Lens Reviews

Back in the day when fixed-focal-length optics reigned supreme, the 35mm lens, along with its wider cousin, the 28mm, was known as the lens a portrait or wedding photographer would use for group or full-length portraits or, especially if it had a fast aperture, the photojournalist would use to grab street candids. Today, with our wide zooms we’re often happy enough with an f/4 maximum aperture and we tend to overlook what faster fixed-focal-length lenses could do to help our photography.

Canon offers five different 70-300mm zoom lenses in its product lineup. Why so many? They obviously think this is a popular and practical focal length range and I happen to agree. I even own one of them myself—the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM—but the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM tested is the mac daddy of ’em all. Part of the reason for its high price tag ($1599) is that it’s the only one of the five lenses that is resplendent in white paint (the better for TV cameras to see), making it part of the “L” series. (See “Just For The ‘L’ Of It.”) Canon’s L lenses typically have wide apertures fixed throughout the zoom range but in this case all five lenses in this focal length range have identical f/4-5.6 apertures.

The new Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM telephoto zoom lens features two Ultra Low Dispersion (UD) elements for improved image quality and reduced chromatic aberration. It incorporates a floating focusing mechanism for sharpness from close-up (3.9 feet) to infinity plus an Image Stabilization (IS) system that Canon claims increases usability by approximately four stops. The IS system includes a function that allows it to continue to operate even when the camera or the lens, the latter being a better idea, is mounted on a tripod. There’s an optional ($189.95) Canon Tripod Mount C for mounting on a tripod or monopod but I was unable to get one for testing. The lens is dust- and water-resistant and features a Fluorine coating that resists smears and fingerprints and significantly eases lens cleaning, but that doesn’t make me suggest less vigorous lens protection. More later.

The arrival of the new Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM lens was a case of perfect timing as within a few days I’d be on the road for a couple of weeks photographing the abundance of wildlife at the Blackwater Refuge.

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (16-35mm equivalent in 35mm parlance) was designed to cover the APS-C format, specifically the EOS 20D and both EOS Digital Rebels (plus future APS-C models). Canon's EF-S lenses (S = Short Back Focus) are physically matched to these cameras. This design also results in a smaller and lighter lens (3.5" long and less than 14 oz).

There is no doubt that Carl Zeiss is one of the magical names in the world of optics and so the introduction of the Zeiss ZE lenses for analog and digital cameras is big news.

One of the few things we didn’t try in our in our recent review of Sony’s small and sophisticated A6500 mirrorless camera was to try shooting with a cheap 500mm f/8 preset lens and a 2x teleconverter. But that’s exactly what photographer Christopher Burress did in the video below, and his results are pretty interesting.

Although zoom lenses are certainly versatile and convenient, they do have some drawbacks, including relatively small maximum apertures.