April, 2009 | Photocrati

Canon 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM EF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

In terms of optical performance the Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM is about in line with other consumer grade tele zoom lenses. The resolution figures are excellent and 100mm but unsurprisingly tMORE’s a penalty at longer focal length specifically at 300mm @ f/5.6. At 200mm and more so at 300mm you should stop down a little to lift the resolution and contrast level. Distortions and vignetting are usually nothing to worry about whereas CAs are a significant although largely correctable weakness at 200mm and 300mm. On the positive side the tested sample showed a very good center (lens alignment) which is quite rare for a lens in this class. The mechanical quality is a step up from the typical kit zoom – this is most obvious in the IF (internal focusing) design and the very fast ring-type USM drive. Unless you can afford the (substantially better) EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 USM IS the EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM is a remains good choice in the sub-300â‚¬/US$ tele zoom lens league. Just don’t expect any wonders at longer focal lengths. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro SP AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD IF Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Digital Photography Review

The SP AF 70-200mm F2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro is certainly a very creditable effort by Tamron to produce a high quality, yet affordable fast telephoto zoom. Indeed if we look solely at the studio optical tests, it is a resounding success, as the technical quality of the images this lens can produce is superb throughout most of the range. … The big problem with this lens, however, lies in the focusing systems. The autofocus motor is relatively slow and noisy, which puts it at a major disadvantage compared to its ultrasonic motor-equipped competitors, simply because AF performance impacts strongly on many of the typical uses for a fast telezoom lens. So ultimately what we have here is a flawed gem, a lens which fully capable of delivering excellent images, but also frustratingly capable of missing focus on that once-in-a-lifetime shot, either through mis-focus or simply being too slow. And this is a real pity, because the optical quality of this lens is genuinely superb. … READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 24mm f/2.8 D AF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Nikon 24mm f/2.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF 24mm f/2.8D didn’t really convince during the tests due to various shortcomings. The resolution figures were generally very decent but otherwise the lens left something to be desired for a fix-focal with relatively high barrel distortions, very high vignetting at f/2.8 and very pronounced CAs. Spherical aberrations (focus shifts when stopping down) on top don’t make things any better. So despite the relatively ambitious design (floating elements) the lens doesn’t seem to be overly attractive anymore. This doesn’t mean that the AF 24mm f/2.8D is a bad lens, it’s not, but fix-focals should perform better than good zoom lenses. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 180mm f/3.5 L USM macro EF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 180mm f3.5L Macro USM AutoFocus Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 180mm f/3.5 USM L macro is an interesting lens with a very good optical performance and exceptional mechanical qualities. Nonetheless the lens wasn’t really able to fulfill the high expectations associated with a Canon L grade lens – there’re even some zoom lenses performing better in terms of resolution. Beyond the resolution aspect the lens showed pretty perfect performance figures – minimal vignetting, next to non-existent distortions and marginal chromatic aberration. The bokeh, the quality of the out-of-focus blur is relatively decent although not stellar. The AF performance of the lens is a bit of a mixed bag. If the in-focus point is in a relatively close proximity to the current setting the AF is fast. However, if the camera has no guidance where to go the AF is extremely slow. That said AF speed isn’t really relevant for pure macro photography where you tend to use manual focusing anyway. Macro photographers will certainly appreciate the “true” IF design (constant physical length) as well as the increased working distance compared to the EF 100mm f/2.8 USM macro. If macro capabilities aren’t on your wish list you may prefer to look elsewhere though. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD (IF) AF SP Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 200-500mm f/5.0-6.3 Di LD SP FEC (IF) Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD (IF) is a very interesting representative of its (rare) species. The performance figures are generally on a very high level – very good between 200-400mm and still good to very good at 500mm. The level of distortions is exceptionally low throughout the range and vignetting is nothing to worry about on an APS-C DSLR. Add the very good build quality on top combined with the very moderate price tag and you’ve an attractive package here. The only thing that is missing here is an image stabilizer. Handheld photography is often doomed at such extreme focal lengths due to the need for very fast shutter speeds. An extra support such as a monopod or tripod is surely a good idea – otherwise you’ll waste much of the quality potential that this lens can give you. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS EF-S Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens

Photo Zone:

There were a few moments when I considered not to publish the results due to “political correctness” because to date it was a quite absurd thought that such a cheap, or better “affordable”, lens can perform this good and I’m sure that some will not believe the findings even though they’re supported by the published field images. Anyway, the resolution capabilities of the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is nothing short of amazing. Its resolution characteristic is similar to the (much higher priced) EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS at comparable aperture settings, quite a bit better than the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 USM IS and naturally vastly improved over its non-IS predecessor! The Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS is certainly a value king, priced below 200â‚¬/US$, which is a good match for the resolution potential of the current generation of Canon’s APS-C DSLRs. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 24mm f/2.8 EF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens at Amazon: Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 Wide Angle Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

At the optimal focus distances the EF 24mm f/2.8 is an excellent performer capable to deliver images as sharp as it gets on an 8MP APS-C DSLR. For most situations this is generally true but residual spherical aberration can be a problem at close-focus distances (as explained in the MTF chapter above). Other than that vignetting is a little on the high side at f/2.8 but no issue beyond and the slight barrel distortions are usually very acceptable as well. The construction quality is decent though not stellar. So at the end of the day it remains an excellent lens … with a little bug. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 100-300mm f/5.6 L EF Review Round-Up

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Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 100-300mm f/5.6 L can still convince optically with very high resoltion figures, low distortions and quite low vignetting (on APS-C). However, mechanically the lens is totally outdated and clearly substandard compared to current Canon L lenses. In fact most of today’s consumer zooms are better in this respect. If you cannot afford the new EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 USM IS the ancient EF 100-300mm f/5.6 L remains still worth a serious thought regarding its much lower price tag on the used market and it still puts most other xx-300mm zoom lenses to shame specifically regarding contrast. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Di II SP AF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below. Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Di-II SP LD Aspherical (IF) Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Di II SP is surely capable to deliver decent quality images but the truth is that the competition is generally better in most aspects. Regarding the comparatively slow speed (max. aperture), the subjectively lower build quality as well as the rather limited zoom range it is also a bit strange that Tamron is asking a higher price point compared to the Sigma and Tokina counterparts (locally at least). This doesn’t seem to leave many arguments in favour of the lens.READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 135mm f/2.8 SF EF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 with Softfocus Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 SF may be old but it was still able to delivery very good performance figures in all aspects. Nonetheless there ´re many lenses including zooms which are capable to deliver similar and even better. So at the end of the day the only real differentiator is the soft-focus feature. On paper it may be worth a thought (if this is your thing) but if you ´re into digital photography you should be able to achieve a similar effect using Photoshop. A real plus is the very affordable price though. READ FULL REVIEW

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