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ulfee
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Registered: Feb 3, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 40
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Review Date: Feb 20, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp wide open, fast AF, amazing color and contrast, extremely versatile
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Cons:
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None for me
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On a FF camera this lens is as close to perfect as possible for a general purpose lens.
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 Feb 20, 2009
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stargazer78
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Registered: Jan 18, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 350
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Review Date: Jan 19, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 9
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Negatives:
-- This is an old design where lens barrel is only plastic
-- One of the few remaining "L" lenses that is not weather sealed
-- Lens is heavier (580g) and bigger than a prime lens should be
-- Bokeh quality is decent, but severely overrated by reputation
Positives:
-- Not many lens sharper than this @ f/1.4
-- Autofocus is quick and responsive
-- At $1100 USD, it's relatively cheap compared to its peers
-- Arguably the most versatile low light lens available in EF mount
-- Contrast and color rendition are just about perfect
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Jan 19, 2009
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Perry Ge
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Registered: Jul 30, 2007
Location: N/A
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Jan 15, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Fast AF, nice bokeh, sharp.
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Cons:
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Relatively poor build, focal length, price, inconsistent optics and bad CA.
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I thought I would love this lens. I wanted to love this lens. I didn't like it much at all. Optically it was very good - sharp wide open, with good bokeh, though CA was pretty bad and mine didn't seem sharp at longer focusing distances. Reports of copy variation make it seem like this is an inconsistent lens.
Build quality is a bit dated since this is a 1993 lens design. Focus ring has some play, and it feels cheaper than other Ls I have (17-40, 85L, 200L, 400L).
At the end of the day I didn't like the focal length on my 5D. That was the deciding factor for my getting rid of it. If you like the focal length, it's still a great lens.
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Jan 15, 2009
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karol lasia
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Registered: Dec 18, 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 29
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Review Date: Jan 10, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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amazing colors, crisp, perfect focal length on a FF body
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Cons:
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none so far
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a bit pricey perhaps, but well worth it in the end. i use this lens 95% of the time and doubt i'll ever need anything else between the 20 and 50mm range. best lens i've ever used.
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Jan 10, 2009
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Antony
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Registered: Jun 5, 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 666
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Review Date: Jan 9, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great images, good build quality.
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Cons:
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No weather seal
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Great lens, I am shooting more and more of my weddings with this lens. Well worth the price.
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Jan 9, 2009
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Zalllon
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Registered: Jun 5, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 364
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Review Date: Jan 7, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,299.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Sharp wide open, fast focus, great contrast
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Cons:
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Price, maybe weight
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I had been admiring photos taken with this lens on FF bodies, and was eager to add it to my collection. I was able to try it out before purchasing just be sure about focus accuracy concerns that have been mentioned ... but no issues.
This lens is now my fave lens to use, I just wish I had more things to use it for or even a body dedicated to use with it. Really fun lens to use, once you get over the pinch in the wallet.
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Jan 7, 2009
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2bruce
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: May 18, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 280
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Review Date: Jan 3, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,098.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Superb! well built beautiful colors and contrast dof fantastic
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Cons:
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expensive
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Love this bought 50mm 1.2 sent i t back just love the 35 mm on full frame 5DMK2 the and 1.3/1.6 cameras
http://www.pbase.com/2bruce/5dmk2__35_mm_14_l
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Jan 3, 2009
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berkant
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Registered: Mar 30, 2005
Location: Turkey
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Nov 29, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,300.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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VERY SHARP PICTURES
nice built
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Cons:
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f1.4 pictures not so sharp
expensive.
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Nov 29, 2008
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Breitling65
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: May 31, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 5005
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Review Date: Nov 21, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Greate colors/contrast as any L's, pretty sharp wide open, quick AF, small size.
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Cons:
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Focus is of on MKIII, requared max micro adjustment, same lens OK on older bodies.
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This lens somehow doesn't give me consistant IQ on different bodies. It happened only with this lens out of other 11 L's I own and only on mk III. However lens been superb on 20D/XTi/40D/5D I owned before, not sure what happened but it is really upsetting. Someone said on FM that this is known issue of this lens and bodies with MA and 35L might be replaced with mk II in 2009. Also I tried MA on mk III and still can't get what I like even with max settings.
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Nov 21, 2008
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pauelv
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Registered: Sep 12, 2008
Location: Norway
Posts: 110
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Review Date: Oct 15, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sweet bookeh, f1.4, nice color/contrast and sharpness!
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Cons:
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Build quality isn't as good as other L's but still solid. Paid pretty much for a used one (but I live in Norway). So the lens is quite expensive.
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The build quality could be better for this price. Therefor It doesn't score 10 in my book.
However, there are no complaints in regards to the images it produces and the possibilities you get with a fast prime.
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Oct 15, 2008
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terminator
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Registered: Jan 28, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 272
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Review Date: Oct 11, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $750.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp from f/1.4, amazing bokeh, color, and everything about image quality
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Cons:
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build quality not as good as other L such as 85, no weather seal, focus can be tricky
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Get this lens second hand. Everything positive about the image quality of this lens is proven true. My copy is sharp from f/1.4 - if I focus correctly of course. Bokeh is amazingly smooth. I used to expect such bokeh from only telephoto lens.
I find that focusing of this lens is very tricky. Of course, thin DOF contribute to this issue. But there's something unusual about this lens. Often it focuses at somewhere that I never understand, and produces complete blur images.
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Oct 11, 2008
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Michael Watt
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Registered: Jan 21, 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 7, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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1.4 Aperture, Sharp, bokeh (circle of confusion)
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Cons:
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Quality control : one should not expect focusing problems with a band new L lens, price
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In light of all the positive reviews this lens has received I was disappointed to discover my copy had focusing errors. After paying top dollar one should not encounter focusing problems with an ‘L’ lens. Sadly this was my experience.
However after this lens was calibrated and returned from Canon I can now join the chorus of praise for this optic. What you pay for is 1.4 to 2.8 apertures as this focal length is covered repeatedly by other canon zooms i.e. 24-70 F2,8, 24-105 L F4,ect. This lens offers the unique feature of combining a wide angle lens (on a 1:1 sensor) with a fast aperture. This enables the photographer to capture subject matter against a wide bokeh (circle of confusion) background. The ability of this moderate wide angle lens to separate a foreground subject from the background is a feature of this lens. Bokeh is not normally a strong characteristic of a wide angle lens. Although the bokeh is not as prominent as using a longer focal length, it is still pleasing and adds, if desired, a separation with the background (or foreground) without confusing the background recognition.
After calibration I was able fully appreciate the sharpness of this lens. Even wide open at 1.4 this lens is sharp although care has to be taken when focusing especially in low light. This is a highly recommended optic for low light work and environmental portrait studies.
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Sep 7, 2008
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KPBara
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Registered: Jun 14, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 135
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Review Date: Aug 29, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,080.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp wide open across the frame, fast and accurate focus, solid build
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Cons:
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CA wide open, no weather seal
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The 24-105L was my most used lens for two years but I have hardly touched it since I got the 35L three months ago. Not surprisingly this lens is sharp in the center wide open, but surprisingly sharpness is uniform across the frame except extreme borders. This alone makes it stand out among fast wide angle lenses, excelling over a new design like the Sigma 30, even 10 years after first release. Focus is fast, silent, and sure. The 35L has a great feel: smooth focus ring, solid construction, great proportion on a medium-sized SLR, and beautiful front element. Drawbacks include CA wide open, lack of weather seal, and 'plastic' finish compared to, say, the 135L. The 135L may be my best built, best performing lens, but the 35L is by far the most fun.
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Aug 29, 2008
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dimitris77
Offline
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Registered: Aug 29, 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 511
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Review Date: Aug 27, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,050.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharpness, color, bokeh.
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Cons:
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Size & price.
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This is a great lens and must have from the Canon lineup. Makes zooms seem so dull. The results that I get from it on my 20D are nothing close to anything I have seen from another lens. Fast focusing I can't wait to use it on FF when prices go down a bit.
I have bigger lenses (call me 85L) but its amazing how Canon manages to always have the biggest lenses available among other brands. Don't know how it will behave on FF but I am still hoping.
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Aug 27, 2008
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abam
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Registered: Apr 25, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4201
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Review Date: Aug 11, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,080.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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build quality, sharpness from F2.0 on up, bokeh at F1.4
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Cons:
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price a bit high for an aging lens that is due for an update, soft at F1.4, small amount of play in the focusing ring
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this lens is very well built, although it has a slight bit of play in the focusing ring. it is also very sharp, as long as you keep it above F2.0. the bokeh is delicious, but not really much different than a F1.8 lens.
additionally, this is a 12 year old design, is soft at 1.4, and as such should be around $800 for what it offers.
is it worth over 3 times what the 2.0 version is? if you need the build quality, sure. if you're not going into battle with this lens, then the 2.0 would probably fit the bill as well.
will i keep it, though? certainly.
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Aug 11, 2008
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Xibalban
Offline
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Registered: Dec 2, 2005
Location: Finland
Posts: 109
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Review Date: Aug 11, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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image quality
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Cons:
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big, heavy, feels cheap
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It’s amazing how cheap this lens feels. Except for the lens mount, it’s completely made out of plastic although I hope at least the lenses are real glass. It’s like something from a $20 toy camera. For the price I would have hoped a more quality feel to it. It is also very big and heavy.
The image quality however is very good and that’s of course the most important part. Take a look at my pictures with it (mostly taken wide open):
http://markuspuustinen.com/galleriat/08/08/pictures_from_kvarken_archipelago_part1/
http://markuspuustinen.com/index.php?x=browse&category=37
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Aug 11, 2008
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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214
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468624
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Mar 23, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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96% of reviewers
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$1,192.72
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.38
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8.24
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9.5
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