Category: Photography

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Tamron 150-600mm ƒ/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 SP

I bought the Tamron 150-600mm ƒ/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 SP (what a mouthful) the same day I bought my EOS M5 (2016). I admit it is an odd combination. The EOS M5 features the first built-in EVF in the EOS M-series and also has a more substantial grip compared to previous models. We had been living for several years in our new house, next to a large natural park, and I wanted try my hand at bird photography.

Well built, optically good, attractively priced. Absolutely love the Arca-compatible tripod foot (all long lenses should have this feature). The the clutch mechanism on the zoom ring is great. Zoom creep is not a problem, but still it is reassuring to be able to lock the lens in any position. I will never get used to the fact that Tamron zoom and focus rings rotate the opposite direction of Canon (one of the reasons I have hesitated to add the Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD G2 Lens to my collection).

Bulky when mounted on the EOS M5, but almost manageable. When zoomed to 600mm, the lens is physically long and the weight very far forward so that the EOS M5 is hard to balance. It is okay for a few minutes of handheld shooting then my arms need a rest.

After purchasing this lens it wasn’t too long before I also added a high quality carbon monopod to my kit.

I am very pleased with this lens for general landscape work as well. The ability to zoom into distant scenes and to isolate compositions is handy and rewarding.

I have not become a hardcore bird photographer, but I have learned a lot more about the birds that frequent my area.

Canon have made very few super-telephoto zoom lenses, and none with this focal range. The excellent and popular Canon EF 100-400mm is the only realistic first-party alternative. An un-realistic alternative is the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM (aka, “Unicorn”) with built-in 1.4x extender (for a total focal range of 200-560mm and the price of a used car).

Early-2020 MSRP prices comparison:

Lens	MSRP (USD)	Weight
Tamron 150-600mm ƒ/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 SP	$1399	4.42 lb / 2010 g
Sigma 150-600mm ƒ/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary	$1089	4.03 lb / 1830 g
Sigma 150-600mm ƒ/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports	$1699	6.29 lb / 2860 g
Canon EF 100-400mm ƒ/4.5-5.6L IS II USM	$2199	3.61 lb / 1640 g
Canon EF 200-400mm ƒ/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x	$10999	7.98 lb / 3620 kg

Samples

https://www.tamron.ca/product/sp-150-600mm-f5-6-3-di-vc-usd-g2/

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 80-200mm ƒ/2.8 L

I could write volumes about this very special lens, but instead, I am going to grab my camera and go shoot with it.

…

Okay, I am back.

Every time I use this lens I am in awe. It predates USM and is a very slow focusing lens by todays standards. It lacks optical image stabilization. It is not white. (It’s nickname, according to the internet, is “magic drainpipe”.)

But the images it produces are, to me, incomparable. I was trying to describe them to my wife and said something like “colours are rendered in the most amazing way…the images are always warm, not in terms of colour temperature, but in terms of emotion.”

German has an excellent word for this sensation—Gemütlichkeit.

I’ve had an almost 30 year relationship with this lens, having bought it several years after its 1989 introduction. It was my first professional lens and the most expensive thing I owned until I bought a Ford F150 in 2000. Come to think of it, the Canon EF 80-200mm ƒ/2.8 L is analogous to my truck (which is still going strong 20 years later): bulky, built tough, practical.

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef285.html

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 70-300 ƒ/4-5.6 IS USM

The Canon EF 70-300 ƒ/4-5.6 IS USM (released 2005) was my first image stabilized lens and the longest lens in my kit for almost 10 years.

I bought the lens for two reasons: I wanted a longer telephoto zoom than my EF 80-200mm ƒ/2.8L; and I wanted a lighter telephoto zoom than my EF 80-200mm ƒ/2.8L. I was willing to sacrifice some quality to achieve these goals.

I was never too impressed with the build quality of the EF 70-300 ƒ/4-5.6 IS USM. It  always felt very plastic, especially as I was used to all metal L-series zoom lenses. And optically it was never a very sharp lens (again not L-series). It suffers dreadfully from zoom creep. In fact, when photographing the lens for this page I could not show it in the 300mm position because it would instantly collapse under its own weight.

Photographically, I also recall struggling with this lens due to its length. Even with 3-stops of image stabilization (less probably on APS-C) I struggled to get high enough shutter speeds, probably because with the cameras at the time I hesitated to use ISO speeds above 800. I probably would have less trouble on a modern sensor body.

However, all those negatives aside, I was pleasantly surprised by the images in my catalogue that I produced with this lens. On a DLSR it is a fine long walk-around lens. Not too heavy or bulky. For this reason I seemed to have it with me in casual situations where I never would have wanted to lug around my 80-200mm lens. Yes, the images are not tack sharp (well, at 12 megapixels they look pretty good) but the perspective is captivating and the compositions refreshingly different — factors I would not have been able to replicate with a shorter lens.

These days I am used to much higher quality in much smaller EF-M lenses. At 200mm and 24 megapixels I have the option to crop in if I want to, or for serious firepower I take out my Tamron 150-600mm ƒ/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 SP.

The Canon EF 70-300 ƒ/4-5.6 IS USM now only comes out when I am feeling nostalgic. On the other hand, if I was still shooting with a DSLR, I would probably have replaced this lens with the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM, a very nice looking lens.

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef388.html

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 28-105mm ƒ/3.5-4.5 II USM

I am a person of extremes. I feel like I alternate my shooting style between either wide-angle or telephoto, with not many photographs produced in what can be considered the “standard” focal range: that is, greater than 35mm and less than 135mm (full-frame equivalent). Thus I own several professional-grade ultra-wide zoom lenses and high quality telephoto and super-telephoto lenses, but have never owned a fast L-series standard zoom.

I bought my first Canon EF 28-105mm knowing that I needed a lens in that focal range but also at a time when I was unwilling to invest more money in an L-series lens (I was, after all, a poor starving university student). I was also doing a lot of hiking and backpacking in those days and wanted a good lens that was light and compact (something my ultra-wide and telephoto zooms were not). Several years later, when I started travelling for business, this was the lens that always came along.

That first copy was one of only three lens I have ever destroyed in the field (the others were a plastic-mount nifty-fifties). I was on a sea kayaking trip in the Broken Group islands off Vancouver Island, on Canada’s west coast. We stopped at a beach and I was standing beside the cockpit of my kayak changing lenses (dumb I know) when I dropped the EF 28-105mm. I almost caught it before it hit the ocean, but alas I was not quite fast enough and my hand and half the lens ended up 2 or 3 inches in the water. I stopped using the lens for the remainder of the trip, but by the time it was over the lens was non-functional. It could have been worse—the other lens I had in my hands at the time was my EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L USM, a substantially more expensive and precious lens.¹

I didn’t hesitate to replace the dead lens with a new copy shortly after, and I got many years of use out of that lens until the switch to EF-M bodies rendered it obsolete.

I have never thought of this lens as a high-quality optic, and indeed, it is not. Wide open it is very soft in the corners. It’s not particularly fast and it predates optical image stabilization.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by many of the images from this lens that I reviewed while preparing this page. For nostalgia’s sake I sometimes mount it on my Canon 30D and take it out for an afternoon of shooting. I always come back with some interesting shots.

1. After this incident I came up with a mantra and standard procedure for every time I change lenses—the most expensive gear gets priority. That is, when putting a less expensive lens on a body the more expensive lens gets capped and put away first, then the cheap lens gets mounted. When reversing the operation, the cheaper lens is removed and then the more expensive lens is uncapped and placed on the body as quickly as possible.

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef429.html

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/4 L IS USM

The Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/4 L IS USM, introduced in 2014, replaced my non-functioning Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L USM (which stopped focusing in early 2017).

For many years this was my primary focal range. With APS-C bodies, and my switch to smaller Canon M-series cameras, the fast, wide, full-frame compatible zoom lens became less used. The wider, smaller, and excellent Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM became my primary lens for landscape work (even it if is a little hard to use filter stacks on such a tiny lens), interiors, travel, and architecture.

I still fall back to the Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/4 L IS USM, even on my M-series cameras, if I really need to impress people (just kidding), when shooting landscapes with anything more than just a circular polarizer, or if conditions warrant a better sealed lens. Really, someday I do want to have a full-frame mirrorless body on which to properly utilize the EF 16-35mm ƒ/4 L IS USM.

Since I knew it was not going to be my primary lens for some time, I opted to save a lot of money and get the ƒ/4 stabilized lens rather than the ƒ/2.8 non-stabilized lens. I have never regretted that decision.

The only thing I don’t like about the ƒ/4 is are the hideous bright-white and overly-bold markings on the lens barrel—they do not match the quality or aesthetic of any other Canon lens I have ever handled and I cannot figure out a logical reason why.

Early-2020 MSRP prices comparison:

Lens	MSRP (USD)
Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/4 L IS USM	$1099
Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L III USM	$2199
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM	$399
Canon EF-M 11-22mm ƒ/4-5.6 IS STM	$299

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef432.html

Replaced
Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L USM

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L USM

The Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L USM lens, introduced in 2001 was an amazing lens at the time. It replace the six-year-old EF 17-35 ƒ/2.8 L USM. The 16-35mm is a large, heavy, and expensive lens, but worth every penny for a wide-angle shooter such as myself. (I paid ~$2600 CAD for this lens, which was a lot for new art school graduate.)

For many years this was my primary lens, originally on the last of my film bodies, and then later on my first DSLR, the ground-breaking Canon 10D. However, as time went on and I started travelling more, I switch to using a smaller, lighter, cheaper, and more versatile Canon EF28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM as my everyday lens.

In early 2017, the Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L USM suddenly refused to focus. I had just upgraded my camera body to a Canon EOS M5 and I was keen to shoot more with this focal range, but couldn’t justify the price (or weight) of the the newer EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L III USM. After reading all the on-line reviews I decided the image-stabilized Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/4 L IS USM was a better fit for my needs.

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef367.html

	Replaced by
	Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/4L IS USM

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 8-15mm ƒ/4 L Fisheye USM

The world’s first lens of its kind, the Canon EF 8-15mm ƒ/4 L Fisheye USM was introduced in 2011 and I acquired my copy in early 2013. It is a versatile lens, producing circular, 180° fisheye images on full-frame cameras. At 15mm, a rectangular image is possible on full-frame cameras. On APS-C, at the 8mm focal-length the top and sides of the image circle are clipped, but a ~175° horizontal image is still possible. The Limit switch locks out the wider focal lengths so no corner clipping occurs on an APS-C sensor (the focal-length is limited from 10mm to 15mm).

This is an absolutely unique lens as far as I know. There is no other auto-focus zoom fish-eye lens with this focal range on the market for any lens mount. In early 2020, the lens is priced at $1249 USD.

The images quality is quite good at the centre of the image, but can be quite soft near the edge of the image circle when shooting wide open. I usually do not bother to de-fisheye any images as that often results in extremely blurry corners.

At the longest focal length of 15mm, on APS-C the lens acts like a very nice ultra-wide angle lens and distortion can be kept to a minimum if you maintain a level horizon. It is possible to acceptably de-fisheye images shot at 15mm and stopped down to ƒ/8 or greater.

It is a fun lens to use, with striking results, but I do wish that I could shoot full circular images on APS-C. While writing this article I went ahead and order the new and well reviewed, fully manual, 210° angle-of-view, Venus Optics Laowa 4mm ƒ/2.8 circular fisher lens, now available in EF-M mount for $199 USD.

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef415.html

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 100mm ƒ/2.8 USM Macro

The Canon EF 100mm ƒ/2.8 USM Macro is a sharp telephoto lens for close-up work. This lens was released by Canon in 2000 and I bought my copy around 2005. The IS L-version was released in 2009, but the non-L version is still being produced in 2020.

Macro is one of those funny photographic genres: some people do it exclusively, while others would only like to dabble in it. I am in the second group. But the thing is, without a specialized macro lens it is hard to even try out macro photography (which I define as a subject to sensor-projection ratio of 1:2 or greater).

As a dabbler I wanted a fairly fast but inexpensive lens with 1:1 magnification. A shorter focal length (e.g., 65mm) offers a smaller lens, but then working distance is also very short. I settled on the 100mm focal length because it would also be useful as an all-round lens and for general studio and reproduction work. To get achieve greater magnification I often use it with extension tubes.

Without image stabilization this focal-length can be tricky to use handheld.

I find that focus stacking is also often required to achieve a decent depth of field, but this is a concern with all macro lenses.

If I was in the market for a 100mm macro today I would seriously consider buying the image-stabilized L-version lens instead (I have seen it priced at $749 with an instant rebate).

Early-2020 MSRP prices comparison:

Lens	MSRP (USD)
Canon EF 100mm ƒ/2.8 USM Macro	$599
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM	$899

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef313.html

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount

< Back to the Photography Museum Lenses: Canon EF Mount

Canon EF 85 ƒ/1.8 USM

Originally introduced in 1992, the Canon EF 85 ƒ/1.8 USM is a highly prized medium telephoto lens with relatively fast aperture. The large aperture and low distortion of this lens make it ideal for portraiture or any activity requiring high-quality rendering. It has been characterized as the “Bokeh King” for its pleasingly smooth out of focus rendition, especially considering its attractive price.

Early-2020 MSRP prices comparison:

Lens	MSRP (USD)
Canon EF 85 ƒ/1.8 USM	$419
Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM	$1599
Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM	$1999
Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS	$2999
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art	$1199
Tamron SP 85mm f/1.8 Di VC USD	$749
Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary*	$479

*Canon do not make a APS-C equivalent lens, but Sigma have introduced a fast 85mm equivalent lens.

Mounted on an APS-C camera an 85mm lens is equivalent to a ~135mm focal-length FF lens.

I purchased my copy around 2009. The lens is compact and fast enough that image stabilization is not missed in real-world use (indeed, IS would make the lens bigger). I had intended to use this lens mostly for candid portrait work, but the USM autofocus is rather slow and the focal-length rather long on APS-C, especially indoors. I always love the results, but don’t often find a use for this lens. As such, it only comes out on special occasions.

Samples

https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/ef313.html

Photography Museum | Lenses | Canon EF Mount