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tertip
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Registered: Aug 4, 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 23, 2017
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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quality top
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Cons:
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black
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 Aug 23, 2017
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louisvillewedd
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Registered: Jan 11, 2017
Location: United States
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Jan 16, 2017
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Large aperture, gorgeous photos, sharp
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Cons:
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Heavy, not the best AF, front element moves when focusing
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The pictures this lens creates are amazing, especially when stopped down to f/1.2.
It is one of my go to lenses for portraits. The photos it creates have a definite pop.
My main experience with it professionally is with wedding photography. I don't know how it is everywhere, but in Louisville venues, a lot of time light is not always the best. This lens can have issues focusing in low light. It will track forward, then back, and then forward, and pretty slowly at that.
So, it's not great for action photography, but for posed portraits, it's a huge thumbs up!
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Jan 16, 2017
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peterstrong
Offline
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Registered: Dec 21, 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Dec 21, 2016
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Its being used on a 5D II and really happy I re-aquired a 85L. The only difference is notice in actual use is a minor difference in autofocus speed and maybe a very slight autofocus accuracy advantage for the Mark II.
I'm extremely happy with the pictures I get with the Mark I and see no reason whatsoever to ever upgrade to Mark II.
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Dec 21, 2016
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tcphoto
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Registered: Mar 29, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1536
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Review Date: Jun 14, 2015
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,248.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Beautiful images, build quality
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Cons:
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Heavy, marginal focus ring, slow AF
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I have always heard of the wonderful images this lens could produce, so after many years I finally bought one. The first thing you notice is the sheer weight of it and the glass. You simply need to realize that in order to utilize it's qualities, you've got to simply focus manually. My lens is a little loose at focusing closer subjects compared to my 35L, 50L and 200/2.8 but it doesn't diminish the images it produces.
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Jun 14, 2015
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Soulphoto2014
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Registered: Sep 3, 2014
Location: N/A
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2014
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,350.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Unique f1.2 aperture, dreamy bokeh, Canon's landmark portrait lens for models, weddings,...
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Cons:
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Pricey, Slow AF, heavy
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It's the second time I bought this lens.
First I thought the 85 1.8 was as good, but this is more a sportslens with the faster AF.
Finally I discovered the better colours, contrast, microcontrast.
The f1.2 is a light-sucker and dreamy bokehlicious lens 
Won't re-sell it anymore.
People say the Sigma 85 1.4 is as good as the 85LII (fast AF)
But as focussing problems appear now and then I don't thrust the Sigma. Only if it was the 85 1.4 Art but doesn't exist yet
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Sep 3, 2014
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michaeldejesus
Offline
[ X ]
Registered: Jan 29, 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 25
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Review Date: Feb 7, 2014
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,400.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Wide open it can be downright amazing. Stopped down a few stops it's truly outstanding.
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Cons:
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Heavier than lead! Slower than a dinosaur.
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Back in the day this lens was a must have hunk of glass, especially for portraits. Now looking back at it I'm amazed I can still hold up my arms. Lots of keepers, especially stopped down, and every once in a while an amazing keeper wide open at 1.2!
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Feb 7, 2014
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andrel23
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Registered: Mar 3, 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 3, 2013
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Amazing Bokeh, sharpness quality from wide open, L quality built.
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Cons:
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Color fringing (wich can easily fixed in Lightroom,) a bit from the weight but the quality of this lens balances off easily the negative points. Flimsy hood.
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I have just bought this lens used.
Long time Canon user, I can say that I am really astounded with this lens so far. Many reviewers said that this lens is veeery slow for focussing. I think not that much, I am quite surprised. If compared with the fasted auto focus speed from the fastest lens, yes it is. If you come from a distant subject to a very close one, it could take some time but it is not that slow for still objects. However, for a moving at different angle or speed, tracking must be a difficult task for this lens. There is a lot to move in there.
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Mar 3, 2013
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dweter
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Registered: Jan 14, 2012
Location: Italy
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Apr 18, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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bokeh, bokeh, bokeh ! colors, handling
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Cons:
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slow AF performance
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Apr 18, 2012
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nswelton
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Registered: Jan 16, 2006
Location: N/A
Posts: 282
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Review Date: Apr 11, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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beautiful images
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Cons:
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heavy, slow to focus, prone to flare
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i sold this bad boy to move up to the mark II. it was unusably slow to focus while tracking people walking (think: bride walking down aisle). also flared a fair bit if an errant strobe or the sun was in the frame (at least, flared more than the Mk II version). significantly less contrast than the Mark II. i like it -- great lens especially for the price -- but the new one is really worth the extra bucks.
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Apr 11, 2012
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LPrimeFreak
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Registered: Jul 29, 2010
Location: Belgium
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 29, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Amazing f1.2 bokeh, super lowlight, built like a tank, the portret lens for weddings and people for fullframe!
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Cons:
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Very slow AF, heavy, expensive
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THE lens for portraits & weddings, next to the price is the slow AF the biggest problem for moving subjects.
It's slow if you have to take pictures of moving subjects like overactive kids If you have an model that can pose for you it's no problem offcourse.
I bought version I for $1050, the MKII would not be so much faster. It's a lot of glass that your camera has to move which results in the slow AF.
At first sight the diameter of the lens is very big, probably to let more light in for the f1.2 bokeh.
WCastleman compared this lens with the cheaper f1.8 version with fast AF, but you can't see the bokeh and image quality differences so good on the pictures with the dolls.
With the f1.2 you can do amazing things that no other lens can do, dreamy portret/wedding pictures.
It's sharp overal, so you don't have to worry.
As some people say, you have to learn to work with this lens.
I use it together with the 135 2L, the fastest AF in a Canon lens ever, but cannot chose between one of the two, they are complementary. The 135L is more for candid pics+sports.
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Jul 29, 2010
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Grandin
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Registered: Mar 12, 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 51
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Review Date: Apr 9, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $700.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp from f/1.2, fantastic bokeh, fantastic DOF field control, excellent build quality, handles well (I love the rubbery grip with identations) can be found at a bargain price used now that the success has been on the market for some time.
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Cons:
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Slow autofocus, heavy.
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Initially bought the 85 L II and later sold it as I did not use it enough to justify the immense cost. Missed it ever since. Recently stumbled upon a used 85 L I and bought this in good shape at a great (as in low) price.
Its being used on a 5D II and really happy I re-aquired a 85L. The only difference is notice in actual use is a minor difference in autofocus speed and maybe a very slight autofocus accuracy advantage for the Mark II.
I'm extremely happy with the pictures I get with the Mark I and see no reason whatsoever to ever upgrade to Mark II.
I've owned a bunch of fast short teles such as the mentioned Canon 85L:s, 85/1.8, 100/2, 135/2 & Samyang 85/1.4. To me, either version of 85L are in a league of their own!
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Apr 9, 2010
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haringo
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Registered: Oct 7, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 12
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Review Date: Oct 7, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Everything...except price and weight
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Cons:
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NONE, ok...big and bulky
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As you see in my previous posts I am totally in love with this lens!
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Oct 7, 2009
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haringo
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Registered: Oct 7, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 12
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Review Date: Oct 7, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
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Pros:
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Sharp, bokeh is silky smooth, solid build
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Cons:
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Slow AF, Price, Man this is heavy! :)
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I have been using this lens for a while. I am going to put on ebay because I have thei II. But I am not sure it was a good decision to buy it because the AF is still slow. The old one was equally good.
Having said that, probable this is the best lens I have owned. OK, the Canon 135mm 2L is equally good. There is nothing about the image quality I could complain about. I can take pictures of people in almost complete dark. The colors are crazy!!!!
Look at the bride dancing with the groom in the wedding portfolio: http://www.haringphotography.com/
You can only see her face and his face. I took it on a 40D in almost complete dark. Not kidding. You can see that every aspect of the image is crazy sharp. As you see this lens is PERFECT even in low light conditions.
The good thing that you can put it on a 1.6 frame body as well without any image quality loss.
It is slightly better than the previous version: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM. The AF is slow compared to other prime lenses (Canon 85mm 1.8)
I know it is crazy expensive. You can buy it second hand but it is still crazy expensive, I know. Buy it cry for 5 minutes and don't tell your wife the price. She will love the pictures at the end!!!
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Oct 7, 2009
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sinbad747
Offline
Image Upload: On
Registered: Sep 4, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 680
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Review Date: Sep 14, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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-color
-bokeh
-sharpness
-excellent build
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Cons:
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-slow focus
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I really was looking for a MKII version of this lens and this one became available. The colors, the sharpness, the bokeh are excellent. I shoot with the 5D MkII and this lens really shines. I haven't tried a MKII version but I quite happy with the old version.
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Sep 14, 2009
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Haring
Offline
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Registered: Sep 11, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Sep 11, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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everything except focus
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Cons:
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focus is slow
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Great lens! Good image quality and nice blurrrrr….:) It is hard to focus with it. It is good if your subject doesn’t move. I have a it on a Canon 5D and sometimes pictures are totally out of focus. My Canon 28-70 or 17-40 never had this kind of problem...
I mainly use it for wedding photography.
If you want to see samples: www.haringphotography.com
Look for the engagement session. Look at the blurr in the background where there is a couple at the ocean. Look at the colors!!!!
It's great for portraits, but if their is any movement in the subject the shot will be out of focus 9 out of 10 times.
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Sep 11, 2009
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UsaFromAbove
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Registered: Aug 11, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 21, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great Blur
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Cons:
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Focusing issues
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I would add that the lens has some back-front focusing issues. I have a it on a Canon 5D and sometimes pictures are totally out of focus. My Canon 28-70 or 17-40 never had this kind of problem...Any suggestion? I have a few examles at www.usafromabove.com Furthermore, it is a heavy lens!!! :):)
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Aug 21, 2009
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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130
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269414
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Aug 23, 2017
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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95% of reviewers
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$1,379.02
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.70
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8.50
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9.5
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