EOS EF 28-l35/3.5-5.6 "IS" USM - IS IT WORTH IT?

Does anyone have any experience with the 28-l35/3.5-5.6 "IS" USM lens? Does the image stabilizing capability actually give me two or three extra stops or what? I'm a little confused about the advantages of this lens, even though it appears to be a step up on the good old all-round 28-l05/3.5-4.5 USM - or is it? The advertising on this new lens tells me that its main feature is that it can be hand held in dim lighting conditions. So why not use a faster film or a faster lens? If you had a choice, would you purchase this lens or go the extra and buy the 28-70/2.8?

Hi Robbi

 

<p>

 

The 28-135 IS lens is nice and the IS very handy. It's rather soft in

performance at 135mm though. I wouldn't buy one.

 

<p>

 

As a nature photographer I use the 20-35L and the 70-200L, with the

excellent Canon 50mm macro & 100 macro for my work. This is all I need.

Excellent lenses all.

 

<p>

 

Cheers

Robbi, take a look at:

 

<p>

 

http://www.connect.ab.ca/~buddy/istest01.htm

 

<p>

 

and decide for yourself. My own tests corroborate these results.

<font size=4><b><i><center>sorry, cut and pasted from another

post</center></b></i></font><br><br>formatting might be funny.<br>

Get the IS if you want to shoot with a large DOF. If you're going to

do large blow-ups, get the 28-70/2.8. If you're into MTF tests look

here:<br>

<a

href="http://www.photodo.com/lens/">http://www.photodo.com/lens/</a><b

r>Of course, the 28-135 was a great choice for an all-around zoom for

me -especially for the money. It can be plenty sharp, -just more at

certain lengths and apertures than others. I do want to add to my

system to have extremely sharp and fast lenses, but I will do it with

fixed lenses. (why carry such a beast as the 28-70 when 2 or 3 primes

will be faster and cheaper?)

<br><br>

Well, here's the Canon site:

http://www.usa.canon.com/camcambin/cameras/eflenses/ef75-300is.html

Here's a press relase by Canon on IS:

http://www.usa.canon.com/press/081795-5.html

A spec page on the 28-135 IS states that the IS can correct a

maximum angle of

+/- 0.65 0 @ infinity, though I'm not sure if it's the same for

the lens you mention.

Also, another thing I've heard is that the gyros correct the lens

seven times a second

(though I am confused about an IS system that corrects about

every 1/11.66

seconds).

Basically, I really like my 28-135 IS as a standard zoom. Sure

it's slow, but when

you're shooting at f/16, it's much 'faster' than a fixed f/1.4

since you can handhold 2

stops slower. You can get more DOF in low light (handheld of

course) than any

other lens. I can get away with 1/15 consistently by very gently

pressing at the top

of my inhale and between pulses (in sniper mode) -of course I've

heard of people

doing 1/10 (and I may have gotten away with some of these too).

The trick is to

brace yourself. Of course with the 75-300, you're probably

limited to maybe 1/45

to 1/180 for each extreme.

 

As far as battery wear, I've gotten through about 20-25 rolls

with a 2CR5 my Elan

IIe (with a lot of time playing around) and only a few flash

shots. I wouldn't worry

about battery wear (and always bring a spare on a trip). Just

turn it off while

messing around, the flip it on when you're ready to trip the

shutter.