New Review
Our review of the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II has been posted. Both Justin and I think the lens is awesome, although it may not be for everyone.
I think the lens is extremely versatile, and if you can only afford one “big white”, this lens will fit the bill for a lot of people. Although in a perfect world, it pairs quite nicely with the EF 600mm f/4L IS II.
Read the full review | Canon EF 300 f/2.8L IS II at B&H Photo
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A great review
Andy Rouse has spent 6 months with the new EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x and has posted a pretty extensive real world review.
Says Andy….
“It is no secret that I am in the Shakira fan club, you know that by now. Its even less of a secret that I am in the 200-400 fan club, in fact I am a fully paid up lifetime member. I just love this lens. As you have seen above, I have really used it hard in a variety of situations during the 6 months I have had it, and it has simply done everything that I have asked. No failures. Nothing to complain about. I have inspected all of the images that I have taken for any distortion, chromatic aberration or lick marks and I can say, hand on one of my two Vulcan hearts, that I did not find any. And remember I have been using a prototype, your production ones will be mint.”
Preorder the EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x: B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon
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The latest Canon midrange L zoom
Justin has completed his review of the Canon EF 24-70 f/4L IS. It’s a lens that has been pretty polarizing since it was announced. Some people loved the idea, a nice and light IS zoom and some people questioned why they’d buy it over the EF 24-105 f/4L IS, especially videographers.
I’m still on the fence, while I do like the lens, I’m not really sure it’s worth the $1400 pricetag, unless size and weight are your biggest concerns.
Says Justin…
“I’ve never found the 24-70 focal range particularly exciting. It’s not wide enough to create an interesting level of distortion, nor so telephoto as to create a special compressed and isolated “look” to your subjects. I never LOVED my 24-70 f/2.8 L, I just used it every day. Like that lens, the 24-70 f/4L IS is a tool; one that is more than capable of getting the job done.”
Read the full review of the EF 24-70 f/4L IS | EF 24-70 f/4L IS at B&H Photo
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New review up
Justin has completed his review of my favourite Canon lens, the EF 24mm f/1.4L II. I’ve never had anyone come back to me and say that I’m wrong about how good it is.
Says Justin…
“One of the most impressive lenses I’ve ever used, in build and quality of images, yet I still sold it. Why? I found myself missing focus very often, this is a personal handicap, and not any fault of the lens. If you live in the world of wide-apertures and can rock a fifty or eight-five wide-open then this lens will certainly lend itself to your style and kit.”
I think this is the perfect fast prime for anyone that has APS-C, APS-H or a full frame camera. It’s especially great if you have cameras with various sensor sizes.
Read the full review | Buy the EF 24 f/1.4L II at: B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama
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From DXOMark
I know you may be getting tired of hearing it, but the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG lens is an astounding accomplishment by Sigma, or any manufacturer for that matter.
DXOMark has reviewed the lens and has found it to be a new benchmark for excellence, and the fact that it’s under $1000 is icing on the cake.
From DXOMark:
“Sigma has stated previously that it was upping its game with new pro-level lens designs and the new 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM is not only on a par with OEM lenses optically it surpasses them in most areas, especially in both acutance and resolution.”
*Note: The review is for the Nikon mount version, but it should be identical to the Canon mount version as far as performance goes.
Read the entire review | Buy the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG for Canon $899
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From DPReview
The folks at DPReview have completed their extensive review of the pretty great Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II. Did they like it? It seems so, although the usual price complaint comes up again.
Says DPR..
“The answer, as usual, isn’t necessarily clear-cut, and depends on each individual photographers’ needs and preferences. Compared to the previous version, it offers weathersealing and a welcome reduction in weight. The Sigma can’t match it optically, especially on full frame, but is so much cheaper that many users may well be willing to overlook this, particularly if they use APS-C cameras. The Tamron looks like a very worthy competitor, offering impressive image quality, image stabilisation and weathersealing all in one package, and we aim to assess it fully in the near future. But quite simply the Canon offers such exceptionally good optics that, if you’re after the very best, there’s simply no other choice.”
Read the full review | Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II $2049 (add to cart)
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New review
Justin has posted a new review for us. This time for the Canon EF 85 f/1.2L II, Canon’s king of lowlight for now. It’s a lens that’s hard to use well at the beginning, but if you give it some time, you’ll grow to love it and all its quirks.
Says Justin….
“The more I used this lens, the more I got to know it, the better my images became, and the more impressed I was with it. Often relying on flash modifiers and scenes built with speedlights and strobes, I took pleasure in exploring natural light situations, and allowing focus isolate my subjects instead of contrast. I know that if it was a regular piece in my kit I would likely bring it to every job I had just to try for some of the impressive three-dimensional feeling images it creates.”
Read the entire review | Buy the Canon EF 85 f/1.2L II at B&H Photo
*Note
We’re going to be organizing reviews in a new way shortly, currently they’re pretty cumbersome to get to. Stay tuned.
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Canon Rumor’s Review of the Canon EF 40 f/2.8 STM
Justin has completed our review of Canon’s little 40 f/2.8 STM pancake lens.
People ask me all the time if it’s worth $200, and I say it is… even just for the fun of it. I especially like it on the EOS 6D just to reduce even more weight from a walkaround kit. Justin also liked the lens, though he doesn’t think he’ll be taking it to too many professional gigs.
Justin’s Conclusion
“Will a pro shooter get something out of this lens that they don’t on any of their other pieces of kit? Meh, probably not. But that’s missing the point, this lens isn’t FOR them. It’s for people who want a light kit, it’s for people who don’t have over a thousand dollars for a zoom lens. It’s for people who who just want to get started or to explore image making with something cheap, or help grow the small kit they already have. It’s for people who, already having pretty much everything, just need something new and unobtrusive to take with them, to give them a slightly different view and inspire some new work.”
Read the entire review | Canon EF 40 f/2.8 STM $199
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From DPReview
The review of the Canon EOS 6D has been completed over at DPReview. They seem to be fairly positive about it, maybe less so than I am. I think the camera is great with terrific IQ. However, they did notice the same thing that I did, the battery drain with wifi and GPS turned on is quite significant, so be sure to buy an extra battery if you don’t have one.
I also don’t miss the autofocus system of the 5D Mark III when I’m using the EOS 6D, 95% of the time I find I don’t need anything beyond the center AF point. However, this point is personal preference and you may decide you need more cross-type AF points.
From DPR
“If you’re an EOS shooter eyeing the 6D as a more affordable alternative to the 5D Mark III, even as a second backup body, Canon has made your decision fairly straightforward. Still image quality aside, the concessions you’re forced to make for the significant cost savings are substantial. A slower burst rate, less sophisticated AF system with smaller coverage area, and moiré-prone video headline the list of compromises. And while we can understand Canon’s desire to keep the camera’s price down, other seemingly arbitrary decisions, like the inability to save HDR raw images and a DOF preview button whose location is much less useful than it could be, smack solely of product differentiation…..”
Read the full review | Canon EOS 6D Body $1879
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From DXOMark
The folks at DXOMark have completed their review of the new Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS.
From DXOMark
“Attached to a Canon EOS 5D MKII it ranks 4th overall and 2nd for wide-angle primes, just behind the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM, which at a similar cost offers the same focal length, a wider f/1.4 maximum aperture but no Image Stabilization.
A Sharpness Score of 17 P-Mpix for the Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM, compared to 15M-Pix for its predecessor, is an improvement of +15% and crucially it performs much better in the corners of the frame, which was the weakest aspect of the original. It’s not the widest Canon prime available with the Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM and Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM available at a similar price point and although they don’t quite achieve the dizzying heights of the 35mm they put in a very good performance, too.”
Read the full review | Buy the Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS for $849
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