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  Reviews by: JHV_Digital  
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Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

ef300mmf_4_1_
Review Date: Dec 2, 2008 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $850.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Razor sharp even wide open (I'd hope so for this price). Not too bulky. Fairly fast focus.
Cons:
Noisy IS/AF

I waitied an interminable time for this lens to arrive and when it finally did, it was pouring rain outside. My initial shots were indoors which is hardly a fair place to test a lens like this. Regardless, the results were fantastic. Super sharp as it should be and very good IS.

My only complaint is that the IS/AF is noisy. Not mildly annoying, Noisy like elves are moving heavy furniture inside the lens. I thought that I might have a problem with the lens but when I compared it to another copy at my dealer, it made the same noises as well. I'm going to wait for the Canon rep to come to the store and see what he thinks, but int the meantime, I'm very happy with this purchase.

I would easily recommend this to anyone who wants a super sharp medium telephoto.

 
Sigma 28-300 f3.5-6.3 Macro

28_300_macro
Review Date: Nov 21, 2008 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $210.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Inexpensive and fairly well made. Colors are accurate (at least in the copy that I own) and lens is sharp end to end if you shoot at F/8. To give a negative because it's not an "L" lens is the height of snobbery. It's a well made lens that will deliver quite good results if used by someone who knows how. Nice all around lens.
Cons:
There aren't any negatives that you can seriously consider when discussing a lens that you can buy for $200.00 or less. It's the old story, "You KNEW I was a Snake when you took me in"

I found a nice clean copy of this on Ebay and ponied up the $200 and a little. I was very please when it arrived as it was clean and obviously well cared for. I checked out hte AF and it was spot on. Colors were vibrant and it was sharp when stopped down to F/8 nearly from end to end. At 300mm, it really needs to be on a tripod with a remote release to get the sharpness that it can deliver. Handheld at that range is a coin toss. If you have excellent skills in handholding long lenses, then you can get acceptable results. On a 50D the results can easily make very nice 8x10. Bashing this lens because it's not an "L" is just silly. It is a very nicely made quite affordable general purpose lens that can deliver surprising results.