Best 70-200mm Lenses for Canon : Comparison

May 072010

Which 70-200 Lens Should I Buy? A Quick Guide

Canon's 70-200 lenses, and a Sigma thrown in for good measure. Not to scale.

With the release of Canon’s latest offering, the EF 70-200 f2.8 USM IS II, Canon has at least 5 pro-quality lenses in the same focal length range. If you include the original EF 80-200 f2.8 from the 1990s (now discontinued, but still available used), the count is up to 6. And then there are the offerings from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, and the other third parties. Tokina’s lens in this range, now over 8 years old, has fallen out of favor, and I’ll leave it out of this comparison. Tamron’s offering is very impressive optically, but does not currently have image stabilization. Sigma has recently announced the addition of a new, image stabilized version of their very popular lens (and we can hope for some minor improvements to image quality that is already very good). Continue reading »

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Canon 7D vs. Canon Rebel T2i : Half the price... half the camera?

Equipment Reviews 13 Responses »

Feb 112010

Who will benefit from paying for the Canon 7D?

[If you're interested in the VIDEO features of the Canon 5D Mark II, 7D, and T2i / 550D, you may also find this article helpful: Canon SLRs for Video - JMG]

This week’s introduction of the new Canon 550D / Rebel T2i raises some interesting questions. This is a camera that clearly out-classes the Canon 50D in many regards, and has many of the features of the Canon EOS 7D, but at less than half the price (Currently $799 at Amazon.com). Will professional or semi-professional photographers be satisfied using the T2i instead of the 7D? What types of photographers will get any practical benefit from paying double for the Canon 7D?

Let’s get this out of the way first. If you’re at least a semi-pro, you’ll want to opt for the 550D designation over the “Rebel”, if it’s available. What photographer over the age of 15 wants a camera with “Rebel” in red letters across the front? Just kidding.

More seriously, though, let me do a quick side-by-side comparison of their features. If you’d like to see the whole table at once, just click use the drop-down menu at the top-left of the table: Continue reading »

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New Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS II USM L: What's New?

Equipment Reviews No Responses »

Jan 052010

Canon Announces New Model of Iconic Lens : 70-200 f2.8 IS II USM

The New Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II USM

[UPDATE: Now that this lens is available and has been tested, I've published a comparison between this AMAZING lens and several others in the same focal range. You can find it here: Canon 70-200 lens comparison ]

Today, Canon announced the release of their updated model of the 70-200 f2.8, a workhorse for photojournalists and and other photographers who enjoy its wide apertures, snappy auto-focus, and (usually) crisp optics. Don’t get your credit cards out yet… it won’t be shipping until at least April, according to Canon USA. Read the rest of the article for a quick summary of the key differences. Continue reading »

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Canon 7D vs. 5D Mark II : Resolution and Digital Noise

Equipment Reviews, Tech Photography Articles No Responses »

Oct 052009

The Canon 7D and 5D Mark II: Resolution Comparison

I’ve had a chance to make a cursory comparison between some full resolution photos taken by the new Canon 7D and a Canon 5D Mark II, and the results have not been exactly what I expected. Before I go on to describe the results, let me mention that the 7D in question is a pre-production model, and results may improve (where theoretically possible) by the time that they ship. I’d also like to thank Steve Eastwood at Modelmayhem for providing the images.

As I mentioned in my previous discussion of these two cameras, the overall pixel count difference is minimal in terms of final print size, but because the 5D Mark II has a full frame sensor, it has a much lower receptor density (about 156 receptors per millimeter) compared to the 7D (about 233). Even though it may seem that higher resolution on the sensor would lead to sharper photos, we should not expect this to be the case in practice because even our best lenses offer a lower resolution than the 7D sensor, and therefore the sensor’s extra resolution will not be capturing extra detail.

Figure A: Canon 7D - 100% Crop

Figure B : Canon 5D Mark II - 100% Crop, ISO 3200

If this concept is hard to grasp, consider this scenario: suppose that you have a fixed focal length lens (say, a 100mm) on your 5D and you set up an object on a table in your studio so that, with your camera on a tripod 10 feet away, it fills the whole frame. Now suppose that you put the lens on a 7D and place the camera on the same tripod. Of course, the object won’t fill the frame any more, it will be cropped. In order to fill the frame the same way (or as close as possible), you’ll have to back up a few feet. After backing up a few feet, you’re now using less of the image that would be produced by the lens on a full frame camera to create the same photo, which also means that you’re magnifying the lens’s flaws.

Figures A and B are from a little less than 1/4 of the distance across the frame horizontally. This means that on the full frame sensor of the 5D, this is getting near the edge of the frame, which we’d expect to be a bit less sharp. On the 7D, this is using a more central part of the lens, so any lack of sharpness is less likely to be related to optical problems with the lens.

As you can see, however, the 5D is still sharper, though not by a tremendous amount. The difference is most noticeable in the “www” text below the logo box. Since the two images were shot at 3200, noise is also a factor.

Digital Noise

Figures A and B display a significant amount of digital noise, but in each case, no more noise than a CCD equipped camera would have produced at ISO 800 a few years ago. The question, however, is whether there is a difference between the cameras. Continue reading »

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Canon EOS 7D vs. 5D MarkII : Who should buy the 7D?

Equipment Reviews, Tech Photography Articles 94 Responses »

Sep 172009

Which is right for you, the Canon 7D or the 5D MarkII?

The Differences That Matter

The first difference worth mentioning, of course, is the price tag…. about $900 difference, if the current prices listed are any indication (7D at about $1599 at B&H or Amazon and the 5D Mark II at about $2499 at B&H or Amazon). [Note: Canon is currently offering rebates on both] Since we’re looking at a couple of cameras that have the build quality for professional use, with magnesium alloy bodies, full HD video capabilities, top notch processors, and some of the most advanced CMOS sensors around, we can expect professional quality results from either camera. In fact, comparing the columns of features for the two cameras reveals that the vast majority of them are identical. Something must justify the price difference, though.

Most obviously is the CMOS sensor difference, the 5Dii being a 21M pixel, full frame sensor, and the 7D being an APS-C size holding about 18Megapixels. The 7D has dual Digic4 processors, whereas the 5Dii has only one. Probably as a result of this, the new arrival boasts burst speeds about twice as fast as the 5D. There are many other minor differences (and perhaps a few significant ones), but I think that these are the most important to consider up front. Continue reading »

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Canon Speedlite 430EZ : Review for Strobists

Flash Reviews For Strobists 4 Responses »

Jun 292009

Canon 430 EZ Flash

Canon Speedlite 430EZ : General Features

For a long while in the early 1990s, this was one of the top of the line Canon flashes for the EOS system cameras. Consequently, they’re well built, reliable, and very intuitive to use. I purchased this unit back in 1994, but they can now be found (used) for $50-75 or less. The EZ strobes (as opposed to the newer EX) are not on-camera compatible (no TTL, etc) with Canon digital cameras, but they still work as well as ever off camera.

The controls on the back panel are very simple to use. There’s a “Mode” button that allows you to select ATTL, Manual or Multi-flash. The next two buttons (+ and -) adjust different settings depending on the mode. In ATTL, they adjust exposure compensation in 1/3 stops. In manual, and multi-flash, they control the power level. The fourth button turns on the LCD’s backlight, which is a smooth blue-green. In multi-mode it also selects the number of flash bursts (from 1-10). The last button controls the zoom, which has a range of 24 – 80mm. Finally, there is a test button with ready indicators. One of the nice things about the ready indicator lights is that there are two states: when the light turns green, the flash is ready to fire but is not fully charged. The indicator turns red when fully charged.

Canon 430EZ Control Panel

Strobist Advantages

The 430EZ has good power conrol. It packs a good punch with a guide number in the range of 140ft (ISO 100). That power is then adjustable down to a 1/32, which is a full stop less than the SB-24, for example. Additionally, the control are quick and easy to use, which is a joy in the field.

Strobist Drawbacks

Unfortunately, there’s a big one. After about a minute and a half, the flash goes into a battery-saving standby mode. This might not seem like such a big deal at first. When the flash is on-camera, the first attempt to take a photo wakes it up. However, when it’s off camera, a test-flash may NOT wake it up. Since this flash doesn’t have a PC sync jack (a second but less important drawback), I’ve used it with a “Cactus” style PT-04 receiver which has a hot shoe. Once the strobe has slipped into its sleep mode, no amount of triggering will wake it up; I have to physically walk over to the unit and press the test/indicator button to get it going again. This is so inconvenient as to render the flash almost useless for off-camera work.

The Verdict

The verdict here is tricky. I can recommend this flash IF AND ONLY IF you have a triggering system that will wake it from its standby mode. I have not tested it with any triggering system that does wake it up, and I don’t know if any exist. It may be that some of the more recent pocket wizards will do the trick, or perhaps one of the other brands that makes use of a hot shoe. If you can’t be sure that you can wake it from its hibernate mode, however, I would recommend looking elsewhere… this flash will only frustrate you.

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