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jabog6
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Registered: Oct 11, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 296
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Review Date: Mar 21, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $230.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Size, weight, flare resistance, sharpness and contrast.
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Cons:
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Loud-ish AF, cheap feeling focus ring.
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I really like the feel and the perspective of this lens with a 20D. I often prefer this as a walk-around lens instead of the kit lens. It has similar sharpness, but much better contrast and flare resistance.
I also appreciate the light weight and discrete size.
All in all, a very nice little lens, capable of producing good images, and a pleasure to walk around with.
The only significant negative is the cheap-feeling focus ring. I wish it was smoother.
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 Mar 21, 2005
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Kirk77
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Registered: Dec 5, 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Feb 17, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $200.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp and Cheap. Small in Physical size.
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Cons:
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none...you get what you pay for.
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Top buy....
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Feb 17, 2005
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Peter Kirk
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Registered: Sep 25, 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 312
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Review Date: Feb 17, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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sharp, its light, and compact, not too expensive.
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Cons:
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No USM., no hood supplied...its an optional extra.
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Slightly lowered contrast at 2.8
not as sharp as I expected
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Feb 17, 2005
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mateo_
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Registered: Jan 27, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 688
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Review Date: Jan 16, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $275.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Image quality, size, build, price
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Cons:
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Non-USM AF, little bit soft wide open
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I really like this lens. It is quite sharp with excellent color, and while you get a significant boost at f/4, wide open is no slouch either. It is well built, with a metal barrel and lens mount and a securely fitting, well designed lens hood, and is very inconspicuous. The only drawback is the non-USM AF, but it's nowhere near as noticeable as it is on something like the 50mm f/1.8 II. If this lens had USM, it would be near perfect.
I would recommend this lens + a 50mm over a single 2x-70 lens any day. That two small prime kit will teach you loads more photography while matching, perhaps maybe exceeding, that mythical "L" optical quality.
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Jan 16, 2005
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tech058
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Registered: Dec 24, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 28
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Review Date: Jan 5, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $200.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Small, lightweight, price, good focal length for DSLR 1.3x or 1.6x, 25cm min focus. Non-rotating front allows for perfect hood.
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Cons:
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A little soft at f/2.8 (not bad though).
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I owned this lens for awhile until I traded it for something worse, now I miss it and plan to get another.
I used this lens quite a bit while I had it. Its a decent walk around lens on a DSLR w/1.6x crop. It comes out a little wider than "normal" but has a minimum focus of 25cm so the reproduction size on the image sensor comes out to about 1/8. Its not a macro lens, but as I said for a walk around lens it does a good job if you want to get up-close on something.
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Jan 5, 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? no |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 2
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Pros:
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Small, light, reasonable AF speed and accuracy, reasonable distortion, very small vignetting.
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Cons:
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Lack of sharpness, visible CA.
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I may have a lemon, but I'm really disappointed with this lens.
I already have a Sima 15-30 and a Tamron 24-135, but I needed a faster lens for concert shooting (I already have a 85/1.8 for tight shots).
I figured this Canon should fit the bill, expecially after having worked with the beautiful 85/1.8.
I was very wrong. This lens gives me worse pictures than my Tamron 24-135 at 24mm at the same aperture. We're talking about a Canon prime vs. a 3rd-party 5.5x zoom!
The edges (1.6 crop here: 10D) are expecially bad.
Focus speed and accuracy is OK, and manual focusing is doable, even if the ring isn't exactly buttery smooth (too short a throw, BTW).
Not quite useful to buy a full-frame prime if you get soft (and fringed) edges up to f/8 on a 1.6 crop DSLR...!
On the plus side, it's small, light, reasonably built, barely visible distortion on 1.6 crop.
I'll ask Canon service to check it... I can't believe it's really meant to perform this way.
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Jan 3, 2005
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phiggys
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Registered: Apr 7, 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 25
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Review Date: Dec 9, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $299.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast, sharp, compact producing razor sharp images great wide angle for group shots,landscapes or general photography.
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Cons:
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58mm filter thread most of the others 28mm,35mm 50mm 135mm take 52mm filters
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Great all round lens I now have just 3 Canon primes this one and the 50mm and 135mm these 3 primes cover 95% of what I need great for available and low light.
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Dec 9, 2004
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Armin
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Registered: Jan 5, 2004
Location: Germany
Posts: 37
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Review Date: Feb 28, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp (crop 1.6), good colors, solid metal barrel....best buy.
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Cons:
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little CA, no USM
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On a 10D, this lense becomes a 38 mm equivalent - a very useful lenght. Good colors, relative sharp and solid - same filter diameter as the 50 1.4 with better overall built quality (metal). No USM, but fast focusing with acceptable noise (in most situations).
Even on a 10D slightly CA, not disturbing and barely visible in prints, but noticeable when inspecting the pix with photoshop.
Second hand lenses are often in a very good condition, and availible around 150-200$, thats what I call a best buy.
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Feb 28, 2004
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vince
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Registered: Mar 18, 2002
Location: China
Posts: 306
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Review Date: Feb 2, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $250.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp, decent build, small, light and compact.
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Cons:
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None.
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This was the first real wide angle lens I bought for my EOS system. Some of the most interesting shots I have were taken using this lens. Its sharpness, contrast and color saturation are excellent. It's nice to have a distance scale and a solid metal lens mount unlike the pathetic 50/1.8-II. This lens needs a hood - I noticed a little flare in some pictures I shot with hotspots in it. The images I've shot using this lens are distortion free. AF is very fast. This is an excellent lens.
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Feb 2, 2004
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Thomas V
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Registered: Jan 27, 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Jan 27, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $195.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Very sharp at f/4.0-f/8. Little distortion for a WA lens. Internal focusing - fixed front element. Good sealing. Lightweight.
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Cons:
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Image slightly soft + colours not as bright, when shot wide open. Manual focus ring feels a bit flimsy.
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I like this lens. Overall image is very sharp, especially at f/4.0-f/8.0. Colour and contrast is also good at this aperture range.
Wide open, image quality degrades slightly, but is not a major concern as I prefer to shoot with a bigger DOF for WA photos, meaning the lens will be stopped down for most shots.
One thing I particulary like about this lens is that distortion is well controlled. On full-frame shots (without digital crop factor), you get very good-looking perspective shots with very little curvature on the edges. On DSLR with 1.6x crop factor, distortion on edges is further minimised - not only that, the focal length converts to a comfortable 38.4mm which I think is perfect to use as a standard lens.
Overall build quality is fairly good. It has good sealing on the front to minimise any possibilities of dust getting inside - as well as being small and light for walk-around or travel photography. The only downside is the manual focus ring which is a bit flimsy for my liking. Overall, an excellent performer for its price. Paid 38,000 Yen for this lens brand new from a photographic retailer in Japan (roughly £195 GBP) - a very good Quality/Price ratio IMO. Am very satisfied with the results from this purchase.
(lens used with EOS 500 and D60)
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Jan 27, 2004
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trsqr
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Registered: Dec 24, 2002
Location: Finland
Posts: 38
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Review Date: Jan 9, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $279.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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sharp, small, inexpensive, 58mm filter size
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Cons:
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loud AF motor
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There really isn't much negative to say about this lens. The design is rather old, ie. there's that small MF ring, AFD motor and no full time manual focusing possibility.
On the other hand, optically it performs very well even wide open and even better when stopped down. AF is noisy, but rather fast.
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Jan 9, 2004
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Gochugogi
Online
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Registered: Jun 25, 2003
Location: Holy See
Posts: 12511
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Review Date: Jul 11, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, small, light & inexpensive
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Cons:
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More DOF markings needed
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My widest prime is the EF 24 2.8. There are a lot of things to like about this lens: small (48.5 mm L), light (270 g), close focusing (25 cm), well corrected for distortion, extremely sharp (Photodo 3.9 MTF), contrasty and very flare resistant. Because it employs a rear focusing group, the front element does not rotate nor does the lens change in length when focusing. This lens would complement a travel kit nicely with its 58 mm filter size and diminutive statue.
Although it uses the Arc Form Drive (AFD), the EF 24 2.8 focuses fast due to its internal focus (IF) design. AFD designs aren't totally silent like USM, but are quieter than the AF motors of most other lens makers. However, this lens and the EF 135 2.8 SF are unusually quiet during AF. Unfortunately, AFD designs lack the FT-M feature of ring-type USM lenses. I don't miss FT-M much on wide angle zooms (telephotos are another story). The EF 24 2.8 uses the EW-60 lens hood, a twist-on cutout design. The manual focusing ring is smooth turning, but not as fine and silky as the manual lenses of yesteryear.
The 24 mm is the widest lens I am able to easily take pictures with full frame formats (wider lenses take in too much). If you like an exaggerated, ultra-close foreground object set against a sharp but distance background, this lens can do it. For maximum depth of focus, switch off AF, dial in F11 to 22, set the hyperfocal distance on the distance window and everything from 2 feet to infinity will be in focus (the distance window has DOF markings for only F11 and 22). If candid street photography is your bag, wade in a crowd and start shooting with AF off and the lens set for maximum hyperfocal distance. With 84 degrees of coverage, you can shoot off-center subjects and they won't realize you took their picture because the camera isn't pointed at them. This is also a great architectural lens due to its virtually distortion free design. All this quality will cost you about $300.
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Jul 11, 2003
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Ralph Wagner
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Registered: Feb 10, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 539
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Review Date: May 24, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $240.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Compact, fast, sharp. Not an "L" but neither is the pricel
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Cons:
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None for what you pay for it.
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My first 24mm/2.8 was absconded by a nephew who took it to the middle east - I know I won't get back. My second one I just sold. Didn't want to but in next 2 years I have trips planned that I have to travel as light as possible and conserve room. So I sold most of my primes except the 28mm/2.8, I have plans for that one, and going with a couple of F/4 L zooms and a macro. - RW
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May 24, 2003
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EB-1
Online
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Registered: Jan 8, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 37098
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Review Date: May 24, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $289.00
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Very good center sharpness even wide open. Good distortion and light falloff properties. Lightweight.
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Cons:
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Chromatic aberration noticeable on 1Ds. Edges noticeably softer than center. Very noisy AF (non-USM).
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I liked this lens a lot with film, but the imperfections are more obvious on the 1Ds. Still, it is a very good lens.
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May 24, 2003
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hugoso
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Registered: Jul 18, 2002
Location: China
Posts: 291
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Review Date: May 22, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $200.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp and contrasty optics in compact size.
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Cons:
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no FTM.
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Best price/performance next to the 50/1.8II. Makes a good standard lens on the 1.6X cropped D60/10D.
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May 22, 2003
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Richard N
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Registered: Apr 3, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 146
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Review Date: May 22, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $360.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Great optically, AF speed is fine for a non-USM lens, standard filter size (58mm).
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Cons:
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No USM, good construction, but no L standards.
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Nothing much to add. I believe that this is a best introduction to wide-angle primes and has been in my bag for almost 6 years.
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May 22, 2003
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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69
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292301
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Jun 29, 2018
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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93% of reviewers
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$268.64
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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7.68
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9.02
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8.6
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