linden_l

70-200 f4 is an excellent zoom throughout its range. I have both f4 and f2.8 IS, very nice for portrait. Like them very much. Excellent image quality. But if you really need macro capability, 100mm f2.8 macro is a very sharp lens, also a nice portrait lens, though some people complain it's too sharp for portrait.

I don't know about the f1.8 II, but I was disappointed when I got my f1.4. The build quality was not what I expected for a lens priced at that range, kind of flimsy, comparing with my collection of other Canon lenses. But the image quality is pretty good. I like it a lot for being able to use it under available light.

Not sure if either of the lens mentioned would be too heavy for the 300D body. 70-200mm f4 with either 1.4x or 2x TC would be lighter and cheaper. Of course, no IS. :( Maybe Canon will roll out a 70-200mm f4 IS at PMA, just my wishful thinking...

In my opinion, the 50mm f1.5 USM isn't that of high quality as I have expected for its price comparing to other Canon lenses I have. It's kind of flimsy actually. The autofocus is slow and a little noisy. The focusing ring not so smooth like others, at least the one I have. If this is the high quality 50mm, I don't even want to look at the 50mm f1.8 II. From what I heard about the Mark II, it's more like a disposable lens. As for image stabilization, it would be bulkier for sure. I think the IS feature is really useful for handheld teles. Plus, not sure how well they will sell if it is $500 or more with the IS.

The built-in flash syncs at 1/60s, slow for a lot of situations. But you have 550ex which I have too. I remember it syncs at 1/250s which should be suficient for most of your needs.

Canon has an ongoing rebate offering for a lot of their lenses till

1/31/2004. I want to buy one of their premium lenses (70-200mm f2.8

IS). I was considering buying a second hand one, but really don't

want to take a chance for an expensive lens. (I know comparing to

$5,000-6,000 lenses, this is nothing, but for me this is a major

purchase.) I am not sure this is a good time to buy or not. Has

anyone been monitoring Canon's lens pricing and its trend. Does it

mean that after the rebate offer is over, they will reduce the

prices, probably even more? Should I wait at least after the annual

PMA? I am not in urgent need to have this lens, but to add to my

collection sometime not in too distant future. Does anyone have some

kind advices in this situation?

 

As always, thanks!

I think you should be equally concerned about salt in the air around beaches. Actually, I was going to post a similar question about shooting on beach. In the past when I took camera to the beach, I was quick to find that after a while, salt crystals formed on the filter/lens. So this past summer vacation, I took only my Minolta 7i with me. I was afraid that my 10D and lenses would be harmed, although the result may not be immediate. I do use 'L' lenese and supposedly they are sealed against weather elements, but I figured that although you can wipe off the exterior afterwards, I don't know how you can get to those hard to get spots, and salt is very corrosive. I am sure pros take their gears to beach all the time, but that's tear and wear on their professional tools and they can make it back by selling their images. For me, I would keep them at home.

Bogen's Digi series certainly will not do, not with your 300mm F4. I have Digi 719B, the build-in ballhead will not lock down, and it drifts. Too heavy for it. Maybe ok with 300D and a small lens. It is great for my Minolta 7i, but you know it's in a totally different class. If budget is not a concern and you really want a light full featured one, get a carbon fibre tripod. Get the best tripod you can afford is my advice if you know you will use it alot...

I don't think so, not with Canon's short tele zooms. Not sure if third parties make any of them...

Steve,

 

That has done it! Thanks so much for your info and help!!!!!!

 

Linden

Guess what, guys? After I down loaded the suggested spybot and ad-aware and cleaned up the files and entries in the registry, I still have the same problem. I am bewildered as what to do now. Oh, I haven't tried Rob's suggestion of windows update. Hopefylly that will be the cure. Will try that...

The previous post should have been directed to Rob, not Bob, sorry about it...

Bob,

 

In response to your question, I did not click on any of the third party ads on the right side of the page. Thanks.

I used the search phrase "Canon 135mm soft focus", I just tried again. This time, when I clicked the first on the returned list, it was fine. I used the 'back' to return to the list and clicked on the same entry, then it went to this web site: http://www.umaxsearch.com/search.php?aid=14&q=canon+135mm+soft+focus&r=27557 , and when I clicked on the second entry on the list, it went to another site...

 

As far as I know, when there is spyware on the machine, it opens a new window, but mine showed up as if it was a direct link.

 

Thanks all for your help.

I was trying to search a certain topic on a Canon EOS lens in this

forum, the google search engine returned a list of related topics.

But when I clicked on a few links that supposedly take me to those

threads, they went to third party web sites instead. If I click a

few times, it may take me to the right place or I can use the cached

page. This is really annoying. Has anyone else experienced any thing

like this? Or could it be somehow spyware inadvertently installed on

my computer?

 

Thanks.

Just did my part to be in this community...

Rick,

 

At what aperture did you take this picure? My guess is f > 10. I observed similar stuff on mine one day when I took some snow scenes with small apertures (f 11). So it has been there for a while, just I didn't catch them earlier. But I later cleaned the sensore myself using PEC PAD and eclipse. This is something you have to live with unless you don't change the lens on your camera.

Well, it's a B&W F-PRO filter. I don't know if B&W makes any 'cheap' filter. But certainly I will remember to take it off next time under similar shooting conditions. Thanks you all for your input.

I did have a B&W protective filter on the lens at the time. Maybe that explains it (maybe that's why the other reader said that I was shooting through a window). Thanks all for your input.

 

For all the EF lenses I have, this 50mm f1.4 is the first one that gives the doubt about Canon's built quality considering its price range. Just doesn't have that solid feeling in your hand. I was trying to get a 50mm f1.8 metal mount, but couldn't find a reasonably price one and thought this f1.4 would be an upgrade with a larger aperture. But I still like it despite it's shortfalls.

 

As for trying the old time cameras, I do have the urge to purchase a manual system at times, since they are so cheap now, but the problem is that I just don't want to go through the trouble of shooting films, since digital is so convenient. If I did, I will not likely use it. Now my Canon 1N is in storage, but I like the camera and I may use it when I need to. But I really feel liberated once I have the digital, as it allows to experiment all kinds of things without worrying about the developing cost. Sure, digital has limitations, but I think it is the perfect learning tool for improving my photographic skills.

This is exactly what I was talking about. I don't know what makes you think it's through the window, but no, it's not.

I have an EF 50mm f1.4 recently I bought second hand, I like it very

much since it allows to take pictures under low light situations

without flash, although the build quality is less than what I

expected for its price. I just realized a problem in the past couple

of days. When I take pictures with strong light source in the back,

at certain angles, it tends to have a pretty bad flare problem (see

sample image, aperture wide open at f1.4 with Canon 10D). Other

pictures I took at similar positions didn't yield such flares. Is

this pretty well known for this lens and therefore expected? I did

have a rubber lens hood mounted, but it didn't help under those

conditions, since the light source was directly behind. Is there

anyway to avoid this?

 

Also as I have mentioned above, the feel of this lens is really

something of a much cheaper one. The focusing ring is not smooth

like other EF lense I have, be it ultrasonic or not. ALthough the AF

works pretty well, it is not as quiet as other USM lenses I have. It

is a little soft at f1.4 and f2, but at f2.8, it is pretty sharp.

 

I would like to hear from owners of this lens and your comments

would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...

Sorry about my previous posting, I meant to run the test with or without mirror lockup using the remote release (to see the pure mirror vibration effect), not with or without remote release.

I think the first answer to the question did not quite get it. First of all, what is considered long exposure? Different person may have different answers. So here we need to be specific about the ranges. I have a 10D and I use mirror lockup quite often ever since I got the remote shutter release. Before I always curious about this too. So the best way to find out is run the test myself, and digital camera has made it so easy. You simply make various timed exposures with and without remote release, then zoom all the way in to see the details. Like someone has already mentioned above, my test reveals that when the exposure is 1/15 to about 1 sec, it definitely makes a significant difference with my 300mm f4 or 70-200mm f4 with or without 1.4X TC (of course, on a sturdy tripod). Longer exposures (more than a few seconds) do not make much difference, considering the vibration duration and overall duration of exposure, which makes sense. Of course, for longer exposures the mirror flap will cause some blur, but signal/noise ratio difference is simply not significant. Isn't everything about signal/noise ratios? Ok, in this case, how do you increase the ratio or decrease noise? Reducing vibrations! So if someone is REALLY picky about his/her quality of work, use mirror lockup by all means. I am not a pro, I am just shooting it to satisfy myself, SO PLEASE DON'T BE TOO HARSH ON ME... But I do learn to be more critical about my work after I ran my tests.

I got a EF 50mm f1.4 recently. The test on my 10D revealed that at wide open, f1.4 and f2 tends to be a little soft, but at f2.8, it is close to my EF 100mm Macro USM lens at same aperture. But I think I am ok with that since I am not sure if I want to have an extremely sharp lens for any portait work, though I have the option to set it to f2.8 if I want to. Another thing I find about this lens was that its build quality was not that great, considering the price tag. I knew alot of people have complaints about the cheap construct of new f1.8 MarkII. That's why I went for a f1.4. I don't know about the cheap f1.8 or the metal mount mark I, but this f1.4 certainly does not have the same feel of my other lenses, be it USM or non-USM, L or non-L. In terms of image quality, I have no complaint though.

Thanks, everyone, for all the info you shared here.