Filter Reviews

I have Canon's 75-300mm lens for almost a year and have examined it inside out. Unfortunately, I cannot admit that it's a good lens.

First of all, it doesn't have USM (Ultra Sonic Motor) and though having built-in AF motor, it is anyway VERY slow. And since telephoto lenses in general are for capturing high-speed events (like sport, running animals etc), its low-speed focusing makes it no good.

Secondly, its light-factor is quite low (4.0 for 75mm and only 5.6 for 300mm) what forces you to use either high-speed film (not lower than ISO400) or to shoot in the bright light (what's not possible everytime you shoot).

And the last, but not less important thing. I'm not good in mechanics, but what I know for sure is that Canon's 75-300mm lens produce unsharp pictures. No matter if you use a tripod or not, the pictures still are very unsharp which is very bad for images, being zoomed by 300mm.

Anyway, I'd recommend you to buy the lens of the same focal distance but in another configuration: Canon EF 75-300 F/4.5-5.6 IS USM. Although it's a bit expensive and as you see, the light factor is a bit lower, too, it has an USM and IS (Image Stabilizer) what makes focusing drastically super fast and the pictures become more sharper with the help of IS. This lens deserves a high attention. But not this one...

I bought this lens about six months after replacing my 20 year old SLR with the Canon Rebel G. I didn't think photography could get any better. It did.

The first day I used this lens, I was shooting photos of a biplane plummeting at an airshow. Having been used to my older equipment, I thought, "No way can I hold 300mm still enough, but what the heck, film is cheap." I was wrong. That photo was crystal clear, and instead of a tiny blur in the midst of sky, I have a very clear image of the plane filling the frame.

The lens has been responsible for getting me up close in many places since, most recently capturing Al Gore and his entourage on the pilot house of the riverboat that travelled the Mississippi the day after the convention. If you are looking for a versatile lens that gives great results under many conditions, this is it. It really is hard to take a bad photo when using it.

This is another great Canon lens. I have used it for over a year now and the photos I have shot are great. Great for portraits and nearly all other photo ops. I would highly recommend this one.

Canon's 28-135mm with IS (Image Stabilizer) is a far better choice for the money.

We use it with a Canon 300D. It gives good picture quality and are quick to focus. Become a 44-320 on the 300D. A good buy.

From portraits to sporting events, this is wonderful multi-purpose lens. Prior to purchasing the lens, I asked a buddy of mine (photographer for the Philadelphia Flyers, NHL Hockey Team and long time Canon user) if this was a quality lens. He told me to go for it as it is the best buy for the money and that distortion and spherical abberation are extremely minimal with this lens. Truth be told, I've never seen an EF lens I didn't like.

Needed an inexpensive wide angle zoom, this fit the bill. I trust Vivitar products and this one hasn't let me down yet. Takes 77mm filters. Note: This lens is a true ultra-wide angle lens, and as such image quality will suffer if used with standard, inexpensive filters. When using filters, spend the extra money and get one of the ultra-thin models from Hoya or similar. Otherwise you will notice rounding at the corners on shots taken at 19mm caused by the overhang of the filters getting the way of the shot (called "vignetting"). Makes a neat effect if intentional, but can mess up your shot if not.

Good, but not spectacular zoom. Very good sharpness when the aperture is closed to 8, or smaller vallues. Metal mount, plastic body. Worth the spent money.

I am an amateur photographer (read: take lots of pictures at parties, of the dog, on vacation etc.). Until I bought this lens, I had a 28-80mm (came with my Minolta XTsi) and a 70-210mm (bought when got camera) but I always wanted a wide-angle lens. Problem is that most wide-angle lenses are *very* expensive. (For instance, I searched for other wide-angle lenses when I bought this and the next closest one was $300!)

This 19-35mm AF zoom lens is perefect and works with Minolta and many other cameras. If you are not a professional you will NEVER notice the difference between this and a $300 wide-angle lens, so why bother spending more than you need to?

If you do buy this, pick up a basic UV filter (77mm thread) for it. Might as well protect your investment.

We live in Hawaii and like many people here suffer terribly from allergies, especially when the Kona winds are blowing from the big island, bringing the dreaded "vog" (volcano smog) with them. On top of that, my husband is allergic to our two beloved cats (the cats and I decided to keep him anyway) and I was allergic to his subsequent noisy snoring, so I purchased this item. I must admit I thought it might wind up just being another gadget lying around the house, but I am very pleased to report that it is an extremely useful device that has made our sleep significantly more peaceful and restful. We keep it on automatic most of the time; it's a tad noisy at night if it kicks into high gear, so occasionally we switch it onto whisper quiet before we sleep. I'm so glad we bought it, and I'd recommend it to anyone who suffers from allergies or has pets that they don't want to banish from the house. I also like the streamlined design of the Hamilton Beach model, the others looked too heavy and obtrusive.

I looked everywhere for the best HEPA filter at a reasonable price, and after comparing models that range from $50.00 to $500.00 I selected the Hamilton Beach TrueAir.

I live in a new home, yet even with a central filtration system I noticed a lot of dust on the furniture in certain rooms. My youngest son just turned two and seemed to wake up with a lot of nasal congestion each morning no matter how often we cleaned his room.

This filter did the trick; the air must be better in his room because his nasal congestion was reduced tremendously, and on some mornings he has absolutely none at all. I immediately bought a second unit for my other son.

Many reviews here mention that the unit is noisy, but I want to clarify that it's only loud when the air quality is poor. Once the room's air is clean it quiets down automatically and stays that way as it maintains circulation of clean air. It does all of this automatically and sports a digital readout on the front that shows you the air quality in the room.

The "UV light" on the top is just an indicator (you want this feature as it shows you if the bulb is working or needs replacement). The indicator doesn't bother anyone in my family in the least at night. It really doesn't put off any more light than a digital clock radio, and even then the light is on top of the unit pointing upwards. I don't notice it at all.

I suppose if the goal was absolute pitch blackness one could easily put a small piece of masking tape across the indicator.

In any case I highly recommend the unit. I liked it enough that I bought two of them from Amazon; setup is a snap, they're lightweight but sturdy, and they've proven to me that they work by alleviating my son's nasal congestion in just one day. Not bad. :)

I bought my HB 04161 air cleaner for my office cubicle and it works great. The item was packaged very nicely with easy instructions for setup.

The Auto setting works quite well with the air quality sensor. This is a feature I highly recommend. Scrape your feet on the carpet in front of the unit and the sensor detects the lowered air quality and increases the fan to a higher setting. It even works for food smells and local foot traffic.

On the lowest setting the unit is very quiet. I leave mine on Auto and turn it off when I go home at night. I also own a Honeywell air cleaner which works well and moves a lot of air but doesn't have all the nice features of the HB unit. I have the 04161 positioned to blow the clean air across the front of my chair where I sit.

Summary: Good value, great features, nice styling, small footprint. One of the few low-end units to offer a UV germicidal light.

I bought this 2x lens to give more zoom capability to my CoolPix 4300 camera. The 4300 only has a 3x optical zoom built into it, which I found is not really enough for taking action shots and that kind of thing. This lens doubles the optical zoom maximum to 6x. That helps a lot for pulling in the subject, but is definitely not like having a 400mm lens on an SLR, for example. For my camera, and I think most CoolPix cameras, you need a small screw-on ring adapter (Nikon UR-E4, for the 4300) to attach this lens to the camera. The adapter can be a little hard to find I discovered, as most photo places tend not to stock it. I did find one though. The lens itself is very well made, lightweight, and comes with a nice little velvet bag and lens caps for both ends. It takes great photos without any weird side effects or aberrations. I've found that it's best if you use it in well lighted situations, or use a tripod, to avoid blurring the subject as a result of camera shake.

I have a Nikon Coolpix 5000, and needed this lens to help out the 3x optical zoom it comes with. The lens has great optics. No distortion or aberations. It requires an adapter to use it with the camera. Screw on the adapter and the lens to the camera, tell the camera you are using the 2X lens and you are ready. Wish they had bayonet mounts like the SLRs.

...this is an incredibly sharp lens.

If you own one of the popular Coolpix cameras and want to increase your zoom potential, this should be yoru first choice. Not only are the optics first rate, but the lens is not overly heavy. This enables you to screw it on and walk aroudn with it. Photos produced with this lens are stunning and very crisp. The only drawback I'd say this has is the limit of only 2x telephoto/teleconverter aspect, but that is what keeps it relatively light! Amazon also sells a 3x version, but it is significantly heavier and it will end up in the closet instead of on your Coolpix.

Get this lens - you will be *thrilled* you did.

Based on the description by Amazon.com:
-Assembly-free design with contoured wraparound frame

I thought they were selling 3M model AF250XL. But it turned out to be the cheaper version BF20XL.Basically they shipped me a lemon. I am sending it back.

If they want to be straight,why can't amazon put the manufacturers model number on the desciption. Do you smell something here?

Siva

This simple filter works as it should be. Although it doesn't look fancy, the filter is great and prevent the radiation to go directly into your eyes. At the same time, it provides even more vivid picture than before. You can feel immediately the difference using this filter.

It's a little ugly I admit and looks not like a new one - because of its color. The assembly is simple but robust. Only two bars on top of it but it stand firmly without any sticker. Good design that allow you to remove easily but you don't need to worry about it will drop.

For health and comfort reason, I think this antiradiation filter is very important for people who have prolong exposure to their computer monitor. Before I bought this filter, I used to get red eyes, but now they are all gone. ;)

This lens has been a helpful addition to my camera setup. I purchased this lens and a tripod at the same time. I have found that using this lens at max zoom really does require the use of a tripod, or other stabilization method (such as resting it on a table or railing). There is no way to handhold this lens at 300 mm and still get razor sharp pics. I use this lens to attach to my Canon Rebel 2000. As a beginning photographer I use 400 speed film for nearly all my shots, and have been pleased with the results. I generally do not make enlargements from my prints -- they just go in my photo album -- so the relative graininess of 400 speed is not noticable in 4x6 prints. Coupling this lens with a polarizing filter dramtically improved the contrast and sharpness of distant objects in bright daylight -- particularly distant mountains and scenery. As far as zoom goes, this lens picks up where the standard Rebel lens leaves off and really pulls in the distant objects well. I have not tried to use this lens to shoot fast moving objects at a great distance (such as sports) but for landscapes or distant objects -- perched birds, mountains, bridges, sunsets, I have found this lens to be an absolutely indispensable part of my kit. It attaches and detaches from the camera with ease. The autofocus system focuses within a second -- I've never needed to switch to manual. I knocked a star off because I wish it came with a carrying case. The lens has some heft to it -- it weighs as much as the standard Rebel Body - if not more. It definetly feels solid and well-made, but at the price (which is expensive for me) I feel like I have to treat it with kid gloves, and I can't find a carrying case for it. When I pack this lens in a carryon I stick it inside a few socks to make due.

Bought this lens for my Canon 300D. I chose to buy it despite a lot of mixed reviews. I love the lens. Great focus throughout the range. Have been using it almost 4 weeks now. It is hard to hand hold at 200-300mm, but I knew that when I bought it, thats why I use a tripod or monopod.

If you want 75-300mm and can't afford the IS $400 version, this is definately a good bet. I'd buy Canon glass anyday over tamron/sigma/quantaray.

I bought this lens when I was going to take the kids to the zoo one day. My camera shop was kind enough to remind me I could return it if I were not happy with it. I kept it and have used it several other times with great results on my Digital Rebel. Other than agreeing that there seems to some soft focus if you hit the 300 stop point, the performance of this lens has been a very pleasant surprise - especially when you factor in the price. This is a real lens with a metal lens mount and a fast USM motor that makes focusing instantaneous. I have also found it to be no problem hand holding this lens despite the higher effective focal length since it is mounted on a digital.

Toshiba Projection TVs are the worst in the market. And when calling their customer service, forget it. They are just too ignorant and clueless as to how to resolve any problem.

After the 6 month of possession, this TV went down miserably. Oneday, while I was watching the tv, I heard the 'pop' noise from the speaker and the picture went out. After a second or two, when the picture finally came back on, I noticed the semi-transparent vertical streaks across the screen. The artifact was like watching the tv through a screen door. The picture still goes out time to time but the vertical streaks remain the same.

Toshiba tried to have someone come out to repair the tv for 3 month without success (couldn't find a repair shop near by Topeka, KS). After I filed the complaint to AG's office and BBB, Toshiba finally decide to give me a refund but it will take another 4 more weeks.

When this tv works, it works great but now I have serious doubt about this product and Toshiba's customer service (one of the worst I've ever had). I just hope that nobody has to go through what I have been going through for the past 3 months.

This is a 2 year old model and the new model is $[money]less and is alot better. Model number on the new one is 65HX81, it is now called the cinema series, and it is toshibas top of the line. I own the 50 inch model and it is awesome. If you buy one, make sure you buy it from a dealer with ISF certification, that is needed to calibrate the set after a burn in time of 3 months. It is usually around $[money], but if the person you buy it from has the certification and the equipment, it might be free. Mine was. All projection tvs need to be calibrated after burn in, then every 1-2 years. Picture quality is greatly increased, and so is tv life. Only ISF trained people with the proper equipment can do this. ISF.com.

I'd love to review this lense, unfortunately it isn't the one that I received. I purchased this lense, but received a much slower 28-105mm F3.8-5.6 UC-III lense instead (62mm filter). Make sure you get the actual lense you are paying for.

I enjoyed this lens very much when I got it. Problem is that it's Auto focus isn't working on my Canon EOS-5. It worked fine in the begining. It's not now. I'm going to send it in and see if they fix it and if it works well afterwards. Never been dropped and hasn't been used all that much. Not sure if it's just mine or if others have had this problem. It might need to be reprogrammed. Buy with caution.

...I used the lens at a wedding and it was just perfect. It's a little tough on the focusing and the zoom but that's ok at least I know it's going to stay put.

I can't wait to use it on my digital SLR and see how it looks.

Perhaps no fan-based air purifier should not allowed to be advertised as quiet. This one is no exception--and I am talking about it at its lowest setting (Sleep). Although it is a bit quieter than my previous fan-based air purifier, it can be clearly heard, even while surrounded by other normal day-time sounds. I can hear it from across the room. Higher settings (Low, Med, High) are worse--I can't stand using Med and High unless I'm out of the room.

I bought at Costco a stand-up cooling fan (with a 21"-by-2.5" air outlet) that is noticeably quieter than this, at roughly the same air output rate.

If you insist on a fan-based air purifier, this may be good enough; just don't expect miracles in terms of quietness. But if you want really quiet or nearly silent, you should consider the Ionic Breeze (although you might find that the slower cleaning rate and the cleaning hassles unacceptable).

Works well, does a great job moving the air and cleaning the air as well. Sleeping with it on the lowest setting is fine, but your most effective cleaning is on the highest setting (of course). The only thing keeping it from a five star rating is the over priced replacement HEPA filters. Unit itself is a great deal here on Amazon, couldn't touch the price locally. Am going to order a second unit (or maybe the larger one) for the living room. With 3 dogs, this unit really shines.

I did a lot of research before deciding on the Bionaire 1175. My criteria were: (1) Quality product from a company I knew; (2) True HEPA with a prefilter (see how much I learned?); (3) Functional and nice-looking. I could not be more pleased! The unit absolutely looks great: modern, clean design, well-placed buttons, and the nightlight on the readout looks great. It fits neatly against a wall and has a small footprint. These are aesthetic concerns, true, but the unit has to sit someplace in your home, and I wanted it to look good. The air is drawn in the front and out the top, so you get maximum cleaning without the outflow interfering with the air intake. It truly is quiet; the highest setting could probably be compared to running a regular fan. Every day or two, I can remove a good amount of cat hair and larger dust clumps from the front grille -- and this is just the bigger stuff that's getting caught before it even gets to the filters! So, I know it's cleaning my air, and it looks great doing it. Works for me!!