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Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
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Review Date: Jan 26, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $988.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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compact, light, solid built, smooth/fast focus
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Cons:
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None, unless the lens is being used for some other application that it wasn't designed for.
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I have had this lens since Christmas and wanted to wait a bit before I posted an update. Since there were lots of remarks about this lens not being sharp at 105/f4, did cause some concerns.
I had already looked at the MTF charts provided by PhotoZone (http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html), so I knew that at 105 it was not at it's sharpest, however according to the charts even at 104/f4 it is still very good from center to border.
Now that I have had the lens for a while I am *very* happy with it. Without any technical test, just looking at images at 100% I find the images to be very sharp, with good detail. I have no regrets in this purchase, and it satisfies my photographic needs.
Here is one sample taken at 105/f4 hand held, with IS turned on; 1/200; iso 100; canon 20d
http://picasaweb.google.com/robtjimenez/JustAnotherDay/photo#5024010676424140434
The rest of the album (Old Town) was also taken with the 204-105/f4 L
Robert
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Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM
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Review Date: Nov 8, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $560.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, great in low-light, smooth, auto-focus is fast even in darkness
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Cons:
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I wish it had the physical built like an "L" lens
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I love this lens! I did not think that the IS would make a hugh difference with this lens, but it does. I was hesitant to purchase this lens because it only works with 20D or Digital Rebel, but I have no regrets.
This lens is sharp, with wonderful colors. It is smooth, autofocus is very fast. For hand holding photography this is a hard lens to beat.
I shoot weddings, and I shot with a 24-70/2.8 L lens, no question that this lens is sharp, and the build quality is much better, but hand holding at lower shutters speeds with flash the 17-85 outperforms that lens at shutter spends of 1/15. The lowest I was able to go hand holding on the 24-70 was about 1/30 and the images were softer than the 17-85.
Anyhow, highly recommend this lens for the price. Which makes me wonder if I should get the 24-105/f4-L IS. I mean if I get this kind of results with the 17-85, then the 24-105 must be really sharp and super steady with the IS.
I am the process of evaluating a zoom lens 70-200 range. Right now for my budget the options are the L 70-200/f4 or the 70-300/4-5.6 IS. After using the IS on my lens, and reading the reviews for the 70-300 I am very close to buying this lens.
If I need the 70-200/2.8L IS I'll just rent for those special shoots.
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