Just about to buy Canon 28-135mm IS - Should I? [Archive]

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lticket

29-03-2006, 12:06

Just about to replace my kit lens with a Canon 28-135mm IS for about £250. Is this a good/bad idea?

Use it for a variety of things, noticed the poor performance of the kit lens when in London on Sunday :nono:

Anyone want to stop me buying quick? 10minutes and the deed will be done...

Art Vanderlay

29-03-2006, 12:07

That is a good price - for that money I would go for it :)

My only reservation with it is whether 28 is wide enough if it is your only lens

I have a 28-105 which I got cheap from Dixons a while back (£99) but when there are a few more options amongst lens so there are more to suit 1.6x crop cameras, and hopefully prices have sneaked down a bit, I will probably go for something like the 17-85 IS

lticket

29-03-2006, 12:22

I went for it :) Haven't seen anything with a similar range for less then £300, and this included Special next day delivery from the UK.

I blame the photo meet for both this purchase and the 75-300mm IS earlier this week!

:nono:

Samiad

29-03-2006, 12:43

It's a good price if it's second hand, it's a great price for brand new.

It is a good and versatile lens, with a very usable range of focal lengths, and IS.

The bad points are that it is quite slow (you'll be using the flash a lot indoors) and the optical quality is mid-range (when stopped down it's pretty good). I was never that impressed with the colours and contrast it gave me.

I have no doubt you will love the lens though, it really is a convenient lens to own.

My gallery has a bunch of pictures taken with the lens if you would like to check some samples out.

Brozyniak

29-03-2006, 12:50

You will need to supplement it with something a bit wider. Rustle down the back of the sofa, find another £300 and a sigma 10-20 could be yours ;)

Highlander

29-03-2006, 12:55

Yep, i really like my 28-135mm IS, but found it wasn't wide enough. That wasn't a problem when I had my 18-55mm, but I sold that with my 300D, when i upgraded to a 20D. Ended up with the 17-85mm IS, and still have the 28-135mm sitting in my bag all lonely. Probably about time I tried to sell it.

lticket

29-03-2006, 12:59

Well the main thing i'm hoping for is an improvement over the kit lens...

Think i'll wait a while for a wider lens as I don't think I'd use it as much and I've just spent far too much on the other two!

Sam, I really like 'Festival Base'. A lot of the other shots with the lens are stationary objects- I think the main improvement should be with moving subjects.

Oh, and of course it's second hand... am too poor to buy new lol

Fingers crossed :)

lticket

29-03-2006, 13:09

And Sam, loving that... http://www.samiad.co.uk/gap.htm

kez

29-03-2006, 15:41

Highlander

29-03-2006, 15:55

£230 :eek:
They're fetching up to £300 exc delivery on eBay (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-582776-5826355)

lticket

29-03-2006, 15:58

:o Don't tell me that now!! Lol, sure another forumite will snap that offer up though? (Any takers?? :))

Samiad

29-03-2006, 17:29

And Sam, loving that... http://www.samiad.co.uk/gap.htm

Ha, thanks! That was taken with a trusty compact Canon G2.

Also, unfortunately you will probably be stuck a few times at 28mm and needing something wider.

kez

29-03-2006, 19:11

£230 :eek:
They're fetching up to £300 exc delivery on eBay (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-582776-5826355)

really? :nuts:

i'll stick it on there, then :)

Sam

29-03-2006, 19:55

I love mine, its my most used lens. Optically I find it punches well above its weight for the price IMO. The IS is a little noisy but very good, I have quite a steady hand and combined with the IS I've managed to handhold upto 4 stops lower than I'd normally expect.

snoopstah

30-03-2006, 08:42

Love mine, too. Managed to get a couple of sharp shots hand-held at 1/3 second! :thumbs:

Bargain at that price.

lticket

31-03-2006, 17:35

Samiad

31-03-2006, 18:03

Lovin it!! Haven't really had an opportunity to get a good snap but the speed of focus and the smooooooothness is just luverly! :D

Hoping for some nice weather and inspiration to try it out over the weekend (think i'm going to a gig tomorrow night, see how it copes in low light etc)

Now where's my new 75-300mm IS :p

My experiences are mixed on low light with this lens. On one hand the IS is fantastic (its best feature by far) and will allow you to really drag the shutter out - but if the subject is not freezing for you, then you will get motion blur. If it's concert photography you might be lucky and get some nice blur (such as a guitar player strumming or drummer) but more often you will get the wrong kind of blur (such as a persons face moving and blurring).

Also, the lens is slow (f/5.6 at the long end) and also yields poor image quality when used wide open (quality increases substantially when you stop down).

Basically this is a fantastic lens, but you should know that it will not be ideal in every situation...and low light indoor photography is probably its worst environment. Expect little and you may be surprised. :)

lticket

31-03-2006, 19:15

Sorry for being thick but... "stopping down" ??

I know It's probably a good idea to crank the ISO up a little, but what does stopping down mean?? (sorry still a bit of a newbie!)

lticket

31-03-2006, 19:27

Highlander

31-03-2006, 19:58

Sorry for being thick but... "stopping down" ??

I know It's probably a good idea to crank the ISO up a little, but what does stopping down mean?? (sorry still a bit of a newbie!)

Stopping down - fixing the aperture at a value not 'wide-open'. For a lot of lenses, the 'sweet spot' (where the lens is at it's sharpest) is somewhere around f8, I think. Or at least thats the aperture I tend to use the most.

Highlander

31-03-2006, 20:00

Just noticed this lens has a bigger errr filter size sorta thing? Will the 75-300mm IS have the same?

Hence need to get a new filter(s) if I want... any comments on whether best to ALWAYS use a UV filter? Is it worth getting a circ polarising too?

28-135mm IS- 72mm filter size.
75-300mm IS- 58mm filter size.

I'll leave the debate on the pro's and con's of filters to someone else!!
(But I always put a UV or skylight filer on my lenses).

GreyJackal

31-03-2006, 20:14

Polarisers have to be screw-on for digital as they have to be circular polarisers.

Everythng else though, if you have multiple diameters, you're probably better off getting a Cokin system (clamps onto the lens barrel and holds the filter in front of the lens).

I made the same mistake - I have about 6 filters for 52mm that I'm never going to use again :lol:

Samiad

31-03-2006, 23:04

One way of dealing with the multiple filter size lens is to go for the largest filter size you need.

I have owned the 28-135mm with a 72mm filter size, and I used 77mm filters on it, by using a step up ring that allows 77mm filters on the 72mm thread. Most of my other lens are 77mm. Result is I have one circular polariser, albeit more expensive than a 72mm polariser, but it works on all my lens.

This worked great until I bought a 82mm thread Sigma 24-70mm, but I have a very good feeling that I can use an 82-77mm step down ring with this without any problems (seeing as my 1.6x crop dslr will not 'see' the outer extremities of this lens, and as such will avoid vignetting).

Highlander

31-03-2006, 23:07

That's exactly what I do. I have a UV filter on all my lenses, and have a 77mm polariser and a 77mm 500D close-up lens, which I use on all the lenses with a step-up ring.