My opinion on my lenses

[Old Skool]

Canon 85mm F 1.8 Prime. Suffers from CA from F1.8 to 2.2. Great lens as long as you remember to use F2.5 as min, otherwise just more PP work. Ring USM focus is fast, I bought this lens for Basketball photos as indoor stadiums aren't the best for light. The added benefit on a crop camera is that this lens is an ideal length for a Basketball Court if you sit opposite the middle of the Court. Reasonable price as well, i give it a 8/10.

http://quickshot.zenfolio.com/taylor...bc8f#h21f3bc8f

[Old Skool]

Canon 28-105mm USM F3.5-4.5 II. An older lens that you will have to hunt around for on EBay etc. Metal mount, fast Ring USM focus and F3.5 ( later lenses were F4 -5.6 and micro USM) Bought this for Basketball photos, ideal zoom length for a Court with crop frame camera. Unfortunately my version suffers from soft focus on the side - should get it adjusted but can't be bothered. Does the job for what I want, a couple of hundred dollars second hand makes it good value. about a 7/10.

http://quickshot.zenfolio.com/taylor...083d#h16e1083d

[Old Skool]

Canon EFS 55-250 F4-5.6 IS. As stated above by Lloyd, this lens is a cracka. I haven't noticed any CA, really sharp with nice colour. Also has a UD element. Only downside is slow focus compared to Ring USM and plastic mount. Great focal length & bonus is the really cheap price,- for what it is & designed for I rate it about 8/10. I compared this with a EF 70-200 L F4 non IS lens just on image quality on back to back test shots. They were basically the same, I couldn't see the price difference in the pics. Handling both lenses and tracking action shots, the 70-200L wins hands down.

At 55mm

http://quickshot.zenfolio.com/avalon...79877#hfa79877

At 120mm

http://quickshot.zenfolio.com/avalon...5f62a#h895f62a

At 250mm

http://quickshot.zenfolio.com/avalon...83ac2#h3d83ac2

[fairy bombs]

A good thread for those looking at various canon lenses,I hope they do not close it again.

Here is one not mentioned so far.I have a Canon 400 mm 'L' prime F 5.6 lens,almost lives on my 450D for birding.
Also very good with 50D,Its very light,the girth of the lens is the same as the 70-200 F4,the lens ring fits both.

It is very fast,easy to carry around,at f 6.3/7.1 very good for sitting birds.This lens is also great for aircraft.

I rate this lens 10,apparently all the very elite bird watchers in the world,who have the 600 L still also have the 400 L
as is reputedly the best BIFF lens in the world! (birds in flight).

I also have the EF-S 60 mm macro,very very good -so sharp!,also got the EF_S 17-55 F 2.8,great lens
certainly better than my kit 18-55 and a few notches up from my old 17-85 ef-S lens.

Hope this helps someone out there FB

[Old Skool]

Canon EF 70-300 IS USM F4-5.6. Supposed to be really good reading reviews, I have had 2 of these, both were ordinary & both were sharper in portrait orientation rather than landscape, or was it landscape rather than portrait. Been a while and can't remember exactly. The lens did give excellent colour with no CA. Prob Ok for landscapes or still life, I bought it for sports pics, but too slow. USM is Micro not Ring USM. Also think the barrel turned so no good for polarizer filter. Sold one thinking it was the lens and later on got another. Same issues, sold that as not worth the big price tag, I find the EF-S 55-250 a better lens.

Canon EF 100-300 USM F4.5-5.6. An older lens now that can be found for less than $200 on Ebay. Metal mount, internal focusing and super fast Ring USM focusing. Tracks sport no problem, only issue is heaps of CA (purple fringing). Needs to be stopped down for sharpest results.