Tag: canon lenses

Why I said no to the NEW Canon 10-18mm IS STM and chose the OLD DOG Canon 10-22mm USM instead.

Posted on by Ryan

For the past two or three years Canon released a barrage of new lenses including an ultra-wide angle lens for APS-C bodies and it sent the Canon gear hogs and fan boys loco over it. They released new updates like the new 50mm f1.8, 18-55, 55-250, 18-105 IS lenses with STM technology. They also released brand new ones like the 24mm EF-S and 40mmEF f2.8 STM pancake lenses and of course the all-new, 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM.

With all of the reviews of the 10-18mm IS STM coming out positive one has got to drool especially since it is half the price of the older 10-22 lens. In terms of sharpness it comes at par if not better than the 10-22. It’s smaller and lighter than the old lens and the Canon 10-18 has Image Stabilization too. Yes, for an ultra-wide angle who most think don’t need IS, this lens has it.

I have been saving up money to get an ultra-wide APS-C Lens for the past 2 or 3 years… yup it took that long for me to save up boo hoo… Over those years I have been eyeing quite a few lenses including 3rd party lenses. One lens really caught my attention though. The old Canon 10-22 USM released in 2004.

This being an old lens has proven itself as a battle worthy lens. It’s not an L lens or luxury lens but it delivers the goods right to your door step. It’s sharp, quick focus and durable. The last part has got me convinced about this lens.

So why did I choose the old Canon 10-22mm USM and said no to the new 10-18mm IS STM?

I said no to the new lens for two good reasons. It may not be true for everyone but for the kind of photographer that I am these two are deal breakers.

1. The STM motor. The STM system is good, quick to focus, silent but it just kind of annoys me how you need to press the shutter button halfway to get the manual focus to work. I just could not get myself over it. There is that split second delay from pressing to responding. It is very minute but it could be felt and it’s a bit annoying for me.

2. Durability is kind of a big issue for me. I am the kind of person who does not really take good care of things. I kind of bang my camera and lenses around when they are hanging on my shoulders and that killed my 18-55 mk2 kit lens… Seeing that the new 10-18mm IS STM kinda resembles the kit lens it just drove me away from it.

My heart was captured by the Canon 10-22 lens. I had the chance to fully experience the lens for myself when a friend of mine lent me his copy of the lens. I played with it for a week. When I went to Bangkok and then went around Songkhla shooting temples, sunsets and interesting landscapes when I got back.  Also my friend told me that he has knocked the lens over more than a few times and in fact has dropped it while changing lenses and it was still AOK.

Would you go for the NEW Canon 10-18mm IS STM or the OLD DOG Canon 10-22mm USM?

You Might Also Like

The Most Under Rated Canon Lens: Canon 18-55mm IS Kit Lens

Like & Share Me At

The Canon 55-250mm IS Zoom Lens Review

Posted on by Ms. Elle

For more head on to Thailand and Beyond

After such a long time i finally got the time to sit down and write about another under rated Canon lens. This lens can also be considered a kit lens since there are certain packages where they include this together with the Canon 18-55mm IS and the camera body.

So… this is my take on the Canon 55-250mm IS zoom lens.

First up this lens is definitely for beginners and… photographers who are in a very… and i mean very tight budget!

I have been using this lens for over 2 years now for 2 reasons. One, i haven’t gotten the money to upgrade (LOL!) and Two,  it is a very good lens that going”third-party” is not worth it and the only upgrade i have in mind would be a Canon L lens. There are a lot of third party lenses that could have replaced this lens in my line up but the question is… “What for?” This lens delivers the goods! That is what is important. For the span of over two years that it’s been with me i believe this has been used more than any of my other lenses. The focal range is pretty much perfect for me. At 55 mm it’s quite wide enough for a small group shot and at 250 mm the reach is decent enough to get a distant shot or a tight shot with a decent blurry background.

Taken at 250mm.
Blurring the background at 250mm

 

This is still my walk around lens in “street events” even though I already have a Canon 24-105mm f4 IS USM L walk-around-lens that i bought early last year. During street events there are so many interesting things that can happen and having a semi wide to a very long reach is an advantage. And at close range blurring the background becomes an easy option as well. Some would ask… “Why didn’t you get the Canon 18-200mm IS lens then?” Well i have to be honest. The money i had with me that time was just enough to buy this lens. I was on a tight budget (still am ^_^). This lens costs 8900 Thb when i bought it. (It’s even cheaper now) The 18-200mm on the other hand was over 2ok Thb. So during that time i had no choice. But luckily, a blessing in disguise, this lens turned out to have better IQ than that of the much more expensive lens. (I have tried the 18-200 as well and will do a review of it also soon.)

Did i mention that this lens has IS? The Image Stabilization in this lens works. Having a long focal range, this lens is good to have an IS. The longer sibling of this lens, the Canon 70-300mm USM non IS is a bit more expensive than this one (12,000Thb) and i have tried it myself…but without the IS  it did not give me the confidence shooting it. Another sibling would be the Canon 70-300mm IS USM but is waaaay too expensive at 18,000 Thb. I was thinking, “if i’m gonna spend that kind of money i’ll just have to save a bit more for a 70-200 L USM lens  f4(22,00 Thb).

I know… i know.. you have the image quality in mind now. When i said it delivers the goods i really meant it delivers the goods. This lens is sharp! At 55mm f3.5 this lens delivers a sharp image and will get sharper at f8. It holds the colors nicely in place so don’t worry about color fringing. At 250mm at f5.6 it’s still  fairly sharp and gets even better at f8. It has very minimal barrel distortion or pincushion.

So now you might be asking “If this lens is that good then why is it that it gets shunned by a lot of photographers?” Well that question brings me on the this len’s negative side. Of Course this lens being a very cheap lens will have some manifestations of its cheapness. Let us start with its build quality. 1. Plastic mount, the barrel itself is also made of plastic which may turn off a lot of photographers.  2. No weather sealing.

Other reasons why many photographers don’t like this lens is….. 3. its rotating barrel tip, quite annoying if you like filters,  4.focusing is not fully manual so you would have to turn off the AF when you want to manually focus. 5. There is no distance scale window. 6.Focusing is slow especially at 200mm up. 7.The tiny motor is fairly quiet err.. noisy.. 8. The IQ though sharp it has this shade of darkness to it but nothing that lightroom or photoshop could not fix…  9.The bokeh it produces is oval-ish in shape. Unlike the L lenses that produces rounded bokeh. 10. Can only be mounted on crop frame sensor Canon DSLRs.11.No free lens hood when bought. ^_^

Notice the Oval-ish bokeh at the back ground

These are all the down sides of this lens i know. I have managed to gather all these negative comments of this lens from different  reviews i found on youtube or some blogs by photographers who “HAVE NOT USED THIS LENS IN THE REAL WORLD!!!!”

Once again i will be restating what i said earlier. This lens is for beginners. A first zoom lens so to speak. So let us try to take on the down sides that really matters one by one.

1. Cheap build quality. True… because this is a very cheap lens. But, trust me… this lens is tough enough to survive me for more than 2 years. The rubber grips on the focus and zoom rings did not even warp or deform despite the use and abuse. And i have not had any mechanical problems with it ever since I bought it. (but i never dropped it though ^_^)

2. Rotating barrel tip. I have never used an ND filter or any kinds of filter on my zoom lens so it was not really a bother. For beginners i do believe that you would be more focused on framing and having fun with the background blurring or what not rather than pissing yourself with the rotating barrel tip.

3. No full manual focus ring, no distance window scale: Once again… as beginners it is most comfortable to use auto focusing. Speaking for myself  i seldom used manual focusing. So i leave it on AF and i am very happy about it. ^_^.. And i never have ever needed a distance window scale.

4. The plastic mount: This lens is so light that putting a metal mount on it would be like using nails instead of pins for your Justin Bieber poster. ^_^

5. For some photographers size matters so they get turned off when they realize how small and light this lens is. LOL! Meh… I don’t need to confirm my manhood by the size of my lens! Do you?

one last thing… I read one review by this blogger who said that… “It’s a shame that this lens can only be mounted on a crop frame Canon DSLR. that is indeed true because this is a good lens….. but if you can afford a full frame DSLR… you can afford to buy a much better lens. ^_^

That’s about it.

I hope this review helps.

Leave your comments and your own opinion about this lens. If i may have made an error in this review kindly point it out and i will work on it ASAP! Cheers!

 

Ryan D. Photography ^_^

 

For more information on Photography, Cameras, and Travel please head on to Thailand and Beyond.