registered: Feb 22, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 1822
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Review Date: Sep 21, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp! Fast AF, Price, Well Built, Balanced, Sharp! Beautiful Bokeh
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Cons:
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A bit bulky, weird 67mm diameter difficult to find filters.
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I flirted with this lens for a while never really took the plunge because I wasn't too convinced with it. Used it a few times from other people's copy.
But it's not until BH had a sale of $50 that I decided to pick one up. Afterall I can always resell it out since L-lenses do keep their value.
Used it at a picnic with family. That time I brought along two other lenses. When I started to review my shots at home, I couldn't help but noticed how sharp the pix this lens took. It was noticeably sharper than my other two lenses even at wide open. At once I knew this is a keeper lens. Perhaps the previous ones that I used weren't as great. <shrug> Sold my old 70-300APO Sigma and kept this though the F4L doesn't have the reach.
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Sep 21, 2007
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MenulioTiusis
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Registered: Oct 11, 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 17
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Review Date: Sep 15, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Impressive colours, nice bokeh, good sharpness (even wide open), great build quality and very fast FTM USM (noticeably faster than 17-85 or 28-105 3.5-4.5 USM), looks proffesionally, focus blocke (what's more, it's overrideable with MF)
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Cons:
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White colour attracts a little too much attention, a little too long (after Sigma 70-300) and lacks 300mm (but 200mm is good enough for croping), would like IS
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I bought my 70-200 F4L from ebay and it arrived just a few days ago. I am absolutely impressed with lens. After all, it's my first L. Actually, I have not taken any pictures with my 50 1.8 or 18-55 after receiving 70-200.
The FTM USM, smooth zooming and MF rings, great build quality, metal body... And COLOURS!. They do make pictures shine...
Anyway, with a hood attached 70-200 becomes a bit too big for being unnoticed. Anyway, this can be useful from time to time... In addition, it is a little bigger than older sigma 70-300 and does not fit to my bag perfectly well (a little squeezing is necessary). And I miss zooming to 300mm time after time. Anyway, the IQ is so good, that 200mm @ F4 cropped outperforms Sigma @300 mm F8-9 several times.
IS version would be great, but a little too expensive... Maybe, after a while....
p.s. After buying 70-200 F4L I try to keep my pepper spray in a pocket, since the lens attracts too much attention of somewhat not very nice looking people 
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Sep 15, 2007
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Jorge-B
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Registered: Sep 5, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Sep 10, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $580.00
| Rating: 10
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All the positive reports are true. But does the tripod collar of the 300mm f/4L fit the 70-200 f/4L? Not mine!
How about it?
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Sep 10, 2007
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Dinkar Singh
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Registered: Aug 25, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 9, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Quick focussing, very sharp, great colors
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Cons:
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none
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A very sharp lens with great color. Highly recommended if you do not need to shoot in low light conditions.
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Sep 9, 2007
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anthonygh
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Registered: Jan 8, 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1664
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Review Date: Aug 21, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Build quality...image quality....value......ergonomics.
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Cons:
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If only it was a bit shorter!
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Totally superb lens however you judge it! Amazing images from f4....well engineered but not heavy....a superb portrait lens...I could go on. The f2.8 might be better as many claim...but it's hard to see how!
This will be judged as one of the classic Canon lenses.
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Aug 21, 2007
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rd4tile
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Mar 22, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2145
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Review Date: Aug 20, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,039.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Size, build, IS, constant f4, crazy sharp
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Cons:
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Not f2.8 (duh)
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This lens should become known as the sharpest zoom Canon will ever make (if it's not already) and it's as good at f4 as stopped down. AF is fast and IS is the best so far. It takes a 1.4X as well as the superteles from an IQ standpoint. It's hard to beat given it's size and the new high ISO capability of the digic 3 bodies. I've owned two 70-200 f4's and an f2.8 and this lens smokes those in overall color/contrast/IQ.
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Aug 20, 2007
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Mikkel Tschern
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Registered: Jul 12, 2007
Location: Denmark
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Jul 12, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $700.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Considerably light, sharp at f/4, price, quick and silent AF
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Cons:
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Appears to have a hard time focusing when at 3m+ setting
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Jul 12, 2007
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Marsellus W
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Registered: Jun 12, 2007
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jun 12, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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This lens is perfect for what it is. The only question is whether it's the right tool for you.
Amazing clarity, colour and contrast.
No flare, no ghosts, no CA
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Cons:
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Weight (still). It would be great if it were even lighter than it is. It's still quite a brick at about 700g.
It has an awful, attention-drawing cream colour.
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There is no real downside to this lens. Within its specs it excels in everything. Fast AF, nice build quality, light weight for a professional grade lens, colour, and first of all excellent clarity. Compared to lower-grade lenses photos with this lens don't look like they were shot through glass.
The mimimum focusing distance is only 1.2 meters, which makes this lens ideal for flowers and other semi-macro work, especially on a 1.6x camera. This adds great flexibility compared to some other Canon offerings in this focal length range.
The bokeh is very nice and smooth. This lens is great for portraits.
The sturdy lens hood fits nicely reversed and does its job very well. I don't see the advantage of petal-shaped hoods and I don't care about the looks of my gear. It works great, so it's fine with me.
USM autofocus on this lens is fast, but not the fastest. The focus is always dead-on, I have yet to experience the first picture where AF didn't do what it should do.
F/4 is a nice compromise for weight and speed. F/4 is not fast and not slow. During daytime this lens is easily handholdable. It's fast enough for outdoor sports.
A great feature is that everything zooms and focuses internally. Nothing extends or rotates, so there is no dust or moist sucked in and there's no zoom creep. The zoom action is smooth regardless of the orientation. Using a polarizer is a breeze.
Sharpness is already superb at F/4. Corner sharpness (if you care) is great too, even on F/4 on full frame. It's 100% usable at F/4 all the way through. From F/5.6 on the corners are perfect on full frame.
I haven't seen lateral chromatic aberration/purple fringing yet.
Vignetting is not a problem as with most teles.
It sucks that canon sells the tripod collar separately for a ridiculous price (about EUR 100). You can do without, however.
If you are in the market for a 70-200 and if you can live with F/4, this lens is as good as it gets. There's nothing better in its class except the IS version, which is twice the price of this one. I have quite high demands for lenses, and with this one I don't see any real room for improvement.
Highly recommended.
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Jun 12, 2007
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Indy Iskandar
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Registered: Nov 30, 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jun 5, 2007
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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Lightweight, USM with fast AF, sharp photos, excellent DOF, colors & affordable price. Body build like a tank.
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Cons:
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Hood and not weather resistant.
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Hi photo shooters...
My first review was on Dec 19 2006.
After 6 months tried the lens I can't wait to write the second review. So here it is...
This lens always attached to my camera all the time and it's a keeper. I love the sharpness and smooth DOF I got with this lens.
Always used this for portrait, candid and landscapes photography.
Honestly, I felt proud to carry it, sometimes it will draw attention.
How do you feel when you passed the people and they turned their head around to checked your lens, proud hah...
This lens has USM, so the focus is very quiet and fast. If you like go hiking this lens is not forbidden to carry around your neck for long period of time, it's really not too heavy.
The sharpness, uhhh... I can't complained about it. It's so sharp and excellent. Never got any blurred pictures taken by this lens.
The only minor negatives from me about this lens is lens hood is not flower hood like 70-200 f/2.8 and this lens is not weather resistant, unlike the new 70-200 f/4 IS.
So that's about it, no major complained so far. I love it very much! Highly recommended!
Here are some samples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/524777478/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/523024734/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/522949187/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/522763242/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/522763222/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/443235750/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/380227279/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/310782155/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/368765982/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramasta/522949159/
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Jun 5, 2007
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baraynavab
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Mar 21, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 5
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Review Date: Jun 3, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $475.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very Sharp, Beautiful Colors, Light, Easy to handle, Great for protrait photography, Price
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Cons:
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A little slow sometimes to Autofocus. A little short on the long end(you always want more..thats just human nature)
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This is my first Canon "L" lens. I really didnt know whats the big deal with the L lenses but after getting on i now know. They are just plane good lenses.
I love the sharpness, color, contrast of the lens is just plane excellent. And by reading other opinions all they say about this lens is true.
Also the price of the lens is great IMHO. You can regarlarly find a great used copy of the lens for $500-550 bucks so i would recommend buying a used to save some more cash.
Here are some examples of the lens
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/207/513424862_a31904db9c_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/216/490455015_03610002e8_o.jpg
GET THIS LENS...its beautiful
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Jun 3, 2007
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Shiva Shankar
Offline
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Registered: May 2, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 116
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Review Date: May 31, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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SHARPPPPP, Internal zoom and focus, FTM Focus, surprisingly light weight, un believeable price for a Canon L Lens.
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Cons:
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Cant think of any! no seriously, cant think of any!
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I bought this second hand at $480 with UV Filter (rather the filter get dirty than the lens). This is a crazy sharp lens, even wide open! Try some macro shots with this and you will be pleasantly surprised at the image quality. Smooth OOF blur and excellent colors. definitely will recommend a tripod (with mount) for low light, or go for the IS version (can benefit upto 3 stops).
Best Canon L Lens deal! With this lens, you absolutely cannot go wrong. Very very Highly recommended!
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May 31, 2007
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SKYWESTR
Offline
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Registered: Feb 18, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1225
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Review Date: May 28, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $500.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Light, internal zoom and focus, constant f4, very sharp, takes a 1.4tc very well.
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Cons:
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None
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I recently sold off my copy of this lens to purchase a 200 2.8 prime. I found that I was at 200mm 90% of the time with a TC attached on a 1.6 crop body. I was happy with the bokeh and focusing is silent and fast even with a TC attached. This is a great lens if you need the zoom, very much recommend it if you travel a lot. Take a wide angle and this with a TC and you're completely covered.
Here are some examples with a Tamron 1.4TC attached:
www.flickr.com/photos/carllyle/497235066
www.flickr.com/photos/carllyle/491850468
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May 28, 2007
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redii
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Jan 5, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 530
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Review Date: May 26, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $480.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, Sharp, Sharp
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Cons:
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None
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HOLY COW! I have several L series lenses and this is by far the best. It is sharp. The AF is fast. It is sharp. The bokeh is awesome. It is sharp. The cost 2nd hand is low. It is sharp. The color is extrordinary. It is SHARP!
Seriously, I bought this lens from a fellow FMer, a known sharp copy. It has become my favorite for walk around and portraits. It is light enough to carry all day and has become my favorite. My keeper rate has tripled. It lacks slightly in the low light area but that is a small price to pay for this IQ.
Did I mention it is sharp???
If you are ready to move up to L glass, this is the first lens to buy.
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May 26, 2007
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timnosenzo
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Jun 21, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1370
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Review Date: May 3, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent IQ, price
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Cons:
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None
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This lens is excellent for the price. Sharp, great color & contrast, its just a pleasure to use. Add to that the metal barrel, constant aperture, fast USM focusing and you have a great medium telephoto zoom at a really reasonable price. I'd recommend this lens to anyone as long as they don't mind the size (I think its fine, some might find it a little conspicuous.
Great lens & a great value.
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May 3, 2007
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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379
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786876
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Apr 12, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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93% of reviewers
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$593.78
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.64
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9.36
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9.5
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