The Photocrati Blog

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX HSM II 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.

Digital Photography

The Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II is a prime example of an independent manufacturer producing a design which can challenge the camera companies’ own lenses in most aspects of optical and operational performance, but at a much lower price. In almost all regards it performs well in everyday use, delivering good quality images across a broad range of situations. The optics are perfectly competent, if not outstanding; indeed the lens is really very good towards the short end, but weaker at 200mm, where it’s slightly soft and suffers from relatively high levels of chromatic aberration. Vignetting is impressively low, even on full frame (presumably a benefit of that broad and stubby barrel design), and geometric distortion reasonably well controlled. verall, if you appreciate the limitations of this lens and stick within its practical limits, it provides much of the performance of the camera manufacturers’ equivalents at a much lower price. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 180mm f/3.5 SP Di LD [IF] 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.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 180mm f/3.5 Di SP A/M FEC LD (IF) 1:1 Macro Lens for Konica Minolta and Sony Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 180mm f/3.5 SP Di LD [IF] macro offers a near-flawless performance. Optically it doesn’t leave anything to be desired – the resolution is very good to excellent from f/3.5 all the way down to f/16 and vignetting, CAs and distortions are non-issues in field conditions. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur), a primary aspect in macro photography, is very smooth and buttery. The build quality of the Tamron is very good but there is one bug – the lens has no focus limiter and the rather slow AF combined with AF hunting can be a frequent and rather tiresome experience. Thanks to a focus clutch mechanism you can switch between AF and MF as easy as pushing/pulling the focus ring so if necessary you should give the AF a better hint by manual pre-focusing. Other than that it is a really impressive lens. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF 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 24-85mm f/2.8-4.0D IF AF Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF is an very good standard zoom and it was the right decision by Nikon to discontinue its younger cousin (AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED) rather than this lens. The resolution characteristics is very good to excellent throughout the zoom range with a sweet spot towards the wide end. The contrast suffers somewhat at large aperture settings, specifically at 85mm, but is lifted significantly when stopping down a little. Vignetting and CAs are very well controlled whereas distortions are about average for a lens in this class. The mechanical quality is decent without reaching the true pro grade Nikkors here due to a rather extensive use of plastics and an old style AF. … READ FULL REVIEW

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Sigma 14mm 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.

Luminous Landscape:

Resolution is, as expected, very good. In a large print small chips in the central concrete buttress are clearly visible. Contrast is fine and at f/11 at least there is no visible fall-off in the corners. The sun is out of the frame so flare isn’t visible. The lens cap is well designed. Because the front element is so huge designing a protective lens cap can be an issue. Sigma has come up with a neat solution by providing a pressure-fit ring that first fits on the end of the lens, extending beyond the sculpted integrated lens shade. The standard lens cap then fits on the outside of this ring. Simple and effective. Like all lenses of this type, as you can see from the photograph at the top of the page, the front element is exposed. This makes it susceptible to fingerprints and other more serious hazards so keeping the lens cap on when not actually shooting is probably a very good idea. Based on my experience using the Sigma 14mm with my D30 and D60 over a period of a couple of years, I’d say that if you’re looking for a moderately priced ultra-wide angle lens to give your DSLR wide angle capability, the Sigma 14mm f/2.8 is a decent performer for the money. Initial impressions of this lens are very favourable. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L EF USM 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 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

Very similar to its IS enabled cousin the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM L is an impressive piece of lens with superb build quality combined with an excellent optical performance which is, in fact, slightly better than in the rest of the family and comparable to the best fix-focals in its range. So if you can live without IS (which is, however, darn attractive in its 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS incarnation) there’re still good reasons to go for this superb lens! READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 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 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Digital Picture:

The Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Lens is a definite step up in quality from Canon’s econo consumer zooms. The Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Lens features good build and decent-for-the-price optical quality. The Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Lens offer 20mm more zoom range on the telephoto end and sacrifices 4mm on the wide end. If this is the price range you are able to buy up to, you will have to decide which of these features (focal length ranges, image quality) is most important to you. The Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Lens has a very nice focal length range that includes the normal, general purpose zoom range and more. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR 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 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED DX VR delivered a very sound performance with very few weaknesses. The resolution characteristic is generally very good and neither CAs not distortions are something to worry about. The vignetting is a bit more pronounced at 135mm @ f/5 but otherwise not a real problem. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) is naturally a bit underdeveloped due to the slow max. aperture but apart from this limitation is seems pretty smooth. … A highly desirable new feature is naturally the VR (Vibration Reduction) mechanism. … However, I’d state that it isn’t quite as efficient as specified by Nikon though. The best thing of all is the very low price tag of the lens – by now it sells for less than 300â‚¬/US$. So you can get lots of bangs for you bucks if you can live with the comparatively slow max. aperture. READ FULL REVIEW

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Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 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.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO-M DG (Motorized) Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon AF D Cameras.

Photo Zone

The Sigma AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG macro came close to a surprise but it still hasn ´t won the cigar. It delivered pretty decent results in most aspects, specifically at 70mm and 200mm, but at 300mm the border resolution is nothing short of dismal – certainly not apochromatic as claimed by Sigma (nor would we really expect that from such a budget lens). Nonetheless you may argue that the center performance of the lens is on a very high level throughout the range and for many tele applications your main subject is often located close to the center so the border problems may not be all that obvious in the real life. As such it still remains an interesting budget solution. If you prefer a sharp border to border quality look elsewhere though … and prepare yourself to invest quite a bit more. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical IF 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 17-35mm f/2.8-4.0 Di LD SP Aspherical (IF) Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di LD Aspherical IF SP proved to be a very decent standard zoom lens within the tested APS-C DSLR scope. The resolution figures are excellent in the center of the image and good to very good at the borders. Distortions are very pronounced at 17mm but very moderate otherwise. Typical for full frame lenses vignetting is very well controlled. CAs are a little on the high side specifically at 24mm. The build quality is generally pretty good but the direct competition does a little better job in this respect. When shopping for a new lens the Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8 SP may be a tad better and more versatile in terms of focal length range but without full format capabilities. If you prefer to have a lens living in both camps the AF 17-35mm f/2.8-4 Di SP may be still worth a deeper look. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-105mm F/4-5.6 AF Review Round-Up

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

Pop Photo

An incredibly good buy; optically comparable in test to a $330 (street) 1993 Canon 28-105mm lens, which didn’t focus as close. The plastic lensmount is durable, but just don’t wear gloves when manual focusing! READ FULL REVIEW

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