Versatile lens well suited to travel photography where you need to take photos indoors and out. Sharp and contrasty wide open. Close focusing for a zoom. Lens hood design minimizes flair.

Bulky with lens hood on. People will see you coming with a camera with this lens mouted.

The most versatile lens in my collection. The huge lens hood and curious design where the lens extends into the hood as the focal length decreases seems to keep flair well under control. The f 2.8 allowed me to take sharp photo's of art work and architecture inside mosques and churches with dim light with negligible vignetiing and disortion over the full focual length range.

Customer Service

not used

Similar Products Used:

28-105 USM
17-35 f 2.8 USM L
70-200 f 2.8 USM L
100 f 2.8 non USM Macro

good focal length,very nice to use,better than nikon

size for anything other than pro use.Never really sharp,

great lens to work with but mine looked soft even through the viewfinder from new.Ibought my Leica M6 kit after taking this lens to Borneo.People could see me coming for miles,and the quality of 12 x16 B&W prints was very disapointing.I no longer own any zoom lenses and have not missed them at all. My advise is to buy a realy good prime lens like a "L" lens or buy a Leica and zoom with your feet.

Customer Service

fine

Similar Products Used:

nikon 35-70 convenient crap

great ergonomics
good weight balance for EOS 1V
usable range

i'm sure there is an optical consideration, but, the hood seems rather large.

It's big and heavy, but, that makes it feel substancial. It balances the 1V or D30 quite well. Actually, it is my prime for the D30. I take a lot of indoor family shots; which is odd because I have a 17-35mm F2.8 in the bag too. Just seems like a better range. I don't know the technical reason or description why I love this lens, but, my digital shots just turn out rich. Even with that wonderful 550EX flash. I never have to tweek photos with software. Unless I just want to emphasis something that was recorded but not apparent. Controls seem to be in the correct place when working in manual. And because I'm not a pro or artist, I'm permitted to enjoy the physical beauty it emits and comments it attacts. Very superficial indeed.

Customer Service

not yet for any Canon products

Similar Products Used:

off brands @ same size
Most of the Canon f2.8 zoom lineup.

AF speed
Sharpness
Lens speed

Barrel distortion at 28mm
Length extends on zooming

The quality of this zoom is top notch. Its USM motor is incredibly fast and accurate. This lens is just slightly below the quality of primes, which is saying a lot. Who should use this lens - people who need the speed of 2.8 and quality optics, people who want reliable AF, a bright viewfinder and for people who have heavy cameras. Due to the size and weight, this lens does not balance well with light weight bodies like the Elan 2. But it is beautifully balanced with a EOS 3 or EOS 1n/1V, especially with the booster. The handholdabilty with a booster is excellent, and much better than without the booster. I notice the sharpness difference in my handheld shots with and without booster. The zoom range and weight may not meet the needs of people who want a do-all lens for travel. These type of users would probably do better with a 28-135IS. But I would not sacrifice the difference in optics, the AF speed (especially in lower light situations) and the brighter viewfinder for the IS lens. There are some things that Canon could do to make this a better lens:

1. fix length when zooming - the Nikon AFS also extends in length but not as much as the Canon

2. add some space between the focus and zoom rings - I had some problems initially with slightly moving the focus ring because I did not have enough space to hold the lens.

3. improve the finish to make it less plasticky. The Nikon is much better in this area. It has a nice matte, speckled finish vs the Canon which looks shiny and brassy.

4. I would love it if they could make it wider say 24-70 with the same aperture. Then it would be a much more useful zoom range.

5. The drop off in quality at wide open is too much. The lens is much better at f4. Contrast this with the 70-200 4L which is great wide open.

As it is though, it is hard not to give this lens 5 stars. It is not as good as my 70-200 4L, but still this is an excellent lens. This lens is on my camera most of the time.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

28-105
50 1.8

Very sharp. Excellent wedding skin tones. Great color. I use Fuji film and it is stunning at weddings. I still use Bronica for formal wedding pictures but the 28-70 color is better than my PE lenses. I usually shoot a couple of hundred documentary pictures with this and 70-200 at weddings. They are a great, but heavy combination with two cameras. Still much better than a cheaper 28-200. Print a lot of my own color enlargements. Still like big negatives but hard to tell the difference between this and the larger neg on the usual size wedding prints. 2.8 aperature reduces need for heavy flash and allows for more bounce flash for nice soft looking brides.

Not anything to speak about.

A superbly performing professional lens. In combination with 70-200L w/2.0 Extender covers most of my professional 35mm needs including, weddings, sports, some portraits(use medium format mostly) and PR work for newspapers. I really like them. I also lift weights so I am in shape to carry them. They work best with my pro bodies but have gotten great pictures with an EOS 10s also.

Customer Service

It appears that Canon Canon Professional Services has degraded. Can't seem to keep up their membership lists.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma, Tamron, Tokina
Several Canon Lenses

Very good optics.

Not too impressed by the build quality.
Flares easily.
Extends when zooming.

The optics on this zoom are excellent, so if optical quality is your prime requisite go for it. But I find this zoom a bit less satisfying than the 70-200 4L I have for the following reasons :
1/ The build is not amazing. Which is not to say that it is bad. But I am not thrilled. For instance the build on pentax consumer zoom is more or less the same.
2/ The zoom extends when zooming : that sort of design tends to make the lens more vulnerable to dust. Especially inside the lens.
3/ The zoom flares with a source light in the field. I tried to shoot at night the moon. Very disappointing result. In that respect Pentax Super Multi Coating is MUCH better. Canon should improve that aspect in the next version. I find it dissapointing to be unable to shoot some scenes with what is a standard zoom.

To sum up : this is a good zoom. But the design is rather old and a few improvements should be made to justify a rather steep price (which has increased recently).

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Pentax FA 28-70 f/4
Pentax FA 28-105 f/4.5-5.6 (power zoom)
Nikkor AIS 35mm

Very sharp and very fast. Built quite well (even though it's not metal).

A little bulky and heavy (for not being metal). Expensive.

This is a very good, very sharp, very fast pro quality lens. It is a little expensive and a little bulky, but you have to accept this when you go for this level of gear.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

various Canon lenses

The construction of the lens is very solid in comparison with the consumer lenses

The lens is bulky, heavy and very expensive

No matter how bulky or heavy the lens is, but is one of the sharpest lenses ever produced by Canon, the result you get will always amaze you. Once you used this "L" lens you will not want to use any more consumer lenses.

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 24-85 USM
Canon EF 28-105
Sigma 28-70/2.8 EX