Lots to cover today on the blog so I am going to get right to it. First up, I’m trying to maintain the schedule of hardware reviews, so rather than go into detailed analysis, I am just sharing an abbreviated review here today on the Canon 28-135mm lens. Also up on todays blog, the OnOne Software giveaway finalists have been announced! Last up, a few administrative things to address. So, without further ado, let’s get started:
The 28-135mm Review
The luck of this review is due to the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk. I had been hearing good things about this lens for a while, and finally bit the bullet and rented it from a local camera store to try it out. I tried to keep in mind that the gear is a little more worn than usual, but did see some pros and cons on the lens, so let’s get started:
The 28-135 is an excellent walk-around lens. The focal range is perfect for going fairly wide and also zooming in to a certain degree. It offers some of the best features of both worlds, and does so at a pretty reasonable price considering what it has to offer:
Pros
- Focal Range: As mentioned it has a nice range for use while moving from one environment to another. Not quite a wide angle, and also not a zoom, but a nice combination of the both.
- Weight: For an IS lens, this is amazingly light. I was expecting it to be a lot heavier, so a definite positive (and happy surprise here).
- Image Quality: I couldn’t believe how wide the sweet spot of this was. I got crystal clear tack sharp shots from probably 30mm to 130mm. To get that kind of range in a “sweet spot” is significantly impressive
- Price: The price for this lens is a shade under $400 from B&H and for an IS lens, that’s pretty darn good – about as cheap as you can get given the feature.
Cons
- Battery drain: Although it’s related to the positive of Image Stabilization, the battery did seem to go rather quickly.
- Weight: I know, it was listed as a pro, but I am also listing it as a negative, because with many of the newer SLR’s the weight doesn’t balance as well as it might have on the 20D or even the 350D. Don’t get me wrong, I like light, but I also like balanced, and here I think the weight of the dated design has an impact on balance.
There’s a lot more I could go into here, but on the whole, the lens is a great one, and with the pros definitely outweighing the cons, it’s definitely one to consider adding to your gear bag – if you like to photo walk! If you’d like to see samples of the 28-135 in action, feel free to check out this montage of shots I compiled from the Scott Kelby Photowalk:
The OnOne Giveaway Finalists!
I know, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the finalists. I am pushing forward here partly because my counterpart at OnOne, Mike Wong, has been on vacation, and is getting back soon, and secondly, because I understand OnOne is having an excellent promo sale going on right now for the suite, so I’d like to get this wrapped up so that those who have been waiting to hear can still take advantage of the opportunity to save a little $$$! Lastly, also because the anticipation over the OnOne giveaway is a primary focus for many listeners, and other contests are both underway and coming up! So, without further ado, here are the finalists I’ve chosen.
OnOne Software Giveaway Finalists
The quality of entries made it super hard to pick, because there were so many that were deserving of moving forward into the finals – but decisions had to be made. Thanks to all for entering, and best of luck to the finalists – Mike and I will talk this week and hopefully have someone get a great email by Friday with the news that they are the proud winner of the OnOne Software Plugin Suite Giveaway!
Blog Notes
A couple updates are coming soon to the blog, and a couple have already been made. Some things you may or may not have noticed that have already taken place:
The links in the sidebar have been broken out into categories from one another so you can find things easier
A paypal link has been added to the sidebar – I had mentioned this once before, and try not to push it, but donations are always welcome to help offset the costs of running this blog (bandwidth, time, and storage on my hosting provider)
The picture has been updated in the header. I try to change this out periodically, and in the next incarnation that will randomize on each visit through an entire gallery of photos, but a new one is in place, so if you are picking up the content from a feeder – stop on over to see the changes!
Last but not least, thanks to Terry Reinert, I’ve added a plugin for fellow bloggers – when you post a comment here, your last post from your own blog is happily linked to your comment! Enjoy!
So, that’s it for today? Like the review and the changes? How about those OnOne finalists? Kudos to everyone who submitted images too. Don’t forget to jump into the latest and greatest giveaway – the winner will get Wacom Bamboo Fun valued at $100! Be sure to throw your best “Fun” themed images into the contest thread here: Giveaway Thread
Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
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