Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro

I hardly shoot macro photos and I can't even remember when was the last time I used the Tamron SP AF90mm F/2.8 Di Macro lens for macro work, but only for close up product shots. There are several lifesize macro lenses for Canon EF mount in the market. One of the cheapest lenses is this from Tamron. I'm very satisfied with it not only because of the price (around RM1300) but the performance. Being designated as "Di" lens, it supports both fullframe and APS-C body. This is the added advantage compared to Canon's EF-S 60mm F/2.8 Macro USM which is designed solely for APS-C body.

Being offered at this price definitely has its own drawbacks such as extending barrel, slow and noisy AF and no FTM (Full Time Manual). The extending barrel is the most annoying part since the barrel will be fully extended by a few inches when I require a lifesize (1:1) magnification. This reduces the "working distance" and the lens will be relatively closer to the subject, as compared to Canon's EF100mm F/2.8 Macro USM which offers internal focusing. If you're not going to use this lens for other purpose such as sports shooting, you'll be fine with the slow and noisy AF. I only use manual focusing when I shoot macro. With newer generation bodies such as EOS50D and EOS5DMkII, extremely accurate focusing can be done via the LiveView LCD with high magnification viewing. Focusing with the small pathetic optical viewfinder is a history.

If you intend to own only one budget medium telephoto prime lens for macro and portrait work, then this is the lens. Else I would recommend you to get EF85mm F/1.8 USM specifically for portrait work due to larger aperture and faster AF.

Here's a shot of an Australian bank note.

EOS350D, 90mm, F/16, 2.5s, ISO100



100% Crop (click for fullsize)

EF200mm F/2.8L II USM

There's an advantage of being black: being stealthy. As you know most Canon's L series (super)telephoto lenses are in white colour, mainly to dissipate heat easily under hot sun. The downside is it gets way too much of attention in the public. EF200mm F/2.8L II USM is the longest telephoto prime lens in L series which comes in black colour. This lens was launched in April 1996, together with its younger brother: EF135mm F/2L USM. Optically and physically they share almost the same design. Here is the photo of both lens.


What I like about EF200mm F/2.8L II USM is its size and weight. Compared to EF135mm F/2L USM, it's about 2.4cm longer, and merely 15g heavier. Compared to EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM, it's 3.58cm shorter and merely 5g heavier. It consists of 9 elements in 7 groups, 8-blade diaphragm, minimum focusing distance of 1.5m yielding 0.16x magnification ratio (on fullframe body) and utilizing 72mm diameter filter. If you often mount the camera on tripod, I would recommend you to get the black Tripod Ring A II which is supported by this lens for better stability and balance. EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM also uses the same tripod ring but in white colour. The photo below shows the EF200mm F/2.8L II USM mounted on a EOS5D with a white retrofit tripod ring. The ET-83B II lens hood is supplied along with the lens.


At the price of around RM2900, this lens doesn't come with IS (Image Stabilizer) nor weather-sealed. As a rule of thumb, it's highly recommended to shoot at least 1/200s of shutter speed for a 200mm lens to avoid handshake blur. Conversely, I can easily get sharp image at 1/10s with the EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM, due to the presence of IS. From all of my test shots, I get excellent handheld shooting result at 1/200s.

The AF is fast yet accurate. On this sample copy, the AF result is dead on. The focusing ring is very smooth and built is solid. Being light and short means highly portable. I use Think Tank Urban Disguise 30 to carry it while it's attached to a EOS5D body.

If you think that this lens is slow, and wish that it has IS mechanism and don't mind to pay alot for a lens which is heavier and larger, then I would recommend you to go with the approximately RM19,000 EF200mm F/2L IS USM. Fulltime sports photographers might prefer this unit.

In terms of image quality, it gives me the same feeling as its sibling (EF135mm F/2L USM). It's sharp wide open from edge to edge on a fullframe body. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot wide open all the time if that's the result I desire. For pixel peepers, this is the lens for you! Colour and contrast are as usual on L series lens.

200mm, F/2.8, 1/250s, ISO800


200mm, F/2.8, 1/320s, ISO200


200mm, F/2.8, 1/320s, ISO200


200mm, F/2.8, 1/200s, ISO800


Below is the 100% crop of the above image. Click for fullsize.


200mm, F/11, 1/30s, ISO400


Depends on individual's need, if you often shoot at 200mm and F/2.8 and yet not willing to spend extra money, not willing to carry bulkier and heavier lens, then this is the lens for you.

*Thanks to Canon Malaysia for loaning this lens.

EF85mm F/1.8 USM

Reasonably priced at around RM1400, the EF85mm F/1.8 USM is suitable for head and shoulder portrait. Though it's not part of the L lens league, but the lens is able to deliver crisp sharp image even at its largest aperture. The only drawback is the purple fringing at F/1.8 and once stopped down to F/2.8, it's almost eliminated. Launched in July 1992, this lens is still able to support today's standard, especially for pixel-peepers. Also, having 8-blade diaphragm renders excellent and smooth bokeh to eliminate background distraction.

The build is solid, it has metal mount and the focusing ring is smooth. Weighing merely 425g, it offers great portability. Compared to its elder brother - EF85mm F/1.2L II USM, it's less than half of its weight, and almost 1/6th its price, but lacking the L quality and slower by more than a stop. If you're on budget, it's a no brainer to choose the F/1.8 version. However, being cheap doesn't mean it's poorer in every aspect, its AF is way faster than the F/1.2 version due to lighter focusing group elements. Overall, it's a value for money prime lens for Canon shooters, be it fullframe or APS-C body.

EOS5D, 85mm, F/2, 1/160s, ISO400


EOS5D, 85mm, F/1.8, 1/60s, ISO1600


EOS5D, 85mm, F/2, 1/60s, ISO1600

Art Wolfe's 70-200

Art Wolfe is an American professional wildlife and nature photographer. He's one of the photographers featured in Canon's Explorer of Light. Canon USA has a dedicated website to feature Art Wolfe's work - Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge. Recently he had replaced his EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM with EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM due to the F4 version offering huge advantage in weight saving for traveling shooter who work on location. Also for the same reason he preferred the EF400mm F/4 DO IS USM (1940g) over the EF400mm F/2.8L IS USM (5370g).

Jeff's 70-200

I'm a fan of Jeff Ascough. He's one of the best wedding photographers in the world, from UK. His shooting style always amazes me. He's currently shooting with Canon system. A few days ago he updated his blog, mentioning that he just got his brand new EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM. The reason being, he's tired of the weight and size of his previous EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM. I'm quite surprised that even a professional like him would have the same complain as I do, but due to the excellent image quality of the F/4L IS version, it's rather easy to sacrifice a stop of light/speed.

EF70-200mm (F/2.8L IS USM vs F/4L IS USM)

When I first got started with photography, I'm always being amazed with all the white lenses which Canon had been offering in the past 2 decades. These lenses do not come in cheap price and most Canon shooters often drool over them. Two years back, Canon had 3 variants in the 70-200mm range: EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM, EF70-200mm F/2.8L USM & EF70-200mm F/4L USM. The most expensive being the F/2.8L IS USM version (RM6200) while the cheapest being the F/4L USM (RM2700). During that time, I wished Canon came out with EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM because I simply couldn't afford the F/2.8L IS USM version, and IS (Image Stabilizer) certainly increases the chance of getting sharp picture at lower shutter speed. 

My wish came true, Canon launched the EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM on 24th August 2006. It has basically the same construction as the F/4 USM (non-IS) with additional 4-stop IS module. In addition, the optics are better, resulting higher resolution. And finally, it reached our shore in November 2006. Without waiting any further, I ordered the lens and got it immediately. The lens has a manufacturing code of UU10XX which indicates that it's made in October 2006 - spanking new! 

On an APS-C body such as my EOS350D, the effective focal length is 112-320mm. Pretty suitable to be used for zoo trip or racing events. Being just 760g, you won't feel tired even if you carry it all day long. The zoom ring has sufficient grip and makes zooming easy and comfortable. The 4-stop IS is very efficient as I could get sharp still photos even at 1/8s @ 70mm (112mm equiv). The image produced at wide open F/4 is stunning, and it doesn't improve much even if I futher stop down the lens to F/5.6 and F/8. Since this lens was used on an APS-C body, the DOF is pretty deep and we couldn't expect an F/4 lens to give smooth creamy bokeh an F/2.8 lens. 

I hungered for less DOF as I shoot more with a 70-200mm and that triggered me to upgrade to EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM. To fund for this lens, I sold my F/4L IS but at the same time I was so reluctant because I really love that lens. The benefit of using a F/2.8 lens on my previous EOS30D is that it will activate the extra sensitive center AF sensor. This makes AF more precise especially under low light condition. At wide open F/2.8, the image is sufficiently sharp and DOF is significantly shallower. I'm able to separate the subject from background easily with this lens. Something which I didn't really consider before buying this lens was the weight. It's freaking heavy at 1470g! When coupling this lens with a EOS5D, it became worse as the body itself is already 850g. The good thing about this combination is that the DOF is extremely shallow. Effective focal length is back to 70-200mm as the focal length multiplier on a fullframe body is x1.0. This focal length range is very suitable for small event coverage, portrait and landscape. 

Due to its weight and size, lately I realized that I hardly use it. Lugging it around for a few hours is enough to cause my arm to be sore - also due to lack of exercise. The lens hood is also a pain to be stored. When I use this lens for automotive shots, I usually stop down to F/8 - F/11 to gain more details. Also I realized that when I need extremely thin DOF, I would opt for my EF85mm F/1.8 USM or EF135mm F/2L USM.

The funny thing is I started to give the F/4L IS lens a second thought. On the EOS5D, the DOF is pretty shallow even at F/4, especially at the end of the telephoto focal length range. To handhold this lens, I don't need the vertical grip which weighs another 200-400g. In fact, it's just 10g heavier than the EF135mm F/2L USM. Simply an ideal travel lens! Though I lose a stop of light, but I feel that the recent launch of the EOS5DMkII has about 2 to 3-stop of improvement in terms of sensor noise level. At 100% crop, I notice that ISO6400's output on the EOS5DMkII easily outperforms the output of the old EOS5D at ISO3200. This gives me the idea that F/4 lenses eventually will be very popular among photographers, especially when they just cost a fraction of what F/2.8 lenses cost. 

I picked up my EF70-200mm F/4L IS USM from the Canon Pro Center yesterday, did a series of focusing and sharpness test to ensure that the copy I got is a "sharp copy". Now my dry cabinet has 3 white lenses and I guess very soon I have to part with the F/2.8L IS...Just the matter of the price I can let go...

EF Primes

I started to fancy prime lenses ever since I own the 5D. The older generation (back in 80s and 90s) of EF lenses were designed for 35mm film SLR. There's a series of (non-L) prime lenses in the EF range such as 20/2.8, 24/2.8, 28/1.8, 28/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.4, 50/1.8, 85/1.8 and 100/2. These prime lenses are fast (at least having aperture of F/2.8), light in weight (between 200g and 500g) and cheap (less than RM2000). If you wish to travel light, consider bringing one or two prime lenses. I'm pretty sure the total weight (and price) would still be less than a EF24-70mm F/2.8L USM. Of course you lose the convenience of changing the focal length in just a twist, but people usually believe that using prime lens will drive the photographer to think more, compose more carefully and shoot better.

Apart from the weight/size/price, prime lenses allow me to shoot a photo under low light condition without using a tripod. Of course if you have the luxury to shoot with a tripod, that would be the best. Stop down the aperture to F/8 or even smaller i.e. F/11 to get more DOF and use the lowest ISO setting for best image quality. The trade-off which anyone can think of is the inconvenience, not to mention certain locations disallow the use of tripod.

Generally, on fullframe bodies, 20mm - 24mm are considered ultra wide angle; 35mm is considered wide angle; 50mm is considered standard; 85mm - 100mm are considered medium telephoto. For APS-C bodies, 20mm - 24mm are considered wide angle, 35mm is considered standard; 50mm is considered medium telephoto; 85mm - 100mm are considered telephoto.

For APS-C body starters, I would highly recommend the EF35mm F/2 lens. With an effective focal length of 56mm, it can be used as a walk-around lens. The minimum focusing distance of 0.25m allows close-up yet capturing the blurred background at F/2. Very versatile. The price is just nice, around RM1000. As for half-body portrait, the EF50mm F/1.8 II is a steal at RM300. With an effective focal length of 85mm, you can capture half-body portrait without distortion at a reasonable distance to maintain communication with your model. If you feel the F/1.8 version build quality isn't up to the standard, you may consider its sibling EF50mm F/1.4 USM at a higher cost of around RM1300.

My personal favourite combination of these primes depend on the type of the trip. For landscape and portrait, I migh couple 24/2.8 with 50/1.4. If I just wish to bring only a single lens, 35/2 could be an all rounder. How about coupling 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 for just portrait? Too many combinations! But I will always try to limit to 2 lenses at once. Either of these combinations would easily fit into my DOMKE F-5XB shoulder bag.

If you wish to know more about these prime lenses, please read this article "Ugly Ducklings: the early EF primes".

Just for price comparison purpose, checkout how many prime lenses you can buy from a single high quality L-series zoom lens:

EF24-105mm F/4L IS USM (RM4500) = EF24mm F/2.8 (RM1500) + EF35mm F/2 (RM1000) + EF50mm F/1.4 USM (RM1300) + RM700 of cash

EF24-70mm F/2.8 USM (RM4800) = EF24mm F/2.8 (RM1500) + EF35mm F/2 (RM1000) + EF50mm F/1.4 USM (RM1300) + RM900 of cash

EF70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM (RM6300) = EF85mm F/1.8 USM (RM1400) + EF135mm F/2L USM (RM3300) + RM1600 of cash

EOS5D, EF24mm F/2.8, F/2.8, 1/40s, ISO800

EOS5D, EF24mm F/2.8, F/2.8, 1/40s, ISO800