Canon Lens Reviews | Photocrati

Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM EF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM exhibited a quite mixed performance. On the upside the lens is very sharp with very little vignetting throughout the range. Unfortunately distortions at 24mm are pretty hefty as are chromatic aberrations. The build quality is pretty decent and the AF performace is a joy. All-in-all the lens is capable to beat the cheapo EF-S 18-55mm as well as the EF-S 17-85mm IS and regarding sharpness it can even rival the the EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L (on APS-C). If the focal length range was more attractive here the lens would have been a killer but as such it is just a good compromise. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM EF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens

SLR Gear:

Based on our tests, the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM is a solid lens offering in the ultra-wide category. It has a few issues with softness at certain apertures and focal lengths, a little chromatic aberration wide open, as well as some distortion and vignetting to speak of. But it’s also a dramatic improvement in all of these areas relative to its predecessor, which shows that the Canon design team has come up with ways to tackle all of these issues. It’s not perfect, but then again, neither is any other lens in its category, and for what it does, it doesn’t get any better than this. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM EF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM Autofocus Lightweight Compact Telephoto Zoom Lens

Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 USM II is a lens with “potential”. Unfortunately it is wasted due to a very poor mechanical quality based on very cheap plastics. The lens has been simplified to a degree where even the focus ring has been abandoned. Thanks to the unambiguous aperture and focal length range the optical quality of the lens is very good or at least it could be. The formal results are fine if not impressive for such a lens but they vary extremely across the frame – probably also a side effect of the low build quality standards. If Canon had put the optics into a decent lens body it would have been an interesting budget lens but in its current incarnation the Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 USM II cannot be recommended. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-70mm f/2.8 USM L EF Review Round-Up

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Photo Zone:

The performance of the Canon EF 28-70mm f/2.8 USM L came as a surprise because its optical quality exceeded the EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L (two samples tested). The lens doesn’t really show any significant flaws – the resolution figures are very high and distortions and especially vignetting are very low. The degree of CAs is pretty decent for a zoom in this range. The build quality is very good with only the reverse zoom extension as a minor downside. However, similar to its successor the zoom range is not all that attractive on APS-C DSLRs (45-112mm). For most it’ll make more sense to have a deeper look at the 17-40mm f/4L when looking for a high quality standard zoom. While not tested in this scope it is probably a valid assumption that the EF 28-70mm f/2.8 USM L will surely find many happy full frame users becuase it simply remains a great lens! READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 17-35mm f/2.8 USM L EF Review Round-Up

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Find more information and user reviews on Amazon: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens (NOTE: Links to the II version)

Photo Zone:

During my days with this lens I was actually quite fond of the performance of the Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8 USM L but I usually limited the usage to focal lengths beyond 20mm. A good idea also confirmed by the MTF tests which showed a quite poor border resolution at 17mm. However, in the 20-35mm range the performance is very good and comparable to what we’ve seen from modern Canon ultra-wide zooms. Same goes for the other image characteristics. The barrel distortions are very pronounced towards the wide end of the zoom range but pretty decent otherwise. Typical for most full frame lenses vignetting is no big issue on an APS-C DSLR. CAs are quite high but about average for a lens in this class. All-in-all the lens had its time but there’re better alternatives available today. … READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 II EF Review Round-Up

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Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 II is one of the little known secrets and more than that it ´s also available at very low prices on the used market (< 100 bucks at eBay). The lens is certainly not flawless especially regarding its mechanical qualities. However, the resolution figures are highly impressive and the other optical characteristics are at least on a decent level. On the downside the range of the lens isn ´t all that sexy anymore on APS-C DSLRs. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-90mm f/4-5.6 USM EF Review Round-Up

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Pop Photo:

Overall lightweight and plasticy, this lens is well-suited for the value-minded snapshooter who seeks low cost and lightweight in a lens. The lens is significantly smaller and lighter than the 28-80mm it replaces. For the price ¬and on an ounce-for-ounce basis its 3.2X 28-90mm zoom range is surprisingly ample. The softening we encountered at its 90mm end may actually improve portraits! READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM EF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 USM L showed a very good to excellent performance in the lab as well as during the field tests. The lens exhibited very little vignetting and excellent resolution figures. On the downsode the level of distortions could haven been a little better at the wide-angle setting. Typical for most wide-angle zooms chromatic aberrations can be visible but the problem remains comparatively low. The quality of the construction is next to perfect. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM EF Review Round-Up

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Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM proved to be a quite solid performer without any spectacular strengths nor weaknesses except maybe low contrast performance. On APS-C DSLRs it is surely not a first choice due to its focal length range which feels a little odd here. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L EF USM Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

Very similar to its IS enabled cousin the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM L is an impressive piece of lens with superb build quality combined with an excellent optical performance which is, in fact, slightly better than in the rest of the family and comparable to the best fix-focals in its range. So if you can live without IS (which is, however, darn attractive in its 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS incarnation) there’re still good reasons to go for this superb lens! READ FULL REVIEW

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