Digital SLR Lens Reviews / Slr camera lens

Canon EF EOS 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Digital SLR Lens From Canon List Price: $1,249.00 Price: $1,077.98 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 40 new or used available from $849.97 Average customer review:

Customer SLR Camera Lens Reviews

Wonderful general purpose lens, with the expected limitations,

The EF EOS 24-105mm f/4L IS USM offers a lightweight alternative to the renowned EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. The canon 24 105 is often tagged a “walkabout” lens, and that’s a good description. There’s nothing better if you want to carry camera and lens about and get a variety of shots in the range from wide angle to short  telephoto. It’s difficult for lens designers to make all the compromises necessary to have a lens go from wide angle to telephoto, and have a max focal length over four times the widest focal length, but Canon has done a good job here. The image stabilization works excellently when hand held (it cuts image quality if you use the stabilization from a tripod, though). The f/4 maximum aperture cuts the size and weight down quite a bit. Image quality is excellent for a zoom from about 30mm up to 90mm, good from 90mm to 105mm, and tolerable from 24 to 30mm (getting better in the 28 to 30mm range). As expected, image quality is best stopped down to about f/8, but is still good wide open at f/4.

I can’t say the lens has major flaws, but relative weaknesses are the wide angle performance, and the f/4 maximum aperture. The lens is not fast enough for shots of moving subject indoors. For stationary subjects, the image stabilization lets you take shots with slower exposure times than you’d expect, but stabilization won’t do anything to improve a moving subject.

Build quality is excellent as expected, but the lens is quite compact and light, much better than the 24-70/2.8 zoom that is its obvious rival.

Also, if you are after the absolute maximum image quality, prime lenses will do better than this ef 24 105mm in the normal and telephoto range (35 to 105). My $75 50/1.8 lens far outshines this one in sharp, crisp imaging. Zooms that don’t have to accomodate both wide and telephoto focal lengths will also outperform this one–My 70-200/4 lens is much sharper and more contrasty, and even my 16-35 lens outperforms this one in the 24-28mm range (the 24-105 does do better from about 30-35mm, though). All these things aren’t surprising, and they are no reason to condemn or even criticize the 24-105.

If money isn’t a major concern for you, and you want a superb compromise lens, this is the one to pick. The only canon ef 24 105mm that can hold a candle to it is the old 28-135 IS zoom. If you get that one, you’ll get inferior image quality and much less effective stabilization. But you’ll also save quite a bit of money!

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EF Telephoto Lens Canon 400mm f/5.6L USM for Digital SLR Cameras From Canon List Price: $1,900.00 Price: $1,222.87 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 3 new or used available from $999.00 Average customer review:

Customer Digital SLR Lens Reviews

A really sweet long EF telephoto lens,

I’ve been using this SLR Camera lens about six years. In all that time, I can’t remember ever shooting at any aperture smaller than f/5.6. It’s amazingly sharp wide open and I’ve never had any reason to stop it down. When I first bought Canon 400mm , I used it on a tripod almost all the time. These days, I’ve started using it handheld and I can appreciate how well it handles. In good light, autofocus is fast and accurate. In low brightness and low contrast light, it gets a little slow and sometimes hunts. Not a real problem, just switch off the autofocus and use the superb manual focus ring. Images snap in and out of focus easily whether you do the focusing or you let the lens do it.

The Digital SLR lens is made like a tank. Mine has been subjected to a lot of use but it has never failed me. I sometimes use it with the Canon 1.4x Extender which makes it a 560mm f/8 lens. That combination does usually require a tripod but it is still a handy combination that retains great sharpness. I’ve also used it with the Canon 2x Extender as an 800mm f/11. It’s a good idea to put it on a sturdy tripod and stop down a wee bit to get the best results.

Great quality for the price,

I originally bought the 100-400mm when I got my Canon body, as I wanted to do wildlife photography and wasn’t even AWARE of this SLR lens. I wish I had, because this lens is (1) a pound lighter than the 100-400 (two pounds vs three), (2) doesn’t pump dust into my camera body when I adjust the zoom (as there isn’t any zoom!), (3) is shorter and so easier to balance in my hand, (4) has a built-in lens hood — the one with the 100-400 is separate and surprisingly flimsy for a $1500 product, (5) produces a somewhat better picture, and (6) it is a 77 mm L lens, which means I needn’t buy a new set of UV and polarizing filters. (Many, but not all, “L”s are 77 mm diameter lenses.)

No, there’s no IS, but — and here’s the important part — it doesn’t NEED it. That one pound and shorter length makes all the difference, at least for me. But if you’re undecided, then keep in mind that: (1) the 100-400 has that zoom, which means that when you CAN shoot in, say, 100 mm, then you’re doing it at F/3.5, and (2) if your hands are a bit wobbly then you can do a lot of hand-held shooting with the IS.

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Pentax 50mm f/1.4 Digital SLR Lens Reviews From Pentax List Price: $330.99 Price: $189.98 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Ships from and sold by Adorama Camera Average customer review:

Customer Digital SLR Camera Lens Reviews

Great pentax slr digital camera lens.. Super price

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Pentax DA 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED Digital SLR Lens From Pentax List Price: $376.50 Price: $182.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Ships from and sold by Ace Photo Digital 36 new or used available from $109.99 Average customer review:

Customer SLR Camera Lens Reviews

Great pentax lens for the price,

Fits Pentax Digital SLR Lens models If you have the 18-55mm kit lens, then you’ll find that the 50-200mm feels just about the same. This lens is slightly heavier and slightly longer than the 18-55mm, but still very easy to handle. I uploaded two images to the user gallery above, showing the 18-55mm next to the 50-200mm.

Most people seem to decide between this pentax lenses or the Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6, which is similarly priced. After doing a lot of research, I decided on the Pentax 50-200mm because of its compact size and much lighter weight. Although I haven’t used the Tamron lens myself, the specifications show that it is longer and twice as heavy as the pentax da lens.

Another thing to consider is that the Tamron AF70-300mm has a 62mm filter diameter, while the Pentax DA 50-200mm and DA 18-55mm share the same 52mm filter diameter. If you already own the 18-55mm kit lens, you’ll be able to use any filters that you already have on the 50-200mm. In my experience, larger filters also cost a bit more, so sticking with 52mm filters would mean cheaper filters that you can also share between lenses.

If you’ve never used a telephoto lens like this pentax digital slr lens (and I hadn’t), then you’ll find that slight movements are really exaggerated when you’re fully zoomed in. Also, at 200mm, the widest aperture setting is f5.6 (smaller f-number means a bigger aperture), which is fine if you’re outdoors and there’s plenty of light, but can make indoor/low light photography a bit difficult. Shake reduction will definitely help, but you’ll probably want a tripod if you’re shooting at 200mm in low light.

Keep in mind that the Pentax DSLRs like the K100D have a 1.5x focal length multiplier. This means that you need to multiply the specified focal lengths of the lenses by 1.5 to get their 35mm SLR equivalent. On a digital SLR, this lens will give you the equivalent of 75-300mm on a regular pentax 35mm SLR camera.

Overall, this is a great lens for the price.

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(SLR Camera Lens) Sigma Lens 18-200mm for Canon Digital SLR Cameras From Sigma Corporation Price: $394.00 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 14 new or used available from $420.00 Average customer review:

Customer SLR Camera Lens Reviews

Sigma Lens got it right,

The Sigma 18-200mm incorporates an Optical Stabilizer function and is exclusively designed for digital SLR cameras. We’ve been using this Sigma 18-200 for a couple of months now. Recently we compared the Sigma with Canon’s 28-135mm image stabilized digital slr lens on a Canon 30D. We shot side by side photographs at 28mm & 135 mm both, set to ISO 100 with camera in Program mode. Our lenses sigma were set to autofocus with image stabilization on.

The good news which I really didn’t expect was to see both sigma lens produce images that were nearly identical– I thought for sure Canon’s optics would far surpass Sigma’s. Color saturation, light exposure through the 18 200mm, and detail were indistinguishable. The autofocus worked equally well on both. Both weighed about the same and were about the same size. The Sigma has a 72mm diameter aperture which I liked (so does the Canon). Of course the Sigma is 18-200, and at this time Canon does not have a competing option in the same digital SLR lens class with image stabilization.

The only aspect of the Sigma that differed significantly from Canon’s lens was the noise of Sigma’s autofocus motor. Sigma produces noticeable motor noise, though it wasn’t overly loud. Still if you were shooting in a spot where silence was critical such as a ceremony, it may become an issue but probably not. In comparison, the Canon autofocus motor is silent and fast every time.

Sigma places a locking mechanism on the lens barrel to eliminate any possibility of lens creep (lens extending when pointed down). I doubt this would be a problem with the Sigma anyway. The zoom ring is a little stiff, but not too stiff. The manual focus ring is designed to be used with AF set to off to avoid manipulating the motor when focusing.

The image stabilization works well allowing you to shoot lower light photos without a tripod. I was quite satisfied with Sigma’s newest effort here.

I’d say this Sigma makes a great choice for amateur photographers like us looking for a single lens option on Canon digital SLR cameras. The only dissuading factor ‘might’ be the motor noise if you hope to match Canon’s silent motor system. Until Canon produces the same class of lens at a competitive price, Sigma has this round sown up. .

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(Digital SLR Lens) Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens From Tamron List Price: $898.95 Price: $449.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Ships from and sold by Beach Camera 17 new or used available from $300.00 Average customer review:

Customer Digital SLR Lens Reviews

Much Better Than Expected - A SLR Camera Lens,

This is a very nice all-in-one travel lens. Before taking it on vacation I carefully compared it to my Canon 17-85mm IS and 70-300mm IS lenses when mounted on a 20D body. The Tamron 18 250 becomes surprisingly sharp if stopped down one stop from wide open at any focal distance, with equal or better sharpness than the 17-85. From 18-50mm even 1/3 stop down produces exc

Tamron 18-250mm Gets My Vote,

I teach digital photography at our local community college. I bought this Tamron lens for my new Pentax K 10D SLR after reading several reviews. I’m not in a position to technically evaluate this tamron penlax lens as professional reviewers can so my comments are from the perspective of a user. I leave to the professional reviewers to test and assess lens optical characteristics and quality.

I love this SLR lens because it allows me to shoot spontaneously. Although I have the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my K 10D camera, this lens is always on my camera. With it on my K 10D I can cover the range from wide angle (28mm) to EF telephoto (375mm) without loosing time to make a lens change; it’s always ready. Coupled with the K 10D built-in image stabilization, I feel comfortable taking handheld long zoom shots down to 1/20 sec and wide angle shot to less than 1/10 sec. For me this is the ideal travel/event lens. It is the lens-camera combination to capture the still and moving images as I did during my grandson’s birthday party.

What about quality? Prints are my quality measure and I am more than satisfied. I know this lens is not pro glass but neither does it have a corresponding price. For me it’s performance is very acceptable. I also like its compact size and relative light weight. On my K 10D this two and one-half pound total package is easy to handle and carry all day.

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