Hi,

I went to the Canon Experience seminar in London today and they had lots of lenses out for people to try. I took my own body (5D) and brought some pics back.

It was very dark at the counter, so these examples aren't from good light conditions. Also, lots of people pushing forward, so it was a difficult environment to be systematic in.

Some observations:

- There's a question about whether the lens extends or not. The outer dimensions of the lens doesn't change when focussing, but the inside flange moves in and out when focussing. If you're familiar with the Sigma 15-30, its the same arrangement as that - the front element and its plastic surround moves back and forth, but the movement is within the outer most plastic shell. Hope that makes sense.

- The lens focusses quite fast. It's not lightning - like the 135 or 35 which you can feel in your hand, but it didn't feel slow at all. The focus didn't 'snap' or 'jump' - it was a different sensation - it was a more linear feeling. I can easily imagine the focus mechanism was more fine than most other lenses, but the mechanism was quick. Conditions were dark and it impressed me a few times with its ability to focus on anything, let alone quickly.

- The lens felt light. I think this is because the weight is so close to the camera body. So although weighing as much as the 35L, it felt lighter. The lens was effortless to use. It has a huge diameter that felt a bit oversized for the 5D. The lens hood was an ok size - nothing monstrous. That said, when I put my old 50 1.8mk1 back on, the camera sprang off the counter in my hand - so there is clearly some mass there!

Ok so now the pics. Wish I was more qualified to post and comment on these samples but I'll leave that to you...

(Pics 1 - 4 processed in DPP, 5 - 6 in ACR)

Pic 1 details
=======
F1.2, 1/80, ISO1000

RAW converted to 1000x667 by DPPv2.2.
Notes: faithful pic style, white bal set by dropper, sharpness 3 / 0 (RAW panel, RGB panel).
Prefs: chroma and lum noise reduction - low.

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic1.jpg

Pic 1 variants:

RGB sharpness = 200 & 500:

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic1-RGB-sharpness200.jpg;
http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic1-RGB-sharpness500.jpg;

Pic 1 original CR2 file:

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic1.CR2;

Note in the RAW you can see texture and shadows within his shirt.



Pic 2
===
F1.8, 1/125, ISO1000

Notes: RAW converted to jpg - faithful, whitebal set by dropper, sharpness 5 / 250 (RAW / RGB panel). Prefs: noise reduction - high.

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic2.jpg

Original:

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic2.CR2;


Pic 3
===
F1.2, 1/80, ISO1000

Notes: RAW converted to jpg - faithful, whitebal set, sharpness 3 / 0 (RAW / RGB panel). Prefs: noise reduction - high.

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic3.jpg

Pic 3 variant = sharpness 3 / 250. Prefs anti noise - low.

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic3-RGB-sharpness250.jpg;

Pic 3 original:

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic3.CR2;


Pic4
===
F1.2, 1/60, ISO1000

RAW converted to jpg - faithful, whitebal, sharpness 3 / 100, prefs: anti noise low, brightness incr = 1.50

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic4.jpg

Note the strange lozenge bokeh blob top left - I have other shots with exotic shaped OOF highlights I'll post subsequently.

Original:

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic4.CR2;


Pic 5 - ACR
=======
F1.2, 1/160, ISO640

RAW converted to sRGB jpg 1536x1024 by ACR - white bal as shot, all auto adjustments (nb: exp = -1.25, shadows = 1, brightness = 93, contrast = 0). Detail panel = sharpness = 25, Lum noise red = 0, chroma noise red = 25). Curve = medium contrast.

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic5.jpg

Original:

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic5.CR2;


Pic 6 - ACR
=======
F1.2, 1/60, ISO640

RAW converted to sRGB jpg 1536x1024 by ACR - clicked white, all auto adjustments (nb: exp = -.20, shadows = 1, brightness = 81, contrast = +5). Detail panel = sharpness = 25, Lum noise red = 0, chroma noise red = 25). Curve = medium contrast.

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic6.jpg

Original:

http://www.taplight.co.uk/dpreview_posts/2006/pic6.CR2;


It's a real shame Canon doesn't arrange these lens tryouts in better lighting - I'm sure better samples and commentary would result...

One final note was the comment made by Daniel Lezano, the event chair, that of the 30m EOS lenses Canon has sold since 1970, 10m were sold within the last 5 years. So in terms of the many QA questions and comments about lenses, this provides some interesting context for Canon's production.

Regards

Gavin.