( 32 reviews )
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 8 2009
I received this lens as an engagement gift from my fiance's father. I'm currently using it on my Rebel XTi, with the EF-S 17-85 as my standard zoom lens. The lens itself is considerably larger than the f/4, and about a pound heavier. Its size and color also attract a lot of attention in public, which I have found may or may not be a bad thing. During autoracing I have found that track workers and drivers all instantly respected me, thinking I was a professional for having a white lens. The instant respect meant I was allowed on parts of the track spectators usually aren't, which allowed me to take pictures from awesome vantage points. At other times, people just stared. In other words, be prepared to be treated differently just because of the lens itself. The lens is incredibly sharp. I've reviewed track shots, portraits of people and animals, as well as landscape and sea scape shots, and the color in those pictures is amazing. They're vibrant, alive, and clear. Chromatic aberration is extremely well controlled, especially when comparing to my 17-85, which does a decent job most of the time. At f/2.8 I can get extremely shallow DOF with beautiful bokeh, and at f/2.8 the lens focuses quickly and accurately. This is certainly a step up from my 17-84 f/45-5.6, which would often hunt for something to focus on and at last focus on the wrong object. This lens also allows for low light photography, especially indoors. There have been times that I have wanted the version with IS, but then I realize the IS would be about a pound heavier, and at that weight might be enough for my hands to shake, thereby canceling the IS benefits. The lens came with a lens hood and soft lens case, which are very good quality. The hood is stiff and a bit hard to screw on and off the front lens element, but offers good physical protection and reduces flare in bright lighting. The case is nice and would be useful mostly for storage. As I pack my camera gear so that I'm always ready to leave in a moment's notice, I keep this lens in my camera bag with my other stuff, and not in the case it came with. I have a feeling that toting around a camera bag and a case would make me forget one or the other somewhere. I'm a very small person, around 5'1", so carrying this lens around was not trivial. As I am decently fit from working out, my arms and neck did not get as tired as I expected they would after carrying my camera and lens around about 12 hrs a day for 4 days straight in 100F weather, but the weight and bulk may be a concern if you have a small frame. I also had to change how I hold a lens and my camera so the weight wouldn't affect my balance and picture taking. One thing that might help with ballast is buying a battery grip, or using a heftier camera. My XTi is a very small, light camera, and is probably not the best camera to use with this lens without attaching a battery grip. One last thing to consider as that because this lens is large and fairly heavy, you may have to upgrade your camera bags. I have a Kata R-101 backpack and a Crumpler 4 Million Dollar Home, and the lens would not fit in the Crumpler as I expected. What I didn't expect was that it would be such a tight fit in my Kata backpack, which looks quite roomy inside. I had to re-arrange the partitions, but even then it's hard to squeeze the lens, my camera, 17-85, EX 580 II flash, lens cleaner, and other small things with it as the tripod ring takes up a lot of room. Overall, I love this lens and I've made changes to my camera gear and my picture taking to accommodate it. I've taken some very wonderful pictures with this lens that would not have been possible with a cheaper lens that didn't control chromatic aberration, lens flare, etc as well. I highly recommend this lens -- you'll have fun with it!
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Posted: Jul 20 2009
There are many other reviews to this wonderful lens and I can't add too much on the technical issues. This is an upgrade to the Canon 70-200 f4. I shoot in dimly lit interiors (basketball, volleyball, church settings, etc.) and the extra f-stops is worth it. Outdoors with the 1.4x extender (baseball, football, soccer) is fantastic! I decided NOT to get the IS for several reasons: 1) I use a Manfrotto monopod almost exclusively when using this lens (used it with the f4 also) and with practice the pictures comes out sharp. The monopod also helps to hold everything during a long shooting session. Having 3 pounds of equipment hanging on your neck or holding it up in shooting position is a pain. 2) I couldn't justify the IS expense since using the monopod partially defeats the IS feature. Again, practice holding steady regardless. Remember shooting the old Nikon F with the teles before IS, VR, OS were ever invented? Bottom line: Great lens, great bokah, great in low light situations. Highly recommend a good monopod to hold everything steady!
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( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 17 2009
does not zoom as much as I would have hoped, but I have been able to take some great picures I would have otherwise missed
