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Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM
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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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Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
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Review Date: Dec 6, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent auto focus & IS-implementation- no other lens comes close (tried all Canon's and most of Nikon's macros), light - I salute this lens being manufactured by high quality plastics instead of metal, sharp
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Cons:
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Price - but I'd still say its good value for (a lot of) money
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Owned and or used all Canon's macro lenses as well as a few third party alternatives. My former favourite used to be a combination of Canon EF 100/2.8 USM Macro and Sigma EX 150/2.8 Macro - but I replaced them both with this lens.
I've never had so many keepers as with this lens, it's auto focus and image stabilization are truly excellent. Really happy I decided to get this lens - its a really good multi-purpose lens (available light general tele, portrait, macro etc).
Buy this lens!
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Sigma 400mm f5.6 APO Tele Macro HSM
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Review Date: Aug 30, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Cheap used prices, fast and accurate AF with HSM, sharp wide open (which is essential since my copy can only be used at f/5.6 on my Canon EOS 5D), black colour, sturdy metal build, built-in lens hood, comes with tripod collar and last but certainly not least can focus close enough to allow 1:3 magnification.
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Cons:
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Most copies (I believe, even of the last iteration) can only be used at all f-stops on analog Canon SLRs and older dSLRs (as mentioned by a previous reviewer). Its not a showstopper as this is a lens I'd use 90% of the time wide open anyway, but naturally its still nice to have the option.
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Well, most of my review is already up in the pros and cons. I owned a Canon EF 400/5.6L prior to this lens and they are definately on par.
• They are equally sharp wide open.
• The Canon autofocus slightly faster.
• The Sigma has a significant advantage in how close it may focus – 1:3 magnification is really useful. With the Canon you’d have to add a 500D closeup filter and/or extension tubes to get anywhere near that magnification.
All in all, its great value if you can live with the f/5.6 only aperture on Canon dSLRS (or you might get lucky and get one with the latest firmware, but I believe those are rare). Sigma does not re-chip/update these lenses anymore, unfortunately.
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