Canon EF 70-210mm f3.5-4.5 Zoom Lense

[tim_kong]

Can anyone please give me their honest comment on this lense? I am

planning to get a zoom lense with this focal range to do closeup and

portraits. If you have used or are still using one of this, please

let me know what you think of it? Thanks.

[PuppyDigs]

<P>For the price, it's a wonderful zoom: ultra fast ring-type USM, rear element focus, FTM and is very flare and distortion free compared to 75-300 telezooms. It's ultra sharp at the short end and decently sharp at the long. In fact, it focues faster, is smaller and lighter and is sharper than my lemon EF 70-200 4L USM.</P>

<P><A HREF="http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/frary/toolbox3.htm" TARGET="_blank">My Review of the Canon EF 70-210mm f3.5-4.5 USM</A></P>

[les]

I thought there are no lemons in the mighty Canon L-ine-up... ;)

I thought it was only "third party" lenses that qualify as such...

[grahams]

I can confirm everything that PF says about this lens in his review. I have had one for a year now, as a companion to my 28-105 3.5/4.5 USM II and it is a perfect match. My only beef is that the zoom creeps on mine when the camera is pointed downwards, which means that it probably loosens up with use, but other than that, the results are very good indeed.

[lotsawa]

I have this lens too and I got it used after I sold my 75-300 (non-USM) on ebay. Its true what has been said. Nevertheless, for portraits it might be too slow, especially indoors (since it has better quality when stopped down to f5.6 or f8), so you might also consider a fast prime.

<p>

If "closeup" means macro (sorry, my English is poor), I did some nice closeup shots with this lens. You might also consider a macro in the range 90-100 mm for both portraits and macro, although this might be a little too long if you have a DSLR.

<p>

I quickly put some pics that I found on my harddisk on my website. The first pic is shot with the 85/1.8 prime, for a rough comparison. All shot with 300D.

<p>

Have a look <a href="http://www.lotsawa.de/cs/fotos/zoom70210">here</a> if you like.

[scott_currie1]

I got this lens way back when I got my EOS 630. I have since replaced it with a 70-200 f2.8 but atill use the 70-210 when there is a need for a lighter lens in that focal range. I use it when going backpacking and hiking quite often. The only thing which I can say I dont like is the lens creep when pointed downward. Overall a nice lens, quite sharp, nice size and a good focal range.

 

Scott

[John Crowe]

Bought mine used on eBay for $50 with a nice mark on the front element, still sharper than the Tokina 80-200mm f2.8 ATX. Have not noticed evidence of the mark in photos but it is likely more prone to flare and reduced contrast in backlit scenes. Far superior to the kit 28-80/3.5-5.6. Probably the best bang for the buck in this range.

[ryanjoseph]

I saw this lens at a local photo store shortly before I left Jamaica to go to college. They had it for the nice low price of 350 US dollars. ANyways, the store's ridiculous prices aside, I managed to convince them to let me use the lens on my 300D for a bit. I was quite impressed with its quality wide open, at F8, it was real nice. Autofocus was FAST as well, I was surprised, since it floored my 100-400 L lens in autofocus speed. If you can get this lens for a decent price I would heartily recommend it.

[amit_garg]

I recently started to use the lens and I think it produces very sharp, rich photos. I was using it the zoo and shooting zebras from a distance fully zoomed in and was amazed when I got the photos back. The photos were razor sharp to my eyes..infact i could see very fine whisker hairs on the zebras face! The build quality is OK. The autofocus is very fast and quiet. In the zoom lineup this lens offers incredible value!

 

Amit

[suman]

Ryan, you are absolutely right. 100-400 USM L is probably the slowest focussing L glass I have used (in newer lenses).

[theoldmoose]

I had the previous generation 70-210 f4 (non-L, non-USM, front focusing) as a used 'starter' zoom lens for a while when I purchased my Digital Rebel last year, and got some excellent photos with it. Considering I paid $135 for it, and it came with a hood and caps, I used it for about a year, and then got a $100 trade in allowance when I moved up to the 70-300 DO IS, I'd say that if the more up-to-date f3.5-4.5 USM version is any better, it's a really good deal, if you can get one used in good condition.

 

I almost wish I hadn't trade it in, since I'm now considering handing my Digital Rebel down in the family, and moving to a 20D with 15-85 kit. The DR, with the 18-55 kit lens, and the used 70-210 was a really nice, light all-around inexpensive combination.

[steve_dunn2]

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009k4o">Discussion of the same lens in the same forum a few days ago</a>

<li><a href="http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/70-210">Article about this lens in the static content</a>

</ul>

[pbizarro]

This lens is a good example of how Canon used to make excellent consumer grade zoom lenses, about 10 years ago. It is built from the same blueprint of the 28-105 USM zoom. It is what I like to call as a "honest lens", delivering good results if properly used.

 

It will not let you down.