Filter Reviews

I bought this lens in January of 2003 after much recommendation. For what I had been shooting (college basketball) the 70-200mm f/2.8L was the most commonly seen lens aside from the 300mm f/2.8L. The fstop of 2.8 along with the zoom were the initial factors that drew me to buying it.

I first shot with it on January 11, 2003 at the Louisville vs. Saint Louis game and I was very impressed with the results I got, much of the unsharpness I thought originally to be attributed to grain was almost completely absent with this lens using the same film I had been using. This lens has spoiled me, it will be very hard on my next lens purchase to buy anything but L glass.

Another thing I should note, this lens is built like a tank, like all L-Series lenses and 1-series bodies, it can take a beating, this is not to say you should actively knock it into things or throw it around on purpose but mine has been sandwiched between me and a basketball player falling out of bounds before. It's also not a light lens, but focusing is fast and smooth. If you plan on shooting a LOT or have professional aspirations, the lens may not make the photographer, but it can help.

This is the best lens you can get in this zoom range for the Canon EOS. It's not the cheapest and it's not the lightest, but it's the best. This lens is fast, it has excellent optics, the build quality is very solid and the image stabilization (IS) feature works wonders for hand held shooting. If you shoot hand held in marginal light, this is the lens for you. If you always use a tripod, you don't really need IS -- take a look at the less expensive non-IS version of this lens. If you always shoot in good light, the lighter and even less expensive 70-200mm f4.0 may do the job for you. But for me, the extra stop of light and the IS make the difference between unusable images and great images. This is an awesome lens.

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I got this lens a couple years ago and use it extensively. It is well constructed and easy to use with any Canon EOS body, though it must be focused manually. This is the only tool I know of that enables easy *field* photography above 2x magnification. I have stalked the tiniest insects and peered into the hearts of flowers with this astounding lens, and my transparencies are crisp and clean every time. It comes with a tripod ring (same one as several other Canon lenses use, just in black), which greatly aids switching to a vertical format without having to reposition everything.

Buy the MR-14EX ring flash with this, as it is impossible to see *anything* in normal daylight conditions at 5x. Its focus lamps frequently help in obtaining sharp pictures, though even they can't provide enough light to help you much when the lens is stopped down. A focus rail is also helpful--I use the Velbon macro slider since it moves in two directions, not just one. Tripod use is essential, as 5x magnification only covers an area about 5mm by 7mm.

The biggest advantage to owning this lens is that I travel less to do photography--I spent several hours on my patio this winter photographing white flies, moss, spiders, and anything else that visited the potted plants there. Plunk down in a field and *stay there* a while, and you'll start to notice the small things around you.

Canon definitely knows how to hook the consumer. If you have performed the research necessary to know the camera you seek, and it happens to be a Canon, you can bet a new lens or two or three will be in your future! And, why not? Canon has made lens transition seamless and simple. Moreover, given the cost of the camera, the low end incremental additions of wide converter and telephoto make your system relatively complete at a very reasonable cost. Do your research so you know what you're getting into!

I've recently purchased the Powershot A80 (an incredible little digital and highly recommended), a replacement for a Nikon digital. The A80's onboard lens brings landscape photography in at 38mm, but anyone who is shooting landscape knows, "the wider, the better." As a result, I purchased the wide converter (Canon product WC-DC52) to bring more picture into my landscape shots. The wide converter increases the angle from 38mm to 24.5mm, an exponential improvement, particularly for outdoor shots. And, all-in-all, the pricing is right, particularly if you shop it around a bit (however, Amazon has a great price). Further, the conversion adapter (see below), lens exchange is incredibly fast and elementary.

Net, net, if you're purchasing a Canon digital (low-to-mid range), spend the dough for the wide converter. You won't be sorry; a great investment.

NOTE: Make sure you purchase the Canon LA-DC52 Conversion Lens Adapter, which serves as the adapter for all compatible Canon lenses.

Nice accessory. Ads enough of an increase in angle of view to make it worth the price, with just about no distortion. You can leave it on the camera and zoom right through with no loss of image quality. Excellent focus. (...) Quality is Canon as opposed to after-market. I tend to lean towards original equipment. You can't slip on any filters but for me, thats ok. I also picked up the #945 3 hour battery.

This filter is great for portraits. It is a warm, tannish-orangish color that enhances Caucasian skin tones. Flashes can sometimes wash out skin tones, as can too much sunlight, and this replaces or maintains a warm glow. Also nice when used in conjunction with a blurring filter (diffuser) which hides tiny imperfections and softens the whole look.

This can also be used with landscapes to create a different mood, to warm up an Autumn or desert scene for instance. I have used Cokin filters for years and find they are a great way to add a personal touch, a surreal look or a more professional finish to your photographs.

Close-up lenses are no substitute for macro accessories such as a bellows unit and extension ring, but they do allow you to take close-up shots covering a subject field with the area of half a postcard, taken at a range of down to around 25cm, with a standard lens. Their main advantage They do not block any light, so they only alter the reproduction ratio and greatly increase the working range of standard and telephoto lenses. For reasons of quality, stopping down to at least f/8 is recommended

If you don't have a polarizer, stop reading this and get one! I use a polarizer on almost every shot with a blue sky. Without a polarizer, blue skies appear a tepid, light blue on film; with a polarizer filter, they come out in a rich, deep color. The filter works by cutting out reflected glare and it's also useful for water (lakes, ponds), window glass, and tree leaves. A polarizer is more expensive than most other filters but worth the investment.

Regardless of the type of shooting you do, a polarizer is the most useful and versatile filter you can own. It's a very visual filter with which to work: As you rotate it in its mount, the effects are immediately noticeable. A polarizing filter can deepen the color and contrast in a sky (the most intense effects are always 90° from the sun or light source), eliminate glare from wet or reflective surfaces and cut through atmospheric haze to increase clarity and contrast in a scene. Since the effect of a polarizer is most pronounced when it is used perpendicular to the light source (the sun usually), try this trick... Make an "L" with your thumb and forefinger. Point your forefinger at the sun and your thumb will point in the direction that the polarizer will have its greatest effect. You can rotate your thumb around the axis of your forefinger, pointing the lens in any of these directions will let you take full advantage of the polarizers capabilities. Polarizers have little or no effect when they are used in the same direction as the light source.

Polarizers come in two varieties: Linear 160 and Circular 164. Each has the same effect visually; the difference is just in the way they polarize the light passing through. If you own an auto focus or auto-exposure camera (basically any modern camera), use a 164 Circular polarizer, which won't interfere with its automatic functions. Digital cameras in general do not have reflection mirrors, and, as a result, can use both (linear or circular) polarizers. A Polarizer tends to cool down the image. I find adding a Warm filter will restore warmth and a more natural image.

Most prism filters do little more than multiply the image. With the Cokin Multi-image filters, you can create more than just repeat images, because the filter holder is fully adjustable both axially and laterally. This gives you much more control.

Helpful hints: Recommended focal lengths are between 50 and 105 mm. Do not stop down too far, or you'll see the design of the, filter, rather than the effect. This filter can be used with most other Cokin filters.