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  Reviews by: Peter Wirtoft  
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Canon EOS Rebel XTi (400D)

rebel_xti
Review Date: May 1, 2007 Recommend? | Price paid: Not Indicated

 
Pros: Sensorcleaning, lots of nice features.
Cons:
Darker images/under exposures. Not as sharp as 350D

Compared to 350D a little bit less sharp and gives you much darker images at the same settings.

Still. Its pretty nice camera, but..

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/Compare350Dwith400D/index.html
 
Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM

ef300mmf_4_1_
Review Date: Apr 19, 2007 Recommend? no | Price paid: $1,500.00 | Rating: 5 

 
Pros: Decently sharp, nice colors, Super fast AF.
Cons:
Not sharp enough for L lens, Price. Buy EF 70-300 IS instead.

Yes, this lens disapointed me.
But so do most lenses.

I Compared this one with "EF 135 f2 L", "TSE 90 f2.8", "EX 150 APO f2.8".
This one is just slightly less sharp than the EX150. And EX150 is sharp.
And a bit more less sharp than TSE90 and EF135.

With extender x1.4 this lens gives you the same results as the cheapest lenses on the market. Nothing you like to pay $1500 and more for.

Do not misunderstand me. Without the extender this lens is super fast and gives you quite good results. But for the Price tag, buy the EF 70-300 IS instead for less than half the price.

Full size pictures at:
http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/EF300test/index.html
 
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8

tse90_1_
Review Date: Apr 19, 2007 Recommend? | Price paid: Not Indicated

 
Pros: Sharper than EF 135 f2 L.
Cons:

I recently tested this Lens in a small test and compared it with "EF 135 f2 L", "EF 300 f4 L IS", "EX 150 APO f2.8"

This toy is even sharper than the EF 135. That is extremely sharp.


Watch more photos taken with this fantastic lens.

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/TSE90test/index.html
 
Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF

15_30f35_45_1_
Review Date: Apr 19, 2007 Recommend? | Price paid: Not Indicated

 
Pros: Sharp in good light. Nice colors. No CA.
Cons:
Unprotected lens. Purple Flares. Lowlight outdoor performance.

Some fullsize photos on

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/EX1530test/index.html

In quality this lens is way better than Sigma 18-200 dc.
Doesn't say much, but the Sigma 18-200 is not bad.

There is absolutely no CA.
 
Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM

ef135mmf_2l_1_
Review Date: Apr 19, 2007 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $1,300.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Very sharp even at f2. Perfect in almost all aspects. Fast and accurate AF.
Cons:
Colors, no magic results like ex 150 from Sigma. Background blur should be even nicer with a lens at this price.

The EF 135 f2 L lens is a wonderful lens. Its probably the best lens on the market for Canon dSLR.

In sharpness I have only tested one lens sharper and that is TSE 90.
the EF 85 f1.2 L and EF 50 f1.2 L I have still not tried so I can not compare to them.

Compare to the Sigma EX 150 Apo, which is a very sharp lens, the EF 135 is sharper. But Sigma wins in Blur and Colors.
The EX 150 is a Macro and is therefore not comparable in AF action mode department.

See
http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/LensePictures.htm

For some pictures.
 
Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF

15_30f35_45_1_
Review Date: Dec 26, 2006 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $500.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Very sharp, low CA.
Cons:
AF is fast but loud, Damped purple flares occur when light source reaches lense. No filters can be applied.

I was looking for a lense with a range from 15/17 to 30/40
The EF 17-40 f4 was of course a choice here, but I saw the wider 15-30 and test made at "photozone" + the pricetag to be the judging components.

The EF 16-35 f2.8 was to expensive since I spend to much already on several lenses.

Find it to be a good choice. I think I will keep it.

It produces very high quality images, and that is the most important part of all.

Ok, flares.... thats a problem with a lense like this.
 
Canon EOS Rebel XTi (400D)

rebel_xti
Review Date: Dec 26, 2006 Recommend? | Price paid: $1,000.00

 
Pros: Dust remover, nice lcd and some other features. Easy to handle.
Cons:
Bad image quality

I have used it for more than 2000 shots and I still haven't seen a clear picture coming out of it.

It produces dark pictures, darker than 350D, and not sharp enough.

Compared to my 350D it is not as good.

I have sent my 400D to a Canon service center.
They tested my 400D together with a reference camera and found nothing wrong with it.

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/Compare350Dwith400D

I mostly see reviews celebrating its nice features, but not many that find it to produce superior quality photos.

I have also tried another 400D and I see the same patterns with it as my own. Not very sharp pictures.

Yet, I haven't recieved my 400D from the service center because they wanted to do even more test with it. But their first tests showed no difference with other 400D's.

I still have trust in Canon to make nice cameras, but it looks like I will get rid of the 400D and wait for the next version.
 
Canon EOS Rebel XT (350D)

rebel_xt
Review Date: Dec 6, 2006 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $900.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Perfect with the BG. Perfect image quality. Better image quality than 400D
Cons:
No auto dust remover. Platstic, sensitive to low temperatures.

Images produced with this camera is perfect.
I also have a 400D. Maybe its a bad copy, I'm looking in to it.

Did some testing with 400D and 350D

Same lens, same settings, same lightning, same spot, same distance same time.

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/Compare350Dwith400D/index.html
 
Canon EOS Rebel XTi (400D)

rebel_xti
Review Date: Dec 5, 2006 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $1,000.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Lots of features. Big display, easy to use.
Cons:
Worse image quality than my 350D

Yes the 400D has a lot of impressive stuff stucked in it, but what about the image quality?

I have from the day (15 sept) I got my new 400D been worried about the image quality it produces.

So I finally tested it together with my older 350D.

And as I suspected all the time the 350D produces better images with the same settings, same lens, same light settings, same time, and the exakt same spot.

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/Compare350Dwith400D/index.html

I have now contacted Canon to see if they can help me find out if there is something wrong with my copy of the 400D.
No answer yet.

Anyone else out there having the same feeling about the 400D? (producing noisy pictures?)
 
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

ef50mmf_14usm_1_
Review Date: Oct 25, 2006 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $400.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Extreme quality for a good price. A unique lens with a lot of possibilities for experimental photography. AF is fast enough.
Cons:
Some CA at 1.4 -> 1.8 (almost none).

I don't care about the new 50 L f1.2 lens from Canon. I don't know what it can do that this lens don't.
But I haven't tried it yet.

This is possibly the best non L lens in the Canon collection.
I love using it at f2.0 ->f2.5. The images are sharp and with nice colors that you just get more and more in love with it.

I normally sell lenses that I'm not satisfied with. This one stays.

Otherwise I have "Sigma 150 EX", "TS-E 90", "300 L f4" and "70-300 IS" as my favourite lenses.

I like lenses not to heavy with sharp quality and that is what the "50 f1.4 usm" gives me.

See some normal full scale taken photos at.

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/CanonEF50mmF14USM/index.html
 
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8

tse90_1_
Review Date: Oct 8, 2006 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $1,400.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: The extreme and strange possibilities it gives. Sharp, good build quality. Easy to focus, tilt and turn.
Cons:
Strange colors sometimes. Difficult to handle, No AF, No IS (that would be nice to have). Shift function is difficult to handle(razor sharp edges).

Used it for only a week now. And I have lots to learn before i can get a higher percentage of good pics.

It is very difficult to use with the viewfinders of 400D/350D. Since there is no auto focus, one is dependent on seing whats sharp and whats not. Its not an easy task.
Compared to a regular lense (in MF mode) this is so much more advanced since blurry areas can appear all over the image.

I'm using the tilt mostly.

Have some images at

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/CANONTSE90f28/index.html


This lense is recommended. Anyone interested in this area should have played around with one of these.

Think they have a good secondhand value on the market.
So just try one. Its a lot of fun.
 
Sigma 150mm f2.8 APO Macro DG EX HSM

Sigma_150_macro
Review Date: Sep 25, 2006 Recommend? | Price paid: Not Indicated

 
Pros: Perfect focus, Solid construction, no CA, Extremly sharp.
Cons:
AF hunts a bit at close range

I now recieved my lens from service after having a frontfocus problem with it.
The guys at "TURA" made a perfect job in calibrating the lens and the AutoFocus is now in PERFECT condition.

I recommend every Sigma owner with a frontfocus problem to hand it over for service calibration. User "Meaty0" said "they claimed the lens couldn't be calibrated at all".

They are wrong,, turn it in...

And I was wrong to give it only 7 before (Its a 9 or 10)
 
Sigma 150mm f2.8 APO Macro DG EX HSM

Sigma_150_macro
Review Date: Sep 7, 2006 Recommend? yes | Price paid: $700.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Very Sharp, no CA, Fits perfekt in my hands. Very good lense for face photos.
Cons:
Unreliable AF, AF hunts at close range and in low light. Short DOF at close range.

I had this lens for two weeks and now I turned it in for service because of focusing problem.
At 3 meter the focus was short 15 cm.
The service guy at "Tura Scandinavia" said it was easy to fix. Hope its true.

Using a Canon 350D.

Otherwise, this is a sharp lens. Once the target is in focus the result is very satisfying.

Have some testimages taken during the first two weeks of use.
http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/SIGMA150mmF28EXAPOMacroDGCanon350D/index.html

The weight of the lens is a bit much sometimes, but it feels steady i my hands.

If the focusproblem is fixable this lens can be recommended, otherwise I would not recommend this lens to anyone with a "Canon 350D".