The Photocrati Blog

Nikon 70-210 mm f/4-5.6 D Review Round-Up

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

Ken Rockwell

If a slow f/5.6 maximum aperture is OK for you, then this is your telephoto zoom. I have played with a great many lenses in this focal range, and this one is clearly superior. I’m unsure how much of this is due to my luck at getting a good sample, or if they all are good. This 70-210 AF-D is as sharp as my 80-200 AF-S, better built, focuses almost as fast and focuses closer, and has fewer ghosts. The AF-S lens is handier if you need to go quickly between AF and manual focusing, and of course if you need f/2.8. Also having tested the actual focal lengths, the 70-210 AF-D also goes longer AND shorter than the 80-200, just as the specs suggest. As if you haven’t gathered, this is a lens to get if you need small, sharp, close focusing, inexpensive and don’t need the f/2.8 aperture. “¦READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II 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 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

(more…)

Nikon 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-G Review Round-Up

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

Ken Rockwell

This is a great lens for its intended purpose, which is a light-duty do-everything lens for film and FX digital. (Use the 18-200mm VR instead for DX cameras; it’s far more versatile on them.) Be careful if you use this on a pro camera, since the lens is far more delicate than the camera. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX HSM APO DG macro AF 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 Sigma AF 70-200mm f/2.8 EX HSM APO DG macro is pretty impressive large aperture tele zoom lens. The resolution figures are on a very good to excellent level and neither distortions, vignetting nor CAs are really field relevant on an APS-C DSLR. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) is pretty smooth and buttery – certainly an important aspect here. The mechanical quality of the lens is excellent and the HSM AF drive is both fast and near silent. As such it is a viable alternative to the Nikkor AF 80-200mm f/2.8 ED (or the Canon EF 70-200m f/2.8 USM L) although not necessarily a superior choice. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Canon 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II 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 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

(more…)

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF Review Round-Up

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

Ken Rockwell

This 80-200mm f/2.8 AF was Nikon’s top pro zoom from 1988-1992. Optically this lens is unsurpassed and the same optical design is still sold today. Newer lenses add features like “D” distance coupling for slightly more accurate metering, especially with flash, or they autofocus much faster, or they add image stabilization (VR). The lack of VR is significant: without it, and without being sure to use fast shutter speeds, your hand-held shots will not be as sharp as they could be. If you don’t need fast auto focus (for instance, for tripod shots with a D3x), Nikon makes no better tele zoom, even today. “¦READ FULL REVIEW AT KEN ROCKWELL

(more…)

Lowepro Toploader 65 AW Review Round-Up

The Lowepro Toploader 65 AW is a high quality camera bag with nice features and expandability. A toploader-type case provides great ease of use. Throw the case over your shoulder and go. You have full and easy access to everything without putting the case down. The “AW” designation of the Lowepro Toploader 65 AW indicates “All Weather”. Lowepro includes a rain coat that pulls out of a pouch underneath to provide water protection. The case by itself could be called weather-resistant (not water proof), but the AW rain coat adds to this protection. Basically, the Lowepro Toploader 65 AW is a great compact all-around top-loading camera case. READ FULL REVIEW AT DIGITAL PICTURE

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

Get information and user reviews for this bag at Amazon: Lowepro Toploader 65 AW Camera Case – Top Loading – Belt Loop – Ballistic Nylon, TXP, Ripstop – Black

(more…)

Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX HSM DC (Nikon mount) AF 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 Sigma is an impressive lens with only few weaknesses. The resolution is excellent at 50mm and 100mm and (roughly) very good at 150mm although the quality could be a little better at f/2.8 here. While not formally tested the close focus performance (@ 150mm < 1.5m) seems to fairly poor. Distortions and CAs are well controlled. Vignetting is a slight problem at 150mm @ f/2.8 only. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) is pretty good especially for a zoom lens. The build quality of the lens is excellent although some may miss a tripod mount. The AF is a bit unsure at times but the AF accuracy of the (serviced) sample was generally fine. The question of the day is probably – Sigma or Tokina ? That’s too close to tell I think. READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)

Lowepro Toploader 70 AW Review Round-Up

The Lowepro Toploader 70 AW is very similar to the Lowepro Toploader 75 AW. It is about two inches shorter. It will hold a Canon 1-Series body with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L Lens with its lens hood reversed. READ FULL REVIEW AT DIGITAL PICTURE

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

Get information and user reviews for this bag at Amazon: Lowepro Toploader 70 AW – Soft case ( for camera ) – ballistic nylon, Ripstop – gray, black

(more…)

Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED AF Nikkor 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 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED AF Nikkor SLR Camera Lens

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 D ED is a very affordable tele zoom lens with a quite ambitious 300mm setting. It is capable to deliver very good results between 70mm and 200mm but the results are quite soft at 300mm. Lateral CAs are on the high side but distortions and vignetting are very well controlled. Mechanically it is about in line to other consumer grade zoom lenses in this class. The lens is very affordable by now and if your budget is limited it may still worth a look. However, the new AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR is clearly the better lens and choice (at a higher price naturally). … READ FULL REVIEW

(more…)