The Photocrati Blog

Nikon 180mm f/2.8 IF-ED 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: Nikon 180mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

It was a joy to test drive the AF 180mm f/2.8 IF-ED – it’s one of those lenses that harmonized perfectly with the camera. The resolution is generally excellent. Distortions and vignetting are not field relevant. Lateral CAs are well controlled although you may spot purple fringing at times. During the field tests the lens was also capable of delivering outstanding contrast and a nice bokeh (with a bit of bokeh fringing). READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Canon EOS 1D Mark III Review Round-Up

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

Get information and user reviews for this camera at Amazon: Canon EOS 1D Mark III 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Imaging Resource

The big story with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III is that it’s a better, more universally appealing professional camera for more types of professional photographers. I think a lot of intermediate photographers may want to make the jump as well, given its more friendly interface and astonishing high ISO performance. The EOS 1D Mark III has several improvements that illustrate its greater versatility: Fast performance, high resolution, and improved image quality across the board, resolution sufficient for double-truck spreads and general commercial photography. Even faster capture, processing, and write speeds, and faster AF tracking for sports shooters, super low-light capability for photojournalists (High ISO). Quoting the bare specs says a lot: 10 frames per second, 10 megapixels, 110 JPEG buffer, three inch LCD, Live View mode, dual DIGIC III processors, automatic sensor cleaning. Bottom line, the Canon 1D Mark III is by far the fastest digital SLR on the planet, and one of the very fastest SLRs ever. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Canon 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 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 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

The Digital Picture:

The Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens holds a wide focal length range in a compact and inexpensive package. Overall, the Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens’ build quality is mediocre. It sports a metal lens mount like the best, but the rest of the lens is just average for a consumer grade lens. For its size, the Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens is relatively heavy. It feels short, fat and hefty. It is not a heavy lens, but heavy for its compact size. Overall, the Canon EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Lens optically disappoints. If you can use f/8 for most of your applications and can live with its optical flaws, the 28-200 might make a decent and economical one lens solution for you. Otherwise, I highly recommend looking at one of my other recommended general purpose lenses as better choices for optical quality. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM EF-S 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-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLRs

SLR Gear:

As an entry-level “kit” lens, cost of manufacture was almost certainly a key design parameter for the Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, but it nonetheless manages to do pretty well optically, particularly when stopped down a little. That said though, performance wide open is indeed a little rough, until you get toward the telephoto end of its range. This is a lens that likes to be stopped down for best performance, the “sweet spot” coming at about f/8 at 18mm, f/8-11 at 27mm, and f/11 from 35-55mm. This lens is better than you’d normally expect for such an inexpensive design, but our lab tests have led us to realize that it’s not quite as good as we’d previously thought: If you use it more toward the tele end of its range, and stop down a little from wide open, it’s impressive indeed. Wide open, and particularly at wide angle though, it didn’t perform as well as we’d have anticipated, based on our prior impressions. All in all, a good “starter” lens, but one that you’ll almost certainly end up replacing after your budget has absorbed the initial shock of buying the camera in the first place. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Nikon 28mm f/2 Ai-S 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: Nikon 28mm f/2.0 Nikkor AI-S Manual Focus Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Typical for older manual focus lenses the Nikkor Ai-S 28mm f/2 comes with an exceptional build quality and super smooth focusing – most of today’s lenses feel cheap in comparison and the glory doesn’t stop here. At medium aperture settings the lens is capable to produce some of the highest resolution figures tested to date. At f/2 the results are somewhat softer regarding both border resolution and contrast. Distortions and vignetting are quite well controlled whereas CAs could be a little lower at f/8. (more…)

Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 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 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

SLR Gear

While there are a few standout bargains to be found, the lens world is much like the rest of life: There’s no free lunch, you tend to get what you pay for. It’s thus no surprise that lenses as inexpensive as the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 don’t perform as well a those costing three or four times as much. Within its price bracket though, this Tamron competes quite strongly against the camera makers’ own offerings, delivering as good or better image quality, a long zoom range, decent build quality, all at an exceptional price. If you need a long zoom on a tight budget, the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 AF is worth a close look. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Nikon 45mm f/2.8 Ai-P Review Round-Up

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

Photo Zone

The Nikkor Ai-P 45mm f/2.8 may be a cute lens but it is also a very serious performer with very high resolution, marginal distortions, moderate CAs and quite well-controlled vignetting. The build quality is very good. The problem may be that today it represents an answer to a question which was asked long ago. f/2.8 is not exactly fast for a normal lens so the more common f/1.4 and f/1.8 variants tend to make more sense … at lesser costs. So at the end of the day the meaning of the lens lies in its extremely small form factor. But damn, it is so cute. Read Full Review

(more…)

Canon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6 USM L IS EF Review Round-Up

If you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think below!

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM Lens

Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 USM L IS is an impressive extreme range zoom. The optical quality is on a very high though not exceptional level. The resolution figures are generally very good without any major flaws. Vignetting, CAs and even distortions are very well under control. The build quality is exceptional though some may not like the push-pull zoom design. With a little positive attitude you should be able to get used to it though and the very smooth zoom action helps a lot in the transition phase (from conventional zooms). The 3rd generation IS is a significant and highly welcome addition to the feature list. On the downside the lens is heavy and not exactly small especially when used at 300mm – not exactly a low profile lens. The price lifts it beyond the reach of most amateurs but then this is true for many L grade lenses out there. Unfortunately the lens is no longer a one-size-fits-all solution on APS-C DSLRs but nonetheless it remains an interesting lens for lots of applications. So if you can live with its limitations and the price tag it is surely worth a deeper look! READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di 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 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD VC (Vibration Compensation) Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

SLR Gear

This Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 could be a good choice if you do a lot of shooting from 35-70mm, with only occasional excursions out to the 300mm limit, and/or if you tend to print many of your shots at 5×7 inches or below. Since this describes the shooting and usage patterns of a lot of casual photographers, the Tamron 28-300mm could indeed be a good choice for vacation use when you don’t expect to need a lot of wide angle capability. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Canon 135mm f/2 L 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 135mm f/2L USM Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

The Canon EF 135mm f/2 USM L is a superb lens with outstanding performance figures in all aspects except maybe vignetting at the max. aperture setting (f/2). The mechanical construction is up to pro standards and the AF is as fast as it gets in EOS land. All-in-all a lens that truly deserves the Canon L designation. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)