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Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC
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Review Date: Oct 10, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Very sharp and fast. Good price.
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Cons:
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Only for cropped sensors. Not quite enough range (at telephoto end)
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A good lens for cropped sensor. I bought it to replace the Canon 17-85mm which I had in turn bought to replace the 350D kit lens. Its half the price of the 17-85, and although it obviously hs a smaller range it is more than twice as fats at f2.8. In my opinion it is also a better, sharper lens.
Having just bought the 5D I cannot use it anymore, but then the same is true of my 17-85.
Here is a gallery of pics taken with this lens:
http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/sigma1850_f28
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Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX Macro 1:1 Lens
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Review Date: Oct 10, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Very sharp and fast. Can be used on both cropped and full frame. Excellent price.
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Cons:
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I am not a fan of Sigma lens hoods or focus bands.
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I am no macro expert, and rarely experiment with macro. So I bought this lens as it was well reviewed but not too expensive.
I have been very impressed with the quality and sharpness of this lenss, for both macro and portrait photography for which I use it just as much.
I have mainly used this on a 350D, but recently purchased a 5D and I find it works well on that too. I only use L lenses on my 5D, or the Canon 50mm f.1.4. But in terms of image quality and sharpness I find this lens is as goodas most oif them and good enough for my 5D. Considering its price it is therefore great value for money so far as I am concerend.
I have a gallery of ppics taken with this lens on both the 350D and 5D at:
http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/105
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Canon EOS Rebel XT (350D)
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Review Date: Oct 10, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Price, image quality, mobility
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Cons:
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Too tiny and light
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My first DSLR.
Bought only a few months back (March), but got me hooked on digital photography. I loved it so much I started buying lenses like there was no tomorrow. Gradually, though (or not gradually enough for my wallet) I yearned for a better camera, both in terms of build and quality. In the end I took the plunge, jumped the 30D and bought a 5D - but less than 6 months after buying this and various cropped sensor lenses that I now no longer will really use.
Having used and fell in love with my 5D it is difficult to take this camera as seriously as before. However, having compiled an equipment gallery of various photos taken with different cameras (http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/equipment), I recall that most of my best pictures so far are taken with this camera. For the price it is fantastic. The image quality is great and if you buy a battery holder it is much better for handling.
Here is my gallery dedicated to the 350D:
http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/canon_350d
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Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
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Review Date: Oct 9, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Razor sharp. Super fast. Perfect Images. Maybe the best zoom lens in the world.
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Cons:
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It will burn a hole in your pocket and give you back ache. But that's all the negatives
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Is this the best zoom lens in the world? I don't know, but I think it might be.
This lens is the "Daddy" of my collection. I always wanted it but could never afford it and never went to buy it. Then I made the mistake of looking through it on my 350D and it blew me away. I knew I had to have it. And once I did it was one of the reasons I thought I needed to buy a body fit for it, the 5D. So a very expensive purchase indeed, but a wonderful piece of glass.
As someone who likes fast lenses, I love this as it is a high quality telephoto zoom that is f2.8 all the way through and provides almost perfect results, and colour, at any setting. If you are not sure whether to make the plunge and buy this, just do it and save the money on those cheaper lenses that can never match this. A word of warning though: it is heavy. Not too much, but I find my back arches if I carry it around on my camera for more than 2 hours.
For a gallery of photos taken with this lens on my 350D and 5D see http://upload.pbase.com/edit_gallery/nickdemarco/canon_70200mm_f28_l_lens
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Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
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Review Date: Oct 9, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great range, pretty sharp, good build quality, not too heavy, reasonable price
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Cons:
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Slight distortion at 24mm
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I purchased this lens in August 2006 as a 'kit' lens with my new 5D.
I had wanted this lens anyway as it has a great range for an L lens and is not too expensive. For full frame it is an excellant walkabout lens. Although I found I often wanted to go a bit more wide and this lens can have some distortion at 24mm (so I bought the 17-35mm f2.8 L second hand), I particularly like the fact this lens goes to 105mm unlike some of the competitor L lenses. It means that for 'walkabout' you do not have to change your lenses quite as often as you otherwsie might. I am satisfied with this lens and would highly recommend anyone buying the 5D to get one as a kit lens as it is then very good value indeed.
To see a gallery of photos I have taken with this lens on my 5D, go to http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/canon_24105mm_f4_l_lens
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Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM
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Review Date: Oct 9, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Very wide on full frame. Light and sharp. Fast for wide angle
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Cons:
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None
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I bought this lens second hand in Paris in August 2006 for about £600 (I paid about £700 and got the Canon EOS 50e 35mm camera body as well).
I wanted a very wide angle lens for my full cropped 5D. I purchased the 24-105mm f4 L with the 5D and whilst this is a very good walkabout lens and is quite wide at 24mm, it is not wide enough for some situations. Also at 24mm you can notice quite a lot of distortion. Having purchased the 10-22mm Sigma for my 350D I wanted something that could go that wide. The 17-35 second hand was only marginally cheaper than buying the new 17-40 f4 L lens, but the fact that it was f2.8 all the way through - something I particularly like - swung it for me. I have read some critical reviews of this lens (as I have of all the Canon wideangle L lenses), but I am happy with it and think the distortion less than at 24 on the 24-105 L lens. The range is perfect for wide angle on the 5D.
I have a gallery of pics taken with this lens on display at
http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/canon_1735_f28_l
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Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
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Review Date: Oct 9, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Very fast, good image quality. Shar as an L lens. Great value for money
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Cons:
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AF problems
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I do like this lens. I bought it instead of the much cheaper 1.8 because of the superior build quality. I used it a few times on my 350D and found it to be probably my sharpest lens. However, I found it a bit too telephoto for a cropped sensor.
On my 5D it is ideal and sometimes makes a good walkabout lens. I only use L lenses on my 5D or this one, and this one is easily as sharp.
However, on problem: I tried it out on a second hand Canon eos 50e 35mm camera and it is good on that but the AF did not work. Then recently the AF stopped working on my 5D with this lens as well. Anyone else have this problem or know the soloution?
Here is a gallery of some photos I took with the 50mm 1.4
http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/50
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Canon EOS 5D
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Review Date: Oct 9, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Full frame, great at any iso, good handling, image quality and resolution
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Cons:
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None, except the price I guess
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I love my 5D. Had it just a couple of months now, and my only regret is that I cannot go out ans use it more. It has made me only bother with the best lenses and not use any other digital camera (although it has rekindle my interest in film) since buying it.
I have set up a gellery of pics taken with the 5D here
http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/my_new_d5
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Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
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Review Date: Jul 11, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $800.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Value for money, sharp
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Cons:
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Not f2.8
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I was in two minds about this lens, until I started using it more for portraits, landscapes and people shots. I have now decided it is a good lens, and much sharper than some of the other Canon lenses of a similar price. I much prefer the quality of this lens to my 17-85mm which I have to say is rather disappointing. In good light this is very sharp. In low light it is not very useable though. If I could afford it I would buy the 70-200 f2.8L as that looks the best, but it is nearly 3x the price of this. The 70-200 f4L is not much more expensive, but I don't know how it compares in terms of quality and it is not much faster.
Here are some pics with this lens: http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/70300mm_
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Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
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Review Date: Jun 13, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Good quality, very good range.
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Cons:
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None
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I love this lens. I had previosuly bought the Canon EF-S 17-85mm because I wanted a good walkabout lens and one that could produce wideangles. However, planning for a trip where I was going to take landscapes, I relaised I required a 'proper' wide anfle lens for my Canon 350D. So even though I had just broke the bank on various lenses, I splashed out on this.
I was not dissapointed. In terms of quality I think it is one of my best lenses, comparable (though obviously not quite so fast) to my 50mm f1.4. The range is excellent, from super wide to 22 which you can use for many types of photography. I used a x4 HD filter for capturing sunrises, sunsets etc., and the colours produced by this lens were great.
If you want a super wide angle zoom, buy this one.
I have a gallery of photos taken with this lens on my 350D at http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/1022
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