Filter Reviews

A truly fun piece of glass and I use it as both a toy and a tool. I love to shoot people and objects with it and see what the distortion does to the image, but it's also incredibly useful when you have no room to work or back up. I found it especially useful in the confined spaces of aircraft cockpits. But that fine thread to mount it on the camera drives me nuts! Especially when I'm in the confined space of something like an aircraft cockpit. But I always put it in my kit when on the road.

* Best, Simple, High Quality Lens
* Not expensive
* Don't set F1/F2 lens, and you can get more effects, and more funny pictures
* Requires more light -> use bracketing, manual exposure or exposure correction

Slipped right on the CoolPix 995. Almost slipped onto the floor as well - the lens cover is nice, but held on by friction between a felt strip inside the cover and the side of the lens. It's second nature to pick it up by the lens cover. And the lens falls right out. Be warned! I caught mine just in time and spend 5 minutes cleaning off finger prints. This is a common complaint from people I know who own this lens. The rear lens cover is a pain - not fully threaded and a pain to get on. Enough of the 'bitchin.

The lens itself is great. I had a Tiffen wide angle on my old Kodak DC290 - this Nikon is far superior. The camera has two Fisheye lens presets that adjusts and locks the camera's settings for optimum results. The resulting photo can be dark if taken indoors (the flash is automatically disabled) - but a few seconds in PhotoShop increasing the contrast and brightness fixed it right up (try that with a film camera!)

For [this price] you can't beat this lens. If you plan on doing panoramic or full room shots, get it. Example: I stood my tripod in a corner facing the center of a room. It captured EVERYTHING, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, except what was directly behind the camera. I then import the resulting image into a panoramic editor, output a Quicktime VR file (takes under 20 minutes total), and have a virtual view of the room. Cool. Plus everyone who sees it asks "is that a lens?!?!"

Very light and compact. This makes a great "traveling" lens. I take about 15% of my pictures with this lens, mostly out on hikes where I don't want to haul around my expensive & heavy 70-200 f/2.8 L. This lens paired with an EF 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 USM or EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM will give you a compact, light-weight package that you can take along on trips or nature hikes, and cover all of the useful focal lengths.

Much better image quality than Canon's EF 75-300 lenses. Ring USM for fast auto-focus, but no image stabilization. Good build quality for the money spent.

Sharpness drops off noticably past 200mm or so, with some flaws around the edges, but images are still acceptable for the most part. Great lens for 10D/Rebel/300D digital cameras, since the 1.6x cropping will eliminate the flaws at the egdes of the picture at the longer focal lengths, and make this lens effetively a 150-450mm.

Best used stopped down to f/8 or f/11, in good light or with fast film (or digital camera set at ISO 400+). Not recommended for low-light situations, but could be useful for indoor flash close-up portraits.

For the $250-$300 price range, this lens can't be beat. To get noticeably better image quality, you would have to spend twice as much. If you're inclined to do so, check out the Canon EF 70-200 f/4 L.

I love this camera! My husband gave it to be for Christmas last year. It is easier to use than my compact 35-mm camera is. Very, very easy to use. Just took it on vacation and pictures came out fabulous. When on vacation, I had several people comment on the camera and ask how I liked it. When I was purchasing souveniers at one vacation spot, I was asked if I was a professional photography. I had a good laugh over that one. So far have only used it in the totally automatic mode and have not been disappointed. Tested it this summer with close-ups to see what it could do and was not disappointed there either. I think I'll ask for the 300 mm lense this Christmas.

This lens is very good. Picture is very sharp with 100-200 mm. and it's perfect for head&body portrait. I love this lens. In 300 mm area you can see softness but it's not much.

And I compared with 28-105,this one is sharper at 100 than28-105 @105, and it shows much less distortion.

Compared with 75-300mm USM, this one seems sharper than 75-300, with the focus speed almost the same.

Of course, there are other better ones(like 70-200 f2.8L or other fixed focal telephoto lenses), but look what you pay for, it's really a good deal for amateur photographers.

A very good buy, got about 3 months back for my sister. sturdy camera, very good results. Not too compact but the picture quality makes up for it. This one is certainly worth it!

I've used this lens before with Minolta SLRs and it's awesome. Pictures come out clean, crisp, and clear. Price isn't bad either.

Hey everyone! Guess what? The best camera you can get is right here for only 140.00 dollars. Get the best camera and have snappy fun!

I bought this lens in order to do some bird photography and I am very pleased with the results. I had read reviews of other zoom telephoto lenses that said you needed to aware of possible vignetteing with the lens. I have had no problem with this lens. The operation of the lens is smooth and easy to focus manually. The weight of the lens is something for me to get use to, but this is the first long range lens I have owned.

I purchased the lens through Amazon which made the process simple. If any of you have tried to deal with camera warehouses you know that speed is not always a high priority. 1 - 2 weeks is not a long wait (I got my lens in about 10 days). Plus the assurance of Amazon also helps.

I bought this lens to work with a Canon Rebel Ti. I did a great deal of research before purchasing this lens specifically for outdoor football games. I am extremely happy with the photos from this lens at both 135 and 400mm. I occasionally use a monopod, but it the photos are very clear when I shoot handheld as well. I have not yet blown up my photos more than 5x7. If you are looking for a great telephoto zoom lens at an affordable price, especially for sports use such as football games, I am sure you will be happy with this lens.

I borrowed this lens from a professional photographer that is a friend of mine. I tried it at a football game and it was great the focal range covered all the necessary lengths I needed without having to switch lenses. I highly recommend this to anyone who takes photos at sporting events

Received lens as a gift, was thinking of buying myself. Was impressed with the looks of this monster,looks very expensive to unfamiliar folks. I use this lens on my Canon Elan 7e and from the start had a problem that I wasnt informed of when bought by friend. Problem was that certain Sigma lenses don't work properly with the new Canon camera. After some research, i found I had to ship my lens to New York Sigma factory for a free upgrade, A+. received lens in a few weeks and problem was solved. Other problem was the tripod collar is in bad spot for use with some Bogan tripod heads. the head must be used sidewards to be used with the lens. Not a big problem but a problem. Next problem is that when carrying camera with lens attached and pointing downward, the lens slides to the fully extended position and could get damaged by banging into things when not noticed right away. Other than that I like the lens. Its definitely not a pro lens but it will serve the advanced amateur well.

One of the best on the market. Even using a 2x adapter to get 1000mm. It is big and not too heavy and has a tripod collar ring for added stability.

This is a moderately priced alternative telephoto lens. Althought quite bulky, lens are not heavy, and they fit perfectly well in my LowePro Min-Trekker backpack.

Lens are not fast enought to take pictures without a tripod in less then bright light conditions, however, if you can afford a longer exposure times and tripod, you can get good results. Not suited for sports or fast animal photography, but if you want zoom into the landscape, architecture or people, here is a perfectly fine lens...There is really no good alternative lens if you need a range of 170-500 mm.

Tamron makes lenses that are inexpensive alternatives to name brand choices. Along with Sigma and Tokina, the "Big Three" third party manufactures compete for a share of the lens market. Tamron has recently ventured into the 28-200 and even 28-300 realm. The versatility that these focal lengths give, when included in the same lens, is tremendous. However, as with anything, there is generally a trade off. In this case, the user is sacrificing sharpness, speed, and photographic quality for convenience and versatility.

Positives:
Covers the 28-200mm range - unless you photograph wide landscapes (<28mm) or wildlife/sports (>200mm) this would ideally be the only lens you need
Very compact and lightweight
Internal focusing allows you to place filters on the lens without end-of-lens rotation

Negatives:
Very soft at the 200mm range with distortion throughout the zoom range
3.5-5.6 means you have a slower lens throughout the zoom range as well
Not a good lens for enlargement over 5x8 or even 4x6 under some circumstances

Overall, this would make a great lens for someone looking for a lightweight single lens to take with him or her to capture almost every type of shot available. This would not make a good lens for anyone aspiring to take great photographs, where sharpness, flare, and distortion are key concerns. I suggest you try it out if possible to see if you notice the issues listed above. If you like the results, then by all means, keep the lens. For the price, 28-200m coverage is a great thing.

Thanks for your time...

If I ever became a contestant on Survivor (the TV show) and I could only take one camera lens with me, this would be the one.

Even though I own a wider angle (19-35mm) and a more telephoto (80-300mm) zoom, this lens encompasses 90% of my shooting needs. It has 28mm for scenics, 100-135mm for portraits, and 200mm for close-ups and action photography. (The 200mm length is also great for girl watching in the summer time, pictures of which I use to dress up my vacation photo albums.)

The lens has separate rings for focusing and zooming, but since my SLR camera is autofocus, I just leave my (left hand) fingers on the zoom ring and let my shutter release finger control the focusing.

The compact size of the lens makes it very portable. And having such a wide range of focal lengths means I don't have to worry about missing a shot -- because I'm caught changing camera lenses.

If you're planning to buy a new SLR or are looking for a new lens, please be sure to put this fine optical instrument at the top of your shopping list.

I got a great Canon Elan IIe from ebay but no lens and not much money left. I knew I'd never have a bag full of lenses so I looked for the best all-around useful lens.

This is it!

Upside: 1)Great range of focal lengths 2)Pretty fast for the range and for the money. There are faster lenses out there but nowhere near the price. 3)Rugged

Downside: 1)Heavy 2)You must be at least 7 feet away to focus. That's not usually a problem because you can zoom in so tight but if you're shooting in a home sometimes it is akward to get back far enough. 3)There are now lenses with even greater range of focal length

If you want to put a great lens on your Canon and never, ever have to fuss this is a lens for you.

If you're on a photo shoot and don't want to lug around a lot of lenses this is a great one (however, it does get heavy on long hikes).

I've never regretted buying this lens. And I've never thought, "You know, if I would have spent a little more I could have got a whole lot better."

This has satisfied in every way.

Set that I got came in a somewhat cheap case and has poor anodizing on them. Shiny and seemingly worn in some of the threads. At first I thought they had been used but at closer examination, they were just poorly finished. The circular polarizer does not turn smoothly, again probably due to the poor finish in the threads. I may return them and get something more acceptable, such as Promaster.

There is no doubt that the price is right with this set as it comes with 3 filters. but using relatively inexpensive UV filters on lenses as protection is not a good idea because it will degrade your image slightly. if you have superior lenses (like Canon L glass or IS) you will probably want to buy a much higher quality UV filter as protection. and if you have cheaper lenses, then i would not use a cheap UV filter because you will be degrading your image too much.

the good news is that you also get a circular polarizer and a warming filter in this set. so that helps make this kit worthwhile.

just don't fall into the trap of thinking that cheap UV filters on your lenses are necessarily a good thing.

This set of basic filters is a must have for every camera bag...even new SLR users will find them easy to use and they will enhance your pictures - without a doubt.

This widened the field on my pro90is more than I expected. It works very well with this camera.I can find no problems with fit or function. This lens is a great accessory for your pro90

Quite a good wide converter lens. It works well with the 58mm
lens adapter. Comes with front and back caps and also with a
fantastic pouch for keeping it in.

The only problem with this wide converter is that the built-in
flash on my Powershot G1 doesn't reach the right hand side of
the photograph when the lens is on. This is also the problem
with the light-sensor lamp and the red-eye reduction lamp.
Shouldn't be a problem with daylight and outdoor shooting
though.

I purchased a "used lens" which had never been used. I got a great service.

Great lens kit. Comes with two "leatherette" bags for the lenes that are useless. I find it annoying to swap the lenes from the adapter ring so I will probably purchase 2 more adapters for quick changes. The lenes work great with great pictures. (...)

This lens kit is quite a nice accessory to the Kodak DC4800. It does, however, have some flaws.

For instance, the telephoto lens is not the sharpest of lenses. The problem is that this camera is autofocus. Since you are merely putting a lens in front of the existing in-camera lens, you are allowing a siginificantly smaller amount of light into the camera. Therefore, the pictures tend to be a bit dimmer, and with out quite as sharp detail. This is apparent if you try to use it to make portrait shots.

The wide-angle lens, has quite a bit of spherical distortion around the edges at close range. This is normal for most wide angle lenses, but it is particularly apparent with this one. At far ranges, focusing to infinity, the distortion is not noticeable, and the lens works quite nicely. It's great for landscape shots, but not an indoor shot from 20 feet trying to get in a whole room . . .

The macro lenses are great, though. They focus sharply, you just have to determine the proper focal length for the lens.

The other issue at work here is that when using these lenses you must use the LCD screen. There is no mask for the rangefinder. Therefore, to get an accurate idea of what is in your picture you have to waste significant battery power.

Other than these issues, the kit is very nice. On a whole, I would say it is a worthwhile purchase, but the telephoto is a bit disappointing . . .

This Lens Kit ( Kodak item# 8015877 ) includes four lenses: 2x telephoto, 0.6 wide-angle, +7 and +10 close-up lenses. NOT INCLUDED is the lens adapter which is required to use these lenses on the DC4800. That 43mm lens adapter (Kodak item# 1189745) is available here at Amazon.

I get lots of use out of the 2x telephoto lens. The camera itself zooms to 3x. So the effective zoom becomes 6x !!

The close-up lenses (+7 and +10) can be combined and used together at the same time.

Each lens comes with a protective pouch.

Be certain to get the Lens Adapter which the DC4800 requires in order to use these lenses. I often keep my lens adapter attached to the camera for extra protection of the lens that is built into the body of the DC4800.

I purchased this lens mainly for the macro feature and I now find not only is it great for macro close-up photography it is also a great all around lens. I have since replaced the standard Canon 35-80mm lens that came with my Canon Rebel G with the Sigma lens as it outperforms the Canon lens. I gave it a four star instead of five only because I feel that the focus and zoom ring could perform a bit more smoother.

I received the lens from Amazon promptly and in perfect condition as allways.

I was skeptical about buying a 3rd party lens, I can say I have been impressed with this Sigma lens. I have not used the macro feature, but the rest od the lens functions nicely. I am new to photography and so far this lens has performed very well.

I purchased the lens through Amazon which made the process simple. If any of you have tried to deal with camera warehouses you know that speed is not always a high priority. 1 - 2 weeks is not a long wait (I got my lens in about 10 days). Plus the assurance of Amazon also helps.

First of all you have to be carefull and take a look from what kind of material is made your lens.Most lenses in this class are made from plastic which is not good at all but the price can be lower for example as a CANON lens 28-80, they are also little bit lighter.This lens is different.Body of the lens is metal and the fitting to the camera is also made from metal.Why is so important.Because when you have the lens little longer and lens is made from plastic there is a lot of possibilities that this lens is gonna change his inside settings of glass ,because the weather(sun,rain,humidity) what can really effects your pictures.Second thing is focusing mechanism which is inside of this lens makes confortable use and holding cameras.Very helpfull seems to be macro function which is very nice in this class.I have one by my own and I would like to fully recommend this lens for using a camera on a daily basis.Acctually you can not buy better lens for price like this on the market at this time.