Digital SLR Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Canon Digital Slr Cameras’

Sigma 10 20mm f 4 5 6 EX DC HSM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

This ultra-wide zoom lens has a wide angle of view from 102.4 – 63.8 degrees and it is exclusive to digital SLR cameras. SLD glass elements effectively compensate color aberration. Aspherical lenses provide maximum correction for distortion and various aberrations; high image quality is displayed throughout the entire zoom range. The HSM equipped models makes fast AF speeds and quiet shooting a reality, and it is also capable of full-time manual focus. It has a minimum focusing distance of 9.4″ (24cm) at all focal lengths. It is also equipped with an integral petal-type hood to block out extraneous light.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Great Lense, Solved My Problem
I’m not a technical photographer. Just a photo hobbiest. As a realtor I knew that I needed to solve the problem of taking interior pictures for listings and not getting enough of small rooms in my pictures. I purchased this lense and it solved that problem 100%.

I’m getting compliments on my listing pictures and find that I’m using this lense most of the time. It takes wonderful, clear, color intense pictures with an almost 180 degree field of vision.

It performs as advertised with no learning curve. It went from the box to my Canon Rebel. I took a few practice shots for lighting purposes, took it to my next listings and shot good photos with no issues.

5 Stars Outstanding lens
My first Sigma lens. Usually use Canon L lenses. I have had this for almost a year.The Sigma 10-20 is tack sharp. Something in the lens coating and/or glass really enhances sky/cloud contrast and color, making it look like a polarizing filter was used.

The overall lens quality is excellent and I have no complaints.

4 Stars Very pleased
This is an eceptional lens considering the price. If you are a perfectionist and want to do all sorts of lens test, this is not for you. But, if you are into photography and wand exceptional images this lens will work just fine and produce incredible images at a budget price. You can spend more that twice as much and get Nikon’s latest offering or spend more and get Sigma’s latest offering, but this lens will produce wonderful images!!!

4 Stars I could not find the Canon lense….. but WOW!
I was looking for the Canon lense that a professional photographer recommended. I stumbled on the Sigma lense and love it. The price was right, and the colors are amazing. I don’t think you can go wrong with this lense. I have been a sigma user before as I was building my camera bag and I just wanted a wide lense to get cool landscape pictures. This was the one.

2 Stars save to buy a canon lens
Got this lens as a birthday gift, but sadly had to return it as it did not meet my expectations. The zoom range is great (10-20mm), but I either received a bad copy or Sigma does not offer good quality. I shot about 50-60 exposures, and I can count on one hand the number of good pictures I got from this lens. It was slow to focus, it lacked sharpness. For indoor photos this lens will leave you very disappointed. For outdoor photos, you will need great lighting and non-moving subjects.

The positives: Solid built.

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Canon Speedlite 270EX Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Canon’s new Speedlite 270EX adds power and flexibility for enhanced flash photography anywhere. Light, compact and small enough to fit in your pocket, Speedlite 270EX features 2-step coverage for 28mm and 50mm focal lengths, plus a highly useful bounce-flash function for amazingly easy, polished results. Powered by 2 AA batteries (not included), Speedlite 270EX is easily set-up and controlled through your camera’s menu system (with select models), communicates color temperature information with your camera for optimal white balance and recharges silently in less than 4 seconds. An indispensable complement to your Canon camera, Speedlite 270EX is a perfect extension of your photographic genius. Optimized recycling time (approx. 0.1 to 3.9 seconds) Quieter charging Easy storage soft case Powered using just 2 AA batteries Type Mode – E-TTL II, E-TTL Compatible Cameras – All Canon EOS cameras; PowerShot G-series cameras and select SX-series cameras Guide Number – 72 ft./22m (at ISO 100); flash head at 28mm zoom setting / 89 ft./27m (at ISO 100); flash head at 50mm zoom setting Recycling Time Normal flash – Approx. 0.1 to 3.9 seconds; Quick flash – 0.1 to 2.6 seconds (AA-size Alkaline Batteries) Flash Range (At ISO 100, with EF 50mm f/1.4) – For normal (28mm) – 2.3-51.5 ft./0.7-15.7m; For tele end (50mm) – 2.3-63.3 ft./0.7-19.3m; For high sync speed (at 1/250 second) – Approx. 2.3-24.9 ft./0.7-7.6m AF Assist Beam – Intermittent flash firing system Power Source – Two AA-size/LR6 Alkaline Batteries Unit Dimensions – 2.5 x 2.6 x 3.0 in./64 x 65 x 76.5mm; Weight – 5.1 oz./145g (without batteries)

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars simple to use
I’m a real novice, but I was easily able to figure out how to use this flash – and they do, of course, include instructions that I skimmed over. This is the only one I’ve ever used, so I’m not able to compare it to any others. I do like that I can change it’s position to bounce off the ceiling, instead of a straight on flash.

4 Stars Perfect for the Powershot G series cameras
I bought the 270EX for my Powershot G10, simply because the thought and usability of putting my 580EX II on a “point and shoot” camera is quite comical. The flash on the Powershot G10 isn’t that bad, but I’ve got a Lensmate with a UV filter and the G10’s onboard flash is effectively cut down and makes shadows because of the barrel of the Lensmate.

The decision came down to the 220EX and the 270EX. The 270EX’s ability to bounce the flash towards the ceiling so I am not blinding my subjects is pretty nice. It also puts distance between the Lensmate, so I can have a “mini-SLR” rig instead of the full 5D Mark II and accessories. And the price difference was negligible.

Like anything, there’s a tradeoff. Smaller flash units means less power, and thus less distance. Instead of the LCD I’m used to on my 580EX II, I’ve got to control everything from the camera’s LCD, which is no real big deal. But since it’s smaller, I’m more likely to carry it than not in a jacket pocket.

If you’ve got a Powershot G series camera, you might want to consider this flash. It’s worked fine for me, and would probably even work if you had one of the Digital Rebel series instead of the 430EX II. But like anything photography related, you get what you pay for BUT the more you spend, the more time it takes to adequately learn it.

5 Stars Nifty little flash
It is what it is… a simple, no-brainer flash. No serious settings to adjust, no serious factors to consider, a straight forward way to add more light into your pictures. If you want, you can make a few manual flash adjustments on the camera itself. Great bang for the buck.

I really like using it on my G10.

4 Stars Good Value For An Add On Flash
I needed to get more flash than was produced by the stock flash on my Canon EOS Rebel. I did not want a large, heavy (4 or more batteries), mounted on the camera.

This unit solved the problem! It only uses 2-AA batteries and makes a big flash for a smaller unit. I’m a realtor and it fills the room for color rich pictures.

I love the bounce feature and find I’m using it whenever I have a white ceiling in a room. I’m not a photo artist but this Speedlite in combination with my 10 to 20 wide angle lense has helped me to produce wonderful listing photos. I love the compliments from the other agents in my office!

1 Star Two Major Glitches
This is a nice little convenient flash to carry when you cannot or do not want to carry a larger flash. It weighs almost exactly half of the 420EX or 430EX and balances very nicely on a 40D camera. I bought the 270ex with the intention to use it for fill flash on my 30D and 40D cameras.

HOWEVER, it is not good for my purposes because…

The flash is touted to cover the view of a 28mm lens on a 1.6x camera. This should allow it to be used with the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens at 17 or 18mm (which is equivalent to a 28mm lens on a full-frame camera)… You get a shadow at the bottom of the frame when using that lens at less than about 24mm with an attached lens hood. Sure, bouncing would correct that but, it the unit cannot be adjusted right to left so you cannot bounce it at 24mm or below with the camera in the vertical position. Also, you could remove the hood to alleviate the shadow problem but, I don’t want to be removing and replacing the hood frequently.

The flash cannot be controlled on a camera earlier than the 40D, despite the instruction book saying that the 270ex is compatible with “E-TTL II/E-TTL autoflash EOS cameras” In other words, you cannot reduce the power of the flash or select 1st curtain, 2nd curtain or Hi Speed Sync on a camera like a 30D.

Neither of the above problems was noted in any review of this unit, nor in the instruction manual.

My final grade for this flash would be 3-stars (because it can only tilt and cannot swivel) for 40D cameras and later and 1-star for cameras earlier than the 40D.

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Canon MR 14EX Macro Ring Lite for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Canon’s Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX for close-up and macro shooting comes equipped with many features and capabilities. Utilizing E-TTL (enhanced through- the-lens mode) technology, it takes full advantage of the flash performance of the Canon EOS-1V, EOS-3, and other E-TTL cameras, and also supports E-TTL wireless auto flash, when used with at least one Canon 550EX Speedlite flash. The circular twin flash tubes of the MR-14EX can fire at even power, or vary between themselves over a six-stop range. The controller unit has an illuminated LCD panel, and the MR14-EX also accepts optional high-capacity battery packs.

The MR-14EX attaches directly to Canon’s EF 50mm f/2.5 compact macro, EF 100mm f/2.8 macro (both versions), and MP-E 65mm macrophoto lenses, and can also be used with EF 180mm f/3.5L macro USM via the Macrolite adapter 72C.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars PRO !
Very usefull for Marco pictures !! a must have item if you can afford it !

5 Stars Great For Dental Photography
I take pictures for an orthodontists, and this has drastically improved the lighting on my photos. Its great for close up pictures. I use this in conjunction with a Cannon Rebel XT and a 60mm lens.

5 Stars A necessity for close macro work
The Canon MR-14EX was a perfect addition to my macro photo equipment. It snaps onto my 50mm compact macro lens quickly and easily and illuminates extreme closeup subjects that a regular on-camera flash could not reach, and it saves futzing with an off-camera extension flash.

My only beef is that the inside diameter of the ring is too small to fit larger diameter lenses (I often like to use my sharp Canon 24-70mm lens with macro rings for extreme macros). There is no easy way to mount the MR14EX on this lens. I have sometimes hand held it in place, but this risks wiggling the rig during exposure. The ring is specifically designed to snap onto only the 50mm and 180mm macro lenses. That said, the small ring diameter does allow you to deliver light onto smaller, closer subjects.

The diverse selectable features of this flash unit allow you to tailor the results to your specific macro needs. The price tag is an eye-popper, but if macro photography is an important part of your photographic repertoire, the MR14EX will expand your creative possibilities considerably and give terrific results.

5 Stars Awesome for intraoral shots
I use this for taking photographs of my orthodontist patients. I have it mounted to my 100mm macro lens. Perfect.

5 Stars Canon MR-14EX
Excellent ring light. Easy to use. You get good shading effects with the variable bulb output.

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Tamron AF 18 200mm f 3 5 6 3 XR Di II LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Designed for exclusive use on Canon digital SLR cameras with smaller-size imagers, this Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di-II aspherical macro zoom lens is ideal for a host of situations. The high-power zoom lens–which offers an equivalent focal length of 28-300mm in 35mm format–adds versatility to your lens menu, zooming from a true wide perspective to an ultra tele zoom, all in an amazingly easy-to-use design. As a result, the lens is ideal for everything from landscape shots to sports and wildlife photography. The lens also incorporates several of Tamron’s proprietary core technologies, including aspherical elements that minimize chromatic aberration, a multiple cam mechanism, and an integrated focus cam design. The technologies combine to create the world’s lightest, most compact 11.1x digital zoom lens. Other features include an angle of view of 75 to 7 degrees, a minimum focusing distance of 17.7 inches, and a 62mm filter diameter. All Tamron lenses carry a six-year warranty.

Note: The Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II zoom lens is not designed for conventional cameras or digital cameras with image sensors larger than 24mm x 16mm.

Specifications

• Focal length: 18-200mm
• Maximum aperture: f/3.5-6.3
• Lens construction: 15 elements in 13 groups
• Angle of view: 75 to 7 degrees
• Type of zooming: Rotation
• Diaphragm blades: 7
• Minimum aperture: f/22
• Minimum focusing distance: 17.7 inches
• Macro magnification ratio: 1:3.7 (at f=200mm)
• Filter size: 62mm
• Corresponding mounts: Canon
• Lens hood: Yes, flower shaped
• Dimensions: 2.9 inches in diameter and 3.3 inches long
• Weight: 14 ounces
• Warranty: 6 years

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Love the range!
I really like the flexibility of this lens. I also have the 18-55 that came with the camera, and a 70-300, but I found myself changing lenses about every 2-3 shots sometimes, because I take a lot of wide-angle shots, as well as full zoom. I can’t afford the L-series 18-300, and this lens is a good compromise until I can. It is not quite as reliable with my Kenko 1.4 teleconverter, especially on the auto-focus function. However, overall, I’m very satisfied.

1 Star fuzzy photos
I am really unhappy with this lens… unless I am in bright sum it seems all my photo’s are extremely fuzzy.

5 Stars All in one.
I bought this lens to shoot a wedding of a friend of mine. It was the only lens I needed. I used the zoom from the loft down to the alter and the same lens at the alter close up. Worked great!

5 Stars a dream lens
I am an old film-photo enthusiast who remembers the days when high quality long lenses cost an arm and a leg. I also spent a few years in the wilderness of point-and-shoot digital cameras and have recently returned to SLR land via a K200D plus this lens.

For the price this is an mazing piece of work. Just remember, all tools have some limitations and lenses are no exception. Telephoto lenses are generally for bright daylight, unless you have $3000 to spend and are willing to carry a 10lb bazooka.

I use this lens in daylight, and the solidity, versatility and the sharpness are awesome. I have pictures of lions shot at the Bronx zoo at about 40ft MANUALLY FOCUSED; I can count the whiskers!

Some tips:

-use a high ISO number to shoot at highspeeds. I use shutter-priority setting on the K200D,and aim for 1/350sec or faster.

-use manual focus if you are confident about it, your batteries will last forever

-a lens is a piece of precision manufacturing; protect it from dust and bangs!

-don’t pay attention to pixel-peepers; a little fringing never spoiled a really good picture (those of us who wear thick glasses live with fringing full-time!)

-shoot hundreds of pictures, do not be afraid to experiment

-for Pentax users, set the noise reduction and shake-reduction; they are not default settings.

-a tripod or beanbag is worth its weight in gold

5 Stars BEST VALUE FOR THE MONEY
I recently purchased this lens for my Canon EOS Rebel XS and I love it. I use it to take pictures of the birds in my Georgia backyard. The quality of the photos is terrific and the detail is awesome! Amazon was so easy to deal with, I trust them implicitly. If you purchase this lens you will not be disappointed.

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Tamron AF 70 300mm f 4 0 5 6 Di LD Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Tamron offers a lightweight, compact, high-image-quality telephoto zoom lens with macro capability of 1:2 that can be used with digital cameras. This new lens is a Di type lens using an optical system with improved multi-coating designed to function with digital SLR cameras as well as film cameras. With this 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, flipping a macro switch in the focal length range of 180mm to 300mm obtains a maximum magnification ratio of 1:2 at a minimum focus distance as short as 37.4 inch, enabling close-up shots of flowers, insects, and other objects that normally require the use of a specially designed macro lens. Moreover, this is a zoom lens that casually offers the distant capture and foreshortening effect pleasures of the 300mm ultra-telephoto world. 1 – 2 Macro Magnification Ratio at f=300mm MFD 0.95m Filter Diameter – 62 Weight – 435 gram (15.3 ounces) Diameter x Length – 3.0 x 4.6 inch (76.6mm x 116.5mm) Accessory Lens hood

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars wonderful lens for the price
This camera has pros and cons that other people have listed. however, for all the beginning and just starting DSLR fans out there, realize that the cons are insignificant to the quality of the shots you can get with a little practice.

a few points:

first, autofocus is a luxury, not a necessity, and on this lens, it is painfully slow at times. Turn off the autofocus as soon as you take it out of the box, and never switch it back again – and please, for goodness sake, use the manual mode. Those two things will make you a better photographer. Ansel Adams didn’t have autofocus or a full automatic setting – pray you can be 1/4 as good as him.

second – if you think you are going to zoom to 300mm and hold the camera in your hand and shoot in any condition other than high noon with a cloudless sky, you are mistaken. the images will probably be blurred. buy a travel tripod/monopod and get used to using it – you can get tack sharp poster quality prints with a little know-how.

if you have the slightest inkling of a desire to become a professional photographer – don’t buy this lens. go to the bank and get a small business loan for $5,000 – $10,000 and go for broke and buy all the top of the line Canon stuff. but if you are like me and photography is a hobby, a passion, and a joy and you have bills to pay – this is your lens.

2 Stars Less than O.K.
This is a well built lens with less than ideal performance. From time to time it will surprise you with an acceptible picture (close to very good) but never great. With bright light, a tripod and a frozen bird you may get a great picture. I will continue to use and study this lens but it will not be my primary 300mm telephoto. The Canon IS 300mm will be in my bag. It’s o.k. to use this lens to learn camera and lens technique and develope good photography habits. But if you can afford the Canon 70mm-300mm with IS get that instead.

4 Stars Great Lens for the Price
I have been using this lens for about a month in preparation for a vacation in Australia. The lens worked very well in taking action shots of Surfing, and birds in flight, although image stabilization would make them a bit clearer. I have followed the recommendations about stopping the lens to F/8 and have not had any trouble with blurry images. Great lens for the Price.

4 Stars Excellent lens for the price!
I’ve owned this lens for a few months now, and love it. While the macro setting is not a true 1:1, it still provides excellent macro detail at a very nice price. Not the best lens for high speed, action shots given it’s slow auto focus motor and small aperture. For other applications – still life, portraits, macro, etc. – it’s a good choice for those on a budget (like me).

3 Stars Some nice features, but not a great lens
I purchased this lens because I read a review of it in the approximate Canon equivalent it was mentioned in the review that the Canon had a little fuzziness on the high telescopic end and that was not mentioned for this lens I also liked this lens because it had the macro feature which the Canon did not. It was also a little less expensive. Since putting this lens on my camera I have found that very few of my telephoto or macro pictures have been as crisp as I would like. This may be my fault or the lens, but I did not get the results I hoped for. I also found it rather odd that to get out of macro mode I have to turn the focus to manual and extend to infinity which seems a strange thing to do and was not obvious until I did some more experimenting. I also learned with this lens the 300 mm is not as much magnification as I would really like for wildlife photography. Overall I am not dissatisfied with this purchase but I guess I am considering future purchases of higher-end lenses when I can afford them.

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