Hi List,
I've got myself a beautiful EF 20-35 f3.5-4.5 USM. Got it last week from NY
Camera, have been playing with it since then.
The lens is excellent, very well made. The zoom action is very smooth, very
nice, and the focus ring (with FTM) also has a really good feel. Nearly
feels like those lovely smooth MF lenses that my father has.
Looking through the viewfinder, I can't see much barrel distortion, and the
focussing is very quick.
I've taken a test shot of a table with a chequered tablecloth.
The angle of view of this lens is wonderful- its more than 90 degrees at the
widest end, the possiblities it opens up are amazing.
I also found other nice toys- used grips for my 500N- one was a BP-8, the
battery pack that takes AA cells, and the other was the GR-80TP, a grip with
a built in mini-tripod. Both have a wrist strap, which could be the best
thing about them.
The mini tripod is nearly useless- its too small to really hold the camera
with a lens, even if I mount the 20-80 3.5-4.5 that came with the camera
kit, which I never use. And it doesn't have a bolt so that you can screw it
to a bigger tripod. When I want to use a tripod, I have to unscrew the grip
from the camera. Then the grip hangs off the camera because the wriststrap
is still connected to the camera body.
But the comfort and good handling that you get with the grip make up for
this. The camera really feels much much better.
The other is the battery pack BP-8. I won't go into technical details
because you can get that from www.bhphoto.com . The battery pack isn't as
comfortable as the other grip. It just doesn't feel as good. The GR-80TP has
rubber and metal, and follows the texture and bodyline of the camera, but
the BP-8 just feels like a cheap plastic add-on, which it is.
A bit about the wrist straps: The are rubber, and go through an eye at the
bottom of the base of the grip or battery pack to the top of the camera into
the eye which would otherwise hold the neck strap. The neckstrap now loops
into an eye on the rubber wrist strap.
Its a good fit for my hand, and makes self portraits much easier. Its part
of the reason why the GR-80TP makes the camera feel so good to hold.
Both of these I got used at my neighborhood shop for FIM 250 (about US$ 40).
At the same shop I also got the chance to try out a 100-400 IS USM lens. Its
one huge beautiful monster, useful for scaring children.
I took some photographs with it, IS switched on and off, handheld long
exposures (made much easier with my new used grip). Very well made lens,
looked very good. Fun to hold, but I'll have to hire a pack of porters if I
start buying lenses like that :-)
Cheers,
Shashvat
*
****
*******
***********************************************************
* For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see:
* http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm
***********************************************************
