Camera Labs

Hi

Great forum and good advice. Here's my first posting.

I have now owned my 400D for a few months and am ready to upgrade my lenses. As well as the kit lens, I currently have an old (but really useful) canon 35-135usm and tokina 20-35. The main deficiences of these lenses are lack of sharpness and nothing to show at the telephoto end.

My key uses will be informal photos and portrait shots of the kids (mainly outdoor) and occasional sports/action photography. I would like to stick with Canon but would be prepared to go independent if this will deliver sharp photos and quick focusing at a reasonable price. I'm not too worried about the wider end (the kit lens will be OK for this) and so would be happy to go with a range of 24/28mm upwards.

The mid range zooms I've so far looked at on paper are 17-85 IS USM (which seems to get mixed views on sharpness - including on this forum), 24-105 L IS USM (pricey but apparently a cut above the rest) and 28-135 IS USM (which would be closest to my current 35-135 - but is the image quality markedly better?).

The telephoto zooms I'm considering (or can afford to consider!) are the 70-300 IS USM (seems to have good reviews for image quality but questionable build quality) and 70-200 L USM (a step up but fairly bulky to carry about and not very subtle!).

Any advice and views on these lenses (or any independent equivalents) would be much appreciated. I want to get the best image quality I can for the best price (like most people I guess!).

Thanks.

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My 24-105 L IS USM feels very comfortable in the hand when attached to my 400D and that "L" means I don't have to worry about optical or build quality.

The only downside of choosing this particular lens is that it covers most of the focal lengths I ever need! You may think this is an odd criticism but it means that I find it hard to justify the purchase of the EF 70-200mm f4L IS USM just to get to 200mm from 105 while still sticking with "L" glass.

I believe that Gordon will shortly be evaluating the EF 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 DO IS USM. This is the lens that I earmarked as my next purchase on grounds of size and flexibility but I have held off for a while for two reasons. First, I am still not sure how significant the unusual bokeh is in practice so I look forward to Gordon's review and forum member's comments. The second reason is that after 18 years I finally had to buy a new lawn mower!

Bob.

Hi Bob, will you be doing a user-review of your new mower for us?!

Seriously though, it'd be great to hear what you think of the 24-105mm in that section if you have time...

Hi Snapper, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

First off, have you had a look at our Canon kit lens upgrade article here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/features/Cano ... s_upgrade/

These are all replacements for the standard 18-55mm though. If you're happy starting at a less wide focal length, then the 24-105mm is a great choice. Remember on a cropped body, it's offering an equivalent of 38-168mm...

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Like the EF 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 DO IS USM the new lawn mower has a great zoom function!!!

As a bit of fun I have just ordered an EF 50mm f1.8 II. The intention is to piggyback my 400D onto the telescope which will act as a guide scope for a few big sky shots. It isn't a lens I would consider for normal use but the optics are apparently very good for the price and I don't care about the build quality, lack of IS or non-USM autofocus. I'll share my thoughts about this lens in a few months.

Bob.

best portrait lens = primes,

I would switch the 18-55 for the 10-22 anytime to get big field of view.. but that might not be exactly what you're looking for

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Canon Rebel Xti (400D), EF-S 18-55, 50mm f/1.8, Sandisk Extreme III 2gb.
Http://cr4zyh3ad.sisimple.ca

Thanks for the comments/advice everyone.

I notice that no one recommends the Canon 17-85 lens! I think I will need to bite the bullet and save for the 24-105L IS USM - the going price seems to be around £600.00 (with Canon rebate). But I would expect the lens to stay with me through future camera upgrades and, most importantly, I expect it to provide the sharpness and image quality that I do not enjoy with my current lenses.

I have checked out a number of lens reviews and the Canon 70-300 IS USM (not the DO version) seems to rate very well for image quality. Build quality does not seem so good and it does rotate at the front (not that I expect to use filters) but it should be fine for the occasional use I need it for. The going rate seems to be around £330.00 (with Canon rebate). So I am tempted to purchase it soon. So if anyone has any warnings against it - let me know now!

The cheapest 24-105L IS USM in Germany/Austria is 850EUR incl. 19% VAT. So your price seems to be ok!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi Snapper, the 17-85mm is a great all-round general purpose lens if you want one which goes from wide angle to short telephoto, but if you can live without the wide angle end, then the 24-105mm is far superior...

Gordon

Hi Snapper, nothing wrong with the 17-85mm lens I use mine all of the time in fact it stays on the camera most of the time only comes off if I feel the need to change the lens for one of the others that I have.
It's a good all round lens IMHO and a darn site better than the kit lens supplied with the camera.

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

Hi Snapper,
Just wanted to second the fact that the 17-85mm IS USM is a very nice lens and worth considering.
I just bought one (was initially hesitant based on a lot of mixed reviews) but seem to have a great version since my doesn't suffer from many of the issues I've read about. It's also great for my needs and probably stay on my 400D like Defiant.

Roland

Thanks for your further comments/advice everyone.
I'm still keen to buy the 24-105 L lens but my bank account is now tempting me towards the 17-85 because, with £100.00 Canon cashback, I could get it for £299.00. The 24-105L (even with cashback) will be around £250.00 more! So I guess I'm wondering whether the extra IQ is worth £250.00.
All views appreciated. I need to decide before the current cashback offer runs out at the end of June!

Hi Snapper,

That Canon cashback is a right pain - I've almost bought the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM on several occasions in the last week or so..

The biggest downside to buying the EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM is that should you ever upgrade to a full-frame body the lens is useless and would have to be sold. The EF 24-105mm f4L IS USM has all the quality you could want and the investment is protected whenever you upgrade provided you stick with Canon.

I wish I understood why Canon is offering £100 cashback on the EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM as the percentage saving is considerably greater than most of the their qualifying products. For instance, the EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM which retails for more than the EF-S lens only qualifies for £33. Would it be cynical to think that they are trying to shift excess stock of the EF-S lens because the lens is either due for a revamp or isn't selling well?

Bob.

Don't know about that Bob, I had a devil of a job getting a 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM lens for my partners 350D during this "Cashback" promotion it seemed that of all of the e-tailers for Canon were out of stock, but found one at Castle Cameras Bournemouth after a couple of weeks of searching.
BTW before anyone asks... I didn't want her "Nicking" mine

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

Hi Roy,

They are probably out of stock because Canon is discounting them so heavily!

As far as I can tell from a very brief rootle on the net this lens has been around for nearly three years so it will be interesting to see if Canon announces a Mark II in the next few months.

Bob.

P.S. Are you still pleased with the EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM? This lens is still very much on my wish list.

Well remember there's a 30D successor due very soon, so perhaps it will launch with a new EF-S lens... any bets it might finally be a Canon 18-200mm IS?!

Gordon