Lens Madness, Reloaded
I should probably start by admitting how spoiled I have been during the recent years. The spoil started with Leica, no less. Not even old Leica lenses, no, mostly current designs like Summicron 50, Summicron 28, Elmarit 21 ASPH. All incredible lenses. From there, I went to a Rollei SL66. A very old camera, for sure, with old but exquisite Zeiss lenses. A Distagon 50mm is to be used to be believed. Then I went on to try largish format, 6x9cm with an Arca-Swiss camera. There, of course, I tried things like the amazing Rodenstock APO Grandagon 45mm, the Schneider Super Angulon XL 58mm and Super Symmar APO 120mm. These people, when they say APO, they mean it! And all these with their biting sharpness and lovely contrast managed to offer delightful bokeh. Leica also offers the most flare-free lenses I have ever used.
Enter digital and Canon.
When I went to the 5D, I got myself an assortment of Canon lenses: 24mm f/3.5 L T-SE, 28mm f/2.8, 45mm f/2.8 TS-E, 50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8 and 135mm f/2.8. All these are supposed to be quite good. Moreover, I had slowly drifted towards the opinion that all that lens trauma is useless, most are good anyway and who cares about a few percents of difference. It turns out that most of these lenses are at least as good as what I expected. But some really disapointed, something I had not experienced before. Let’s start with the good news, ordered by focal length:
24mm f/3.5 L TS-E
Simply amazing. For what it tries to do, the success is really impressive. Not bitingly sharp wide open, but very usable from f/4 and very sharp from f/8. The catch is when using shifts. The shift marks on the lens are in red after 6mm, meaning the results won’t be optimum. They are really not.
From 7mm shift, no matter how stopped down, an edge will be very soft. Still useful if that edge is cropped to get a square photo, though. Beware, the bokeh can get ugly occasionally.
28mm f/2.8
What we have here is a $160 retro-focus f/2.8 wide angle lens. So, one should probably no expect too much. In fact, it is really good. Not Leica-good, but still really good. Wide open, the center is really sharp. From f/5.6, it can be used without thinking of any technical problem. Extreme corners are never sharp, whatever the aperture, but it really does not matter all that much. I have yet to find a problem. This has to be the most underrated lens on the market!
45mm f/2.8 TS-E
Very, very good. All of it. No reservation. Usable wide open, very sharp from f/5.6. Nice bokeh. Good contrast.
50mm f/1.8
As all 50mm lenses on the market, this is extremely good, nothing to complain. f/1.8 is unusable in my opinion, but that was expected at $75! outstanding from f/2.8. The build is very bad, but again, at that price…
Now, the no so good news.
85mm f/1.8
This lens has a seemingly spotless reputation. I don’t think it is deserved. I think it offers good value but that’s about it. Sure, it is sharp at f/2.8 and very much so from f/5.6. But at f/1.8 and f/2 it is useless is my opinion. I think Canon should have concentrated on making an excellent f/2.8 lens which this one is not. Its main flaws is veiling glare sensitivity and too long minimum focusing distance. The latter prevents it from being a great portrait lens. Impossible to get a tight head shot. I should have noticed before buying.
135mm f/2.8 SoftFocus
I can’t really comment on that lens because I got a defective sample. It has severe decentering, making the left side of the picture always soft unless stopped to f/16 or more. This tells something else about cheaper lenses: quality control suffers. It too has a too long minimum distance. It allows to frame a bit tighter than the 85mm, but not much and certainly not enough.
So, the main disapointment came from the two medium tele. One because of too high expectations and the other because of a manufacturing defect. I sold both and ordered an Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro. This one will certainly not have a too long minimu distance. Its quality is unversally celebrated. I hope its flare resistance will be better than the 85mm. We’ll see. I also ordered a Sigma 12-24mm. This lens has intrigued me for a long time and I decided to take the gamble and try it. I wanted wider than 24mm anyway and no available option is flawless. This will be another story.
Stephane :: Sep.23.2007 :: Gear, Lens :: No Comments »
