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DEvianT
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Registered: Jan 2, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Feb 3, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp and great contrast
Fast focus
Compact
Fast wide open
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Cons:
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No lens hood included
Not weather sealed
Not designed for digital so can give chromatic aberration sometimes
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This lens is superb for reportage and portraits on a crop DSLR like a 10D. It's fast and silent. Small enough to be descrete. The image quality is superb, sharp with good colour and contrast.
I think this lens is one of Canon's little gems. Could well be an L lens but the price is very good. I think it's a must have in your camera bag.
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 Feb 3, 2005
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teglis
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Registered: Aug 31, 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1094
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Review Date: Jan 26, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpness, useful focal length, aperture, focus speed
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Cons:
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To nit pick: separate hood and the way the hood attaches
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Probably my favourite lens; certainly my favourite prime.
On a 1.6x factor DSLR, I find it the ideal focal length for individual portraits and candids. Quiet, fast focusing and not too large, it is very unobtrusive (not only to my subjects, but also to me). It just works.
Produces consistently sharp images with good bokeh. I love the perspective it gives.
One tiny downside has to be the hood. You must purchase it separately and it is clumsy to attach.
Otherwise, an outstanding lens.
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Jan 26, 2005
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mdwhaley
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Registered: Oct 17, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Jan 22, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $360.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Superior image quality. AF speed
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Cons:
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minimum focus distance (nit picking)
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I wish all of my lenses were like this one! It is a joy to use. I'm even happier when I get the images on the computer. Fantastic image quality. Great color, contrast, and sharpness. The images have that extra punch since it is a little longer of a focal length (136 on a 10d). I usually don't shoot this or any lens wider than 2.8. It can do it, I just don't think there is enough depth of field for people shooting wider than 2.8. The biggest negative of this lens is that you will want more prime lenses after using this one.
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Jan 22, 2005
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shlomi
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Registered: Oct 11, 2004
Location: Israel
Posts: 12
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Review Date: Jan 21, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $320.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great colors and bokeh, sharp, light, small, cheap
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Cons:
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Not as sharp as the f/1.2 version, long minimal focusing distance
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This might be the best non-L prime. I find it much better than the 35/2 and 50/1.4. The colors are perfect. The bokeh is the best I've seen on an under $1000 lens. Contrast is excellent. Sharpness is very good but when you see the results of the 1.2 verion you realize there is a reason for the price difference. I mostly stop it to 2.8 but I can't say the sharpness is perfect - still better than any zoom I know. The USM is excellent - very fast, quiet and accurate, no hunting.
The balance on the camera is excellent. Build quality is evry good - feels solid; I dropped it once on concrete and nothing happened. This lens gives tremendous value for money. If you intend to shoot portraits and don't want to spend $1400 for the 1.2, this is an almost perfect lens.
One shortcoming is the not so small minimal focusing distace. This lens is not very useful for product and macro shooting.
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Jan 21, 2005
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cladnin
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Registered: Sep 8, 2004
Location: N/A
Posts: 150
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Review Date: Jan 20, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $275.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Light, F1.8, Cheap, Fast focusing
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Cons:
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Not super pleasant bokeh in my opinion, clip on hood doesn't fit great.
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Great lens for the money. Super fast, quiet focusing.
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Jan 20, 2005
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EmaJon
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Registered: Jan 11, 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Jan 15, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp (ouch cut meeself), good bokeh, nice balance and construction, fast AF, common 58mm filter size.
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Cons:
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CA, a little soft wide open
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Aside from the above pos aspects, this is nice glass. Its quiet USM can be used in many a sensitive areas, has good contrast range and was nicely priced for what has become a fav of mine, eventhough I have L glass. (its not as heavy as these lenses)
However, on a Dig SLR with a cropping factor, this lens displays CA wide open, though this is quite easily overcome (longer and slightly wider lens hood, polariser - where highly reflective subjects exist, ND filter and of course PS, if the others fail).
If you aint got one, cant afford or justify the L version or the 180, then get this..... and laff ur hed off.
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Jan 15, 2005
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moondigger
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Registered: Jan 6, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 5605
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Review Date: Jan 13, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $250.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, contrasty, good bokeh, fast USM focusing, full time manual focus capability
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Cons:
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None
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I got a well-used copy for $250. Sharpness is good at f/1.8, and excellent at f/2.8 and above. If it fell off a cliff today I'd buy a brand new one tomorrow.
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Jan 13, 2005
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Fer1
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Registered: Jan 3, 2005
Location: Italy
Posts: 9
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Review Date: Jan 3, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp from 2.8, ultra sharp from 4.0. Fast focusing. Well built. No CA to speak of. No distortion. Quite small and light. Ring USM with full-time-manual correction.
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Cons:
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Quite soft at f/2 (but still very useable), occasional front-focus on my 10D (only in low-light and at short distances; and even then, only in a small percentage of the shots).
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An excellent lens. I use it for rock concert shots, so it has to be sharp at least from 2.8, and has to work reliably with low light levels. Has to focus fast, too (subjects move fast).
This lens does it all, and then some! I'm very pleased.
Other good things: it's small and light, so you don't get tired after 2-3 hours of shooting and the camera+lens doesn't get in the way while shooting in crowded places.
Has a very nice bokeh, excellent for portraits.
It's a bit soft up to f/2.8, but still very useable with some USM. From f/2.8 is sharp, and from f/4 is very sharp.
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Jan 3, 2005
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trsqr
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Registered: Dec 25, 2002
Location: Finland
Posts: 38
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Review Date: Dec 30, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $380.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp when stopped down a little bit, usable wide open, wide max aperture, good focal length for portraits when on a non FF DSLR, fast and silent auto-focus, solid construction, 58mm filter size common with many other lenses.
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Cons:
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None I can think of
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I once owned a EF 100/2.0 lens, which I sold about a year ago. I later had regrets of doing so, and since 85/1.8 is very much alike the 100/2, I bought that. Already listed the pros, this is a great lens. If all the Canon non-L primes were as good as this, I sure would have more of them...
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Dec 30, 2004
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howiemudge
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Registered: Nov 29, 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Dec 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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What can I say about this wonderful portrait lens. Excellent detail, wonderful bokeh and sharp as a razor. Outstanding value.
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Cons:
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None that I can think of :)
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Dec 3, 2004
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brn68
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Registered: Sep 17, 2004
Location: Austria
Posts: 25
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Review Date: Nov 27, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast!! Sturdily built, compact; really a nice one. Quite fast USM.
Cheap.
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Cons:
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Not optimized for digital fotography
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Well, this one is not so easy to comment on. I should admit that I bought this lens because the many positive reviews on this forum made me curious. I love to shoot at available light and I also like to shoot with very narrow depth of field, so this lens should be pefectly suitable for my purposes. I bought this lens in mint condition on eBay. I also want to state that I buy a lens for using it to capture images. I'm not the guy who shoots resolution charts or color checkers, though I'm glad other people do so :-)
When I unpacked the little fellow I was quite surprised how weighty it was. They really stuffed this one with glass. I never had a lens this fast, so I was struck by the size of the rear lens. The build quality is very solid for the price, too.
The focussing behavior is very good. The lens focusses quickly and accurately (well, when you shoot with a 10d, the reason for missed focus points is rarely the lens)
Now for the dark side of this pal. If you go for portraits, nature, graffiti and the like, this lens will suit you fine. If you're after chrome-polished Harleys, jewelery or other highly reflective items, save your money. This lens was put to the market twelve years ago, it is certainly not built for digital photography. If you shoot wide open, you can get moderate to severe purple fringing and other bad surprises. The bokeh is really nice, but if you have highly contrasted elements in the background, they won't get blurred evenly, but might get some greenish halo. I don't know if this can be improved by stopping the lens down, I'll check that out. Anyway, I want to use the lense wide open, so I'll have to avoid extreme highlights.
All in all this is a great value for money lens but it has its weak points. Sharpness and color rendition are excellent, it's surely a bargain; but it's not an 'L'
Keep it up, Bernhard Peball
*update*
After two weeks of walking around with this lens, I have to give it a 5/5. The lens still has it's weak points, but I am simply stunned by the look of all the images I got with it.
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Nov 27, 2004
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traveler
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Registered: Jan 8, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 3234
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Review Date: Nov 8, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $329.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Super Fast Autofocus
Nice Build
Great Background Blur (Bokeh)
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Cons:
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Hood is extra cost
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After all I had read about this lens for portrait work I just had to try one. I've found it to provide extraordinary bokeh and is lightning fast to autofocus when asked. I like the build as it's not cheap and doesn't feel plasticky like say the 50mm 1.4 does. I've not witnessed any of the bad habits (CA wide open) that I saw reported by a few. The color and contrast out of this lens often needs none or next to no post processing. That is a real treat for me. When I shoot with it wide open I can get a shot that for many clients has been preferred due to it NOT being TOO overly sharp and enhance any facial defects they might have. It's become my "go to" lens for portraits thats for sure.
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Nov 8, 2004
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choochoo
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Registered: May 11, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 483
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Review Date: Oct 28, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $269.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, well built, silent and fast AF, smooth bokeh, good price (bargain compared to "L" lenses
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Cons:
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not as contrasty as "L" lenses, CA seen on my 10D when shot wider than f4 in highlights, never saw any CA on film though.
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Excellent lens that can give you "professional" results for a "non-professional" price. The bokeh on this lens is smooth. Sharp wide open. The AF is fast and silent, you should never miss a shot. Excellent lens for portraits, product, and nature shots.
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Oct 28, 2004
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mjmetts
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Registered: Dec 3, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 1514
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Review Date: Oct 25, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $380.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great sharpness, bokeh, and build. I think this would have been an "L" but canon decided to make their shorter "L" primes freak lenses like the 85 1.2 and the 50 1.0.
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Cons:
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Closer focusing would be nice but for the portraits and street photography that I do it is great.
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I love this lens. It always delivers for me. Here is a shot at f/3.2, ISO 400.
http://www.mjmetts.com/uploaded/garage.jpg
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Oct 25, 2004
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jtmcz777
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Registered: Sep 25, 2004
Location: N/A
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Sep 25, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $420.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Beautiful background blur, f/1.8, sturdy build, metal mount, FT-M, fast and silent focusing, excellent for portraits, good price for its great quality
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Cons:
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None. I would want it to have a closer focusing distance though, but it is not a problem.
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Sep 25, 2004
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bsoten
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Registered: Jan 8, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 592
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Review Date: Sep 8, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $324.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Speed vs price ( 1.8 - $324). Good solid construction and feel. Metal mount. Size. An excellent church lense for the money, which is exactly why I bought it.
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Cons:
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None to speak of.
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What can I say, it's sharp for the conditions I need it (wedding and portraiture) on my 1DM2 and even my 10D.
It's built very well, and had a metal mount.
For low light situations, I can't beat it for the money.
If you get this lense, you won't be disappointed.
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Sep 8, 2004
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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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462676
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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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