Aside from the photography I do, I also work writing various articles on camera equipment and technique for various websites.
One of those websites is ePHOTOzine.com and although I used to write about all sorts of equipment, I tend to only do lens reviews for them these days.
Here are links to the articles I’ve written, with a little personal comment for each to give a little insight into what I thought about the lens.
Canon EF-S Zoom Lenses
- Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Prone to flare and no hood is supplied, otherwise it’s a nice lens. - Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Nice and sharp, but prone to flare and bags of distortion at 15mm. - Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Not all that bad for a kit lens. CAs can be an issue, especially at 18mm. - Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
As far as 18-200mm super-zoom lenses go, this one’s pretty good.
Canon EF Zoom Lenses
- Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye Zoom Lens
It’s like two lenses in one for full frame cameras, or a fisheye for folks with multiple camera formats. Sharp, but expensive! - Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
Poor sharpness at 35mm towards the edges, especially for a lens that costs so much. - Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM
Cracking sharpness, except in the far corners on full frame. - Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Excellent lens, although CAs towards the edges may be too high for some. - Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
A good all-round performer… and so it should be. - Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
It’s new and expensive, but it’s also brilliant. - Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
A bit of a bargain, if you can live without IS. Images are soft towards the edges though. - Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
A cracking all-round performer. - Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM
This piece of R&D from Canon really isn’t worth the money… unless you really have a really strong aversion to red, preferring green instead. - Canon 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye Zoom Lens
Why this lens exists, I cannot fathom. The zoom function is like having two lenses in one, but it costs about the same as two lenses, so if you only want one, you’re wasting your money.
Canon EF Prime Lenses
- Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
This lens is about as good as macro lenses with IS get. - Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM
A really good budget prime for portraits and low light shooting. - Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM
Superb… but it should be at that price. - Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
You buy lenses like this to use at wide apertures… and this lens really needs to be stopped down. - Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM
Bloody expensive lens suffers from the law of diminishing returns. - Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
Good in the centre wide open and better build than the f/1.8 - Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Performs really well, despite the Kinder Surprise build quality. You can’t really complain though, as it’s so cheap. - Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro
A great performer. Nice and compact too. - Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
The daddy of 85mm lenses. Really sharp and probably worth the price. - Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
A real bargain. If this lens wasn’t so good, than the choice between this and the f/1.2L would be much simpler. - Canon EF 180mm f/3.5 L Macro USM Lens Review
A fine telephoto macro lens. - Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM Lens Review
Not being funny, but this lens is awful. - Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Lens Review
A sharp, and inexpensive pancake optic. - Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review
So expensive for an f/2.8 prime. I thought the price was a joke, even though its amazingly sharp. - Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review
Another very expensive, but very sharp wideangle from Canon.
Canon EF-S Prime Lenses
- Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM
A nice, compact macro lens for AF-S compatible cameras. The EF-S mount may prevent the lens from working with extension tubes though.