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fStopJojo
Offline
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Registered: Jun 4, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 327
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Review Date: Apr 26, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $330.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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A cracking lens, period.
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Cons:
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None.
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Only lens I've ever rated a 10 overall. [www.pbase.com/fstopjojo/lenstests]
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 Apr 26, 2005
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Canis
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Registered: Apr 19, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 232
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Review Date: Apr 19, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very Sharp, very cheap, very fast focus.
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Cons:
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None
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This has to be Canon's best ever value in a lens. I love it, razor sharp, fast response, excellent build quality. At twice the price it would still be very good value.
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Apr 19, 2005
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godfreyz
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Registered: Feb 3, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 963
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Review Date: Apr 7, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast focus, excellent, sharp lens.
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Cons:
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None
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Very sharp lens. Met all my expectations. One of my best lens.
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Apr 7, 2005
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dhphoto
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Registered: Feb 15, 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8800
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Review Date: Apr 4, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent lens, one of the best I own
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Cons:
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None at all
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In a previous life I owned the FD series 85 1.8 and it paid my wages by shooting concerts. Those days are long gone but it's replacement, the EF 85 1.8 is probably even better. It's one of the sharpest lenses I own (mainly L lenses) and has THE best contrast.
I really love the thick focusing ring and the build quality. It is the equivalent of a 135 f1.8 on my 20D - brilliantly fast.
Excellent lens, excellent value, hard to fault in any way
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Apr 4, 2005
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normski
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Registered: Oct 25, 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 414
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Review Date: Apr 1, 2005
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Recommend? |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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well built - feels like an L. behaves like an L. wide open it's fast with sharp images, it has quick accurate autofocus, and it's ridiculously cheap.
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Cons:
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some obvious purple finging wide open in strong backlight (it's not alone in this).
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this lens is good - really good. IMO it's canon's best value lens. i have several L's and i would suggest the 85mm f1.8 deserves the red stripe. It's obviously not as "amazing" as the f1.2 (from what i've seen of that lens it is truly fantastic - and if you've got the dosh go for it) but the f1.8 is 4 times cheaper! if this lens cost twice as much as it does it would still be good value and i would still buy it. i don't think you'll be disappointed. it's impressively sharp wide open and the colour is also very acceptable - almost L. (in comparison, the much vaunted 50mm f1.4 feels cheap and nasty and is no big deal wide open. get the 50mm f1.8 instead - it has no pretentions).
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Apr 1, 2005
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normski
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Registered: Oct 25, 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 414
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Review Date: Apr 1, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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end results are quite superb and as an added bonus the build quality is very good and when you take the price into account it's almost a gift.
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Cons:
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some purple fringing wide open against strong backlight (and this lens is not alone in that)
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let's not beat about the bush here. this has got to be canon's best value lens: think about it - the quality of its build with a proper USM ring motor with full time MF and an autofocus that snaps into action. It's fast, it has stunning definition and very acceptable colour - not quite L colour but pretty close. ok so there's obvious purple fringing wide open in strong backlight (this lens is not alone in that) but otherwise i've noticed no gremlins. the f1.2 version according to all accounts is superior because it's 1 stop faster and the bokeh blows you away, and yes if you've got the cash go for it but remember it costs 4 times as much (which is always the case when seeking the holy grail!). bottom line - if canon charged twice as much for this f1.8 lens it would still be a bargain.
p.s. the 50mm f1.4 (which is supposed to be another fab non-L lens) feels really cheap and nasty in comparison. IMO stick with the 50mm f1.8 - it has no pretensions.
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Apr 1, 2005
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d10d
Offline
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Registered: Nov 29, 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1090
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Review Date: Mar 25, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast and sharp even in very low-light conditions!... 'comforatable' to use.
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Cons:
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none
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I recently got this lens and... WOW! Last night I had a chance to use it in a very dark club on my 20D @ ISO 3200, no flash... after checking my images this morning I was blown away!... I did not think it was possible to get clean shots in such an environment! The AF was bang on and the images (though grainy) caught a fair bit of detail. I am thoroughly impressed!
Highly recommended!
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Mar 25, 2005
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vince
Offline
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Registered: Mar 18, 2002
Location: China
Posts: 306
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Review Date: Mar 21, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Blistering fast AF, excellent optics, well built and sturdy.
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Cons:
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None.
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First off, I don't own this lens any more, but use it quite often from our common "lens pool". Any time I get sick and tired of using heavy or slow zooms, and need a reminder on just how excellent canon's optics can be, I put this fellow on my SLR and shoot. No more dark tunnel vision thanks to f/1.8, no more slow focusing and no more misfocused shots.
Every single one of the images I have shot with this lens have been flawless in terms of optical quality. This lens is wonderful with a 25mm extension tube... great macro performance. No, it is not as good as the 100/2.8 macro USM which I also have (that lens produces corner to corner sharpness at 1:1 magnification, not something most other lenses can do). But, it is as good as other lenses can get.
The AF is so fast that I've never had the opportunity to miss a shot due to slow response. In all, there's not a single bad thing I can think of about this lens. It's superb.
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Mar 21, 2005
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PaulMdx
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Registered: Mar 20, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 20, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $340.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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VERY sharp, and practically L quality. Good lens to use along with a 50/1.8 for indoor sports and portraits.
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Cons:
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None
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I've had this lens for about a year and use in a lot for shooting indoor sports. The aperture is very handy when I'm shooing in dark conditions, and produces stunning results for portraiture with excellent bokeh.
For all intents and purposes this may as well have a red L band. It really is incredibly sharp, and probably better than my 70-200/2.8L. In fact, an example shot from the Canon 1Ds mkII on Canon.co.jp used this lens - and that's to show off Canon's flagship camera.
As well as my own review, I've heard a number of other professional photographers using this lens for indoor sports. It really does kick ass.
I was actually considering buying a 85/1.2L instead of this, but having checked out the reviews on this site, the lens seems much too slow and soft for sports. I'm not a bit disappointed with this vs. the 1.2L.
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Mar 20, 2005
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zonkola
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Feb 9, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 194
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Review Date: Mar 9, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $275.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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A great portrait lens, excellent value for money.
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Cons:
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It doesn't have a red stripe?
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This is a great portrait lens. The build quality is excellent for the price range, the USM is nice, and the pictures it takes are more than sharp enough for portrait photography. For better or for worse, every eyelash and pore is crisply defined. (Thank god for Photoshop.)
I'm keeping mine.
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Mar 9, 2005
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inov8iv
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Dec 8, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 862
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Review Date: Feb 15, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $295.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, contrasty, very good bokeh, fast USM focusing, full time manual focus capability!
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Cons:
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None - except this lens makes you expect better results out of your other non "L" Lenses.
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I absolutely love this lens, I use it for Baseball Batting shots and it is one remarkable lens for that sole purpose, I have also used it to capture pitching sequences, 14 shots on 1 pitch extremely fast.
Quality equivelent to "L" Glass for a fraction of the cost. Just wish canon would make all their lenses this good. Would not need to pay the extra $$$ for "L" Series Glass.
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Feb 15, 2005
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kel3at
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Jul 9, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 27
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Review Date: Feb 10, 2005
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Recommend? |
Price paid: $380.00
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Pros:
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Sharp, silent AF, Fast, light weight, nice build
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Cons:
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addictive
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Do not buy this lens. Once you use this lens you will never be satified with your other cheap inexpensive lenses anymore. You will have to replace them with all new L-glass to get the image quality of this gem. It's a Canon conspiracy I tell ya. It's an L lens disguised as a lowly plastic USM. Don't be fooled by the low price.
You're going to buy it anyway ain't ya? Well don't tell me I didn't warn ya!
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Feb 10, 2005
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kel3at
Offline
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Registered: Jul 9, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 27
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Review Date: Feb 10, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $380.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Do not buy this lens. Why? Because after you buy this lens you will never be satified with your cheap inexpensive lenses any more. You will have to go out and replace them with new L-glass in other focal lengths to match up to your 85 1.8. It's a Canon conspiracy. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.
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Cons:
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Way too good image quality, unless you're one of those people who actually likes sharp, constrasty and excellent color images with lots of creamy bokeh.
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Feb 10, 2005
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judhi
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Feb 9, 2005
Location: Singapore
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Feb 9, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Sharp, budget friendly
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Cons:
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Crop too tight for DSLR with APS-C sensor size.
Minimum distance of 85cm is too far.
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Just as the 50mm f/1.8 this lens provide you great sharpness at longer focal length.
Composition might be too tight for DSLR with 1.6x cropping factor (APS-C) and the minimum distance on 85mm is too far for most macro photography situation.
Recommended for SLR user but not DSLR with APS-C size sensor.
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Feb 9, 2005
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jmardy
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Dec 9, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1622
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Review Date: Feb 4, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $330.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Amazingly sharp, superfast AF, great bulild quality, beautiful background blur, inexpensive, FAST.
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Cons:
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All the hype is true. Every time I use this lens I'm impressed by how good the images look. Wish I'd bought it a long time ago.
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Feb 4, 2005
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adnan76
Offline
Image Upload: Off
Registered: Feb 3, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 58
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Review Date: Feb 3, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great optics, silent focus, smoooooth out-of-focus areas
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Cons:
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Longish minimum focus distance (standard for this focal length?)
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Don't have any complaints about this lens. I was considering the f1.2L, but I'm glad I saved my money. The dof at f1.8 is a substantial challenge if you like to work close up... I have no idea how I would handle f1.2.
This is the first time I've had a lens this long, I mostly like wide angle, but its got lots of advantages. I have the 35/1.4L. I bought that lens so I would have an easier time blurring out the background compared to the f2, but its nothing like this. Outdoor photos of family and friends come out beautifully, with excellent OOF areas. Buy this lens and your family may soon try to avoid due to the amount of time you want them to spend in front of this lens. Its a gem.
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Feb 3, 2005
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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307
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462510
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Feb 14, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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95% of reviewers
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$349.50
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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8.92
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9.46
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9.4
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