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Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM "C"
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Review Date: Aug 2, 2014
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $449.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Well made, excellent range, very good IQ, great price!
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Cons:
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Not a fan of the 72mm filter size.
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Have owned various "walk-around" zooms, including the Canon 17-55 IS, 18-55, 24-105 and Sigma 17-50 OS (Canon and Nikon versions). Looking at the whole picture (IQ, weight, size, range, build quality and price) the 17-70 C beats them all. Highly recommended.
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Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
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Review Date: Aug 6, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Compact, build quality, IQ
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Cons:
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Push-pull zoom.
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The lens is excellent in all respects. Build quality, IQ, etc. are fabulous. Given the len's range, it is amazingly compact. I've heard that the AF is "slow" - so far, I don't agree. The AF is not as fast as the 85mm 1.8, but it is a 100-400 zoom, for goodness sakes, and I've been able to easily lock onto and track rabbits and small birds. In many respects, this lens is a longer version of the 24-105: not quite the sharpest, and certainly not the fastest, but darn good within its very broad limits and tremendously versatile.
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Sigma 24-60mm f2.8 EX DG Lens
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Review Date: Aug 27, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $225.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Well built, nice colors (to my eye), decent sharpness after f4.
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Cons:
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Relatively soft at f2.8, fairly slow focusing speed.
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Best f2.8 zoom full frame lens under $600 (roughly the price of a bargain 28-70 L) that I've found. I had the Tamron 28-75, which was a fine lens. The Siggy is much better made, no distortion even at the margins, has far superior color rendition IMO and is a bit faster to focus. Downsides include the fact that it is NOT as sharp as the Tammy wide open (but by f4 for sure it is just as good) and it is a very odd focal length. Well worth the $225 I paid though.
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Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
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Review Date: Apr 23, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Price, f1.8, size, balance between cost/performance
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Cons:
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Color/contrast of my copy definitely "consumer lens" quality.
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This is a good lens, but it is not (at least to my eyes) a great lens. I've used it primarily for indoor sports and found it to be quite sharp, with decently fast focus. It is sharp (expected from a prime) but I've found color and contrast to be more similar to the 28-105 f3.5 - 4.5 than to my 70-200 f4IS or 135L.
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Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM
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Review Date: Apr 23, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $850.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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IQ, bokeh, build quality, focusing speed - it can't get any better than this lens.
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Cons:
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It will spoil you.
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Simply stated, I can't imagine there being a better lens in any respect.
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Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
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Review Date: Dec 24, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Outstanding color, clarity, and bokeh. Mine focuses fine - a bit slower than the Canon 50 1.4, perhaps - but fine nonetheless. This lens appears to be very well made.
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Cons:
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Relatively large and expensive. The Canon 50 1.4 is more compact and more reasonably priced.
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The Canon 50 f1.4 is a fine lens, IMO. It is compact, well-made, sharp, and my copy snaps into focus, even at f1.4. The Sigma is larger and at least 25% more expensive, possibly better constructed, at least as sharp, and my copy focused very well. Both render colors very well. However, the Sigma's bokeh is head and shoulders above the Canon. You can't go wrong with either lens, IMO, but the Sigma seems to be something special.
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Canon EOS 30D
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Review Date: Dec 5, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Good ergonomics, intuitive interface, wide feature range, excellent IQ performance at all ISOs, proven technology. The 30D is an outstanding value!
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Cons:
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After limited use, I have found the on-camera flash to be less than stellar. However, I suspect user error in a number of cases.
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This is a wonderful product - proven technology, good ergonomics, easy to use, wide feature range, excellent IQ performance. Coming from the XT (a fine camera on its own terms) I found the 30D's AF to be far superior. The 5 fps is a pleasure. The high ISO performance is simply amazing - I compared some prints from T-max 3200 with the 30D's 3200 captures (pre-noise reduction) and the 30D images are far better. Unless you are shooting sports for SI and absolutely need the 45 point AF of the 1 Series, or are a PJ in a war zone who needs rock-solid construction, its hard for me to see what more one could ask for from a camera body. Finally this camera is well worth the money - in relative terms, I paid less for the 30D than I did when I purchased my Minolta X-700 with a 35-70 variable apeture zoom lens back in 1985.
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Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 EX Aspherical DF
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Review Date: May 11, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $295.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent build, fast AF, sharp at 2.8, very sharp 4 and above, good contrast and nice, cool colors.
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Cons:
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None.
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