Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X 235 AF PRO
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Review Date: Jul 18, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Build quality.
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Cons:
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not as fast focusing as Canon. A little noisy
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Fantastic lens if you get one used. Great build quality like all Tokina lenses. Could use an upgrade on the motor, but then again it is a WA zoom. Not really going to be tracking birds and such with it.
Color and contrast are good with no noticeable flaring or CA.
Once again a fantastic lens if you buy it used. Tokina lenses loose too much value when bought new. But I find them a great bang for my buck when bought off of the used market.
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Canon EF 35mm f/2
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Review Date: Jun 29, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $220.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Price and the size.
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Cons:
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noisy motor is my real only complaint.
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Great lens for walking around with. Color, contrast and sharpness are very nice for the price of the lens. I am amazed at times on the sharpness wide open, while NOT razor sharp it still has more then enough to work with. Stopped down a notch or two and the lens really shines. My lens has very little CA wide open.
This lens with a USM motor and CMF would be very nice. For the price a great buy!
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Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
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Review Date: Apr 13, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $600.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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"L" build quality, f/4 aperture, close focusing. Good AF.
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Cons:
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Flare prone, you might have to try a couple to get a good one. IMHO the optics are so-so. Build quality is "L" but the optics seem to be lacking.
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I was lucky and it only took swapping the lens out once to get a "decent" performer. My first lens was just horrible on all my camera's. (300D, 2X-10D's, 1D, 1DMKII, 1VHS and Elan 7NE).
My second lens is so-so on the 1.3X sensors and pretty decent on the 1.6X sensors.
Is the lens worth $650.00 ??? Not in my opinion. $500.00 - 550.00 would be fair. I still feel it is one of the most "over hyped" Canon lenses out there.
My other WA zooms Tokina 20-35 f/2.8 ATX - PRO and Sigma 15-30 EX ASP DG constantly provide as good if not better photo's and can be bought "LNIB used" for roughly half of the price of this lens.
Would recommend this lens??? Yes, but only to Canon L snob's wanna-be's.
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Tokina 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 AT-X 840 AF-II
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Review Date: Apr 12, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Size / weight, sharpness color and contrast. The Price can not be beat either, especially if you buy used. (I have found no CA with my copy) Built like a tank!
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Cons:
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A little slow focusing. but for the price who cares.
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I bought this lens as a walk around nature lens for my 10D with no grip. It is a perfect combo. I find the lens very nice wide open and outstanding stopped down a few notches.
The lens is very nice sized, but yet a little heavy due to its excellent construction. The weight is nothing you would get tired of working with for any length of time.
As usual the Hoya optics are fantastic, I find no CA on my copy and the color / contrast to me are on par with canon L photo's.
If buying try finding on used, being that it is a 3rd party lens the used prices are spot on for what you should pay.
Also get the newest ATX-X II (pro)
In my opinion, the only thing the lens could use (as with any Tokina lens) is a faster AF motor. Even with that said, I am still able to track my dog with the lens with no problems.
I would not hesitate to recommend this lens to anyone looking for a great priced zoom of this range.
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Sigma 24mm f1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro
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Review Date: Jan 16, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $289.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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I love this lens, I think I might of gotten the sharpest unit Sigma produced. Great build quality.
Very close focusing.
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Cons:
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none
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I use this lens a lot. It is great for landscape, portraits and closeup work. A little soft wide open, but stop it down a notch or two and WOW.
A definite keeper.
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Sigma 14mm f2.8 EX Aspherical
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Review Date: Jan 16, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very well built, great photo's.
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Cons:
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none
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Even though I do not use mine a lot, when I do need the extreme wide angle this lens comes out. Very nice photo's. Watch out for your feet in the photo's 
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Sigma 300mm f/4 APO Tele Macro HSM
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Review Date: Jan 16, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Size, price and focusing distance. Very fast focusing.
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Cons:
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You might have to have it re-chipped, so buy at a decent price. (not that re-chipping cost anything)
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Is it equal to the Canon 300 f/4??? No, but it is VERY close. It is easily half the price of the Canon f/4.
Make sure you get the APO / HSM model.
After sending in my copy to get it re-chipped, I can tell you it will stay with me a longggggg time.
Very sharp lens that also makes a wonderful closeup lens.
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Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 with Softfocus
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Review Date: Jan 16, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $265.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpness, and the excellent "soft focus"
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Cons:
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none
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It has been a LONG time since I bought a lens in and said "WOW" when looking at the photo's. Well, this lens brings out that response.
I honestly think this lens is the sharpest I have wide open. Even when using the soft focus the photos have a certain crispness to them. (I know that sounds weird)
For the money this ranks right up with the 50mm f/1.4 & f/1.8, 200L f/2.8, 70-200L f/4 as underrated great buys from Canon.
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Sigma 80-400mm F4.5-5.6 EX OS APO
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Review Date: Dec 16, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Optics, OS and zoom range
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Cons:
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No HSM motor, heavy.
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Seems I rarely take this lens off of one of my 10D's. It is that good.
Very sharp photo's wide open, stunning at f/8. Excellent color and contrast. The extra 20mm on the short end has come in handy.
The lens could use Sigma's HSM motor, but even without it, it is still pretty fast. The Sigma OS system is every bit as good as Canon's IS.
The best thing I can state about this lens is the stunning photo's. The optics more then make up for the slightly slower motor.
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Tokina 20-35mm AT-X 235 AF PRO
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Review Date: Oct 20, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $619.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Size, range ,speed and the fast fixed aperture! Built very well.
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Cons:
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None
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This is becoming one of my favorite wide angle zoom lens.
Focuses way faster then what I though it would. Sharp with great color and contrast.
I highly recommend this lens.
spartan
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Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG HSM
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,500.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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EVERYTHING!!! This lens rocks!
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Cons:
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Weight, but it balances well on a monopod.
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The perfect sports / wildlife lens for me. Works great with 1.4 TC and the photo's are just tack sharp. I no longer have to worry about my son playing in his soccer matches and getting to close to me.
A lens WELL worth the money.
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Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Size, weight and fantastic low light photo's.
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Cons:
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none
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I used this lens this July 4th for fireworks. I used no flash, the photo's were just beautiful. I honestly could not believe the amount of photo's I got from this lens in low light.
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Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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VERY sharp and fun lens to use... once you get used to it.
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Cons:
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Tripod ring is really badly designed. Lens is too short to use it on a most camera's.
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The ultimate macro lens. Although it is a specialized lens you find yourself looking for ways to use it. Best to buy it used if you can find it, for it is a specialized lens.
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Canon EF 28mm f/2.8
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $150.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Small, very sharp. Price
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Cons:
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Loud focusing. No USM.
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Other than the noisy motor / slowness, this lens can not be faulted. It still is a great buy, for who uses a wide angle where anything will be "spooked" from the noise?
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Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $225.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Size, weight, color and sharpness.
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Cons:
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None
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Sharper wide open and less CA then the 85 f/1.8
Extremely good lens for general shooting. Love the photo's this lens produces. The size and weight are also a plus.
Yet another highly underrated Canon lens.
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Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8
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Review Date: Sep 3, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $900.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent build! Easy to use. Fantastic photo's
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Cons:
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No AF.
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I bought my lens from an FM member, he had it set up for parallel shooting. Absolutely love it.
Very sharp and a breeze to use. Fantastic photo's from the mid range TSE.
spartan
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