Someone I know has one of these and wants to sell it to me. I am in the market for an "L" zoom lens. Does anyone have any experience with this lens? It is an "L" lens, but it must be older because they are not sold anymore. Is this as good as the 70-200 f4L? Any advice on this would be appreciated.
What is it for? Likly very sharp and slow to focus. I think it is of the same vintage as the 100-300L, which has the reputation as sharp and slow AF. It is also pretty rare, not sure if that makes it worth a little more or not.
So, if shooting sports, I'd look for something else, but for general purpose, could be a good deal, if not too much. Also I believe this is a push/pull design.
This is Klaus Schroiff's from Photozone's comment on this lens :
The old dinosaur 50-200/3.5-4.5L is a quite different species compared to the others: it is a push-pull design made with an outer plastic barrel and it has a rotating front element - naturally no USM here as well. Nonetheless even this one qualifies as an L class lens with superior optical quality.
I just want to use it for general purposes. I don't really shoot sports much and if I do it would be strickly shooting my kids. so I'm not trying to make living on speed necessarily.
I guess what it comes down to is I could get the 70-200L for about $125 more. I can't decide if it is worth the extra or not.
B. Landis wrote:
Someone I know has one of these and wants to sell it to me. I am in the market for an "L" zoom lens. Does anyone have any experience with this lens? It is an "L" lens, but it must be older because they are not sold anymore. Is this as good as the 70-200 f4L? Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian
It is a really old lens - one of the first few L's for Canon EF mounts. It is a good (decent lens). However, the 70-200mm F4L is superior. I owned the 50-200L briefly and sold it because I did not like it over the 70-200L.
AF is slow, as is to be expected without USM. However, it boils down to how much are you paying for it. It used to be listed on eBay for around $300-$350 for mint condition samples. If you can get one in excellent condition for $275, it's a good deal. Any more than that and you'd be paying too much. These did have a rubber ring in the front which a lot of owners would loose over time. Make sure the seller has this on the lens as well. The hood for the lens, if not included, is probably hard to find (unless another L uses the same hood - which I doubt).
The positives: It is an "L" zoom and image quality is slightly better than the usual garden variety "non-L" zooms. The colors are good - holds reds quite well actually. It is more compact and lighter than the 70-200mm f4L - by a small margin.
The negatives: Push-pull can take some time to get used to. Slower AF. No longer repaired by canon
Thanks for all of the advice. I have decided not to get it. I think I will either go with the 70-200 f4 L or maybe try to find a 135 2.0 L. I have been reading some reviews and people seem to like the 135 for candid people shots and stuff like that. That is really the bulk of what I shoot. My kids and family in action.
