The Photocrati Blog

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX HSM DC 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: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Wide Angle AF Lens & Filters & Close-Up Macro Set & 9 Year Warranty for Pentax SLR

Photo Zone

This lens showed a very good performance during the tests especially in terms of resolution. There’s some softness towards the extremes at 10mm @ f/4 but otherwise there’s really nothing to complain here (within this specific lens class anyway). The vignetting and distortions are quite comparable to the rest of the gang. Lateral CAs are generally well controlled except in the extreme corners of the image field. The Sigma offers a little extra kick regarding the widest setting (10mm vs 12mm of the Nikkor or Tokina) so the quality is fairly impressive regarding the increased design complexity here. The build quality is very good and the AF is both fast and virtually silent. If you’re looking for a candidate in this class the Sigma is worth a look but watch out for sample variations. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 500mm f/8 SP Review Round-Up

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Photo Zone

When used with care the Tamron 500mm f/8 SP mirror lens can be able to produce decent results but don’t expect this to be easy – most of my real life sample images were blurred (caused by shake). A (max.) aperture of f/8 is very slow for a 500mm lens (750mm equivalent on APS-C) to start with and effectively this is a f/11 (or to be precise: T/11) lens due to the light loss caused by the secondary mirror. For reasonably sharp results you either need a very sturdy tripod or extremely fast shutter speeds (1/750sec or faster). When used “hand-held” you will need to choose very high ISO settings even in bright light conditions which can’t be desirable in terms of image quality and a tripod would destroy the weight advantage of a mirror lens in field conditions. The rather poor bokeh may be a funny effect in the beginning but once the initial coolness is gone it is just odd and often disturbing. Unless you want to have a lens for “emergency” use you should probably better consider conventional tele lenses. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 55mm 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

The 55mm f/2.8 AF is among Nikon’s best lenses ever. The mechanics are a klunky and plasticy, but the performance is stellar. READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS 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 17-85mm f/4-5.6 Image Stabilized USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLRs

Photo Zone:

The EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 USM IS is a lens that promises many things. It is certainly a very versatile standard zoom with a long zoom range and an image stabilizer that can save the day in many situations. However, the build quality is somewhat disappointing and optically it is also something of a mixed bag. The lens is very sharp in the image center throughout the range but at the wide-end the extreme corners leave something to be desired. The 17mm setting also suffers from rather extreme distortions and rather hefty vignetting @ f/4. Finally chromatic aberrations aren’t really something to rave about either. So at the end of the day the lens is a tad better than the cheapo EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 but it can’t really compete with the new EF-S 18-55m f/3.5-5.6 IS or the EF 17-40mm f/4 USM L. The key feature of the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 USM IS remains its versatility. While this may sound a little sceptical I should note that I preferred the lens compared to other higher quality options during testing – it is simply a darn convenient lens and despite the flaws it can produce very decent images as you can see from the samples – at least with a little tool support. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR ZL Di LD Aspherical (IF) with Built-In AF Motor for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR (forgive me for using a shorter variant of the name …) proved to be a very good lens in the lab. The resolution figures are among the highest tested among the standard zoom lenses – the center resolution is generally excellent and the borders follow closely on very good to excellent levels. The distortions are very low as is the amount of vignetting and even CAs are very well under control. Nonetheless it should be mentioned that this is the 2nd tested sample of this lens and both showed centering defects – this is worrisome. The build quality of the lens is decent but nothing to rave about. If you can live with the rather odd zoom range within the APS-C scope the lens is worth a deeper look – assuming you can get a good sample. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 135mm f/2 D DC AF Review Round-Up

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Photo Zone

The DC-Nikkor AF 135mm f/2 D is a very high quality, versatile tele lens. The resolution figures are excellent when using the Nikkor as a conventional lens. The Defocus Control (DC) feature gives you superior control over background and foreground blur – some portrait and still-life photographers will certainly desire such a detailed controlled over the bokeh (the out-of-focus blur) although it requires quite a bit of experience to master it. Vignetting, distortions and lateral CAs are very low and nothing to worry about in the field. The build quality of the lens is excellent whereas the AF (relying on the slotted drive screw) is a bit dated by now. Similar to its shorter cousin the DC-Nikkor 135mm f/2D has one major drawback – its price tag at around 1200 â‚¬/US$. READ FULL REVIEW

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Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [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 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Early user comments already suggested that new Tamron AF 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro does not only offer a longer range but also a higher quality over the old Tamron AF 18-200mm XR and the lab results confirm these impressions. The results may not touch the sky but the new AF 18-250mm delivers a very solid performance for most of the range. Unsurprisingly the weak spot is at 250mm @ f/6.3 – stopping down to f/8 is a good idea here. Nonetheless the resolution characteristic is fairly amazing regarding the extreme zoom range. Typical for such lenses the Tamron exhibits a quite extreme level of barrel distortions at 18mm but at longer focal lengths to the problem isn’t overly significant. Vignetting is a problem at 18mm f/3.5 and in critical situations you should generally stop down a bit. … As to be expected for a zoom lens in this price league (<450â‚¬/US$) the lens body is mostly made of plastic but the build quality is fairly decent. The AF speed is quite slow on the D200 whereas the AF accuracy is generally fine here. All-in-all the Tamron is a decent all-round/travel zoom lens. Just make sure that you can live with its rather slow max. aperture at the long end which requires quite a bit of light or high ISO settings for stable hand-held photography. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS 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 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Photo Zone:

Similar to the Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 proved to be a solid performer without any spectacular strengths nor weaknesses except a positive peak at its 28mm setting. The level of distortions is pretty low for such a lens and vignetting isn’t overly pronounced. Due to the 1.6x cropping factor on APS-C DSLRs the range is quite unexciting here but if you’re looking for a compact short tele-zoom with IS to compliment an ultra-wide zoom … why not? READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 60mm f/2.8 D AF Micro 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 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro-Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Released back in ’93 the Micro-Nikkor AF 60mm f/2.8 D is a relatively old design but it can still deliver excellent results. The resolution figures are excellent and both vignetting and distortions are nothing to worry about. CAs are a little on the high side for a fix-focal lens though (correctable). The mechanical quality is very good and it’s fun to handle the lens. A great macro lens and even a worthy replacement for a standard lens unless you require ultra-large aperture settings. READ FULL REVIEW

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Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S IF-ED VR 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/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

The Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR may not be the Ãœber-lens everybody was hoping for (nor was that realistic) but it is still a very good lens. At 70mm the results are nothing short of stellar and still easily on a very good level at 200mm. At 300mm there ´s a performance penalty specifically at the image borders @ f/5.6. Stopping down to f/8 helps to overcome most of the problems but unfortunately there ´s also a quite pronounced but still correctable degree of yellow/blue (lateral) CA. Distortions and vignetting are basically non-issues throughout the range. The build quality is pretty decent and about in line this Nikon’s recent medium grade zoom lenses. The AF is quite fast and almost silent and unlike most lenses in this league the front-element does not rotate during focusing nor zooming. The pricing of the lens may be relatively steep in absolute terms but price/performance-wise it remains a harmonious package. … READ FULL REVIEW

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