Romeo Wolf
Super Member
I haven't shot with many lenses on DSLRs thus far, but I've definitely shot with one that makes my myriad of point & shoot cameras seem like they have Leica lenses by comparison.
It's the Canon EF III 35-80mm F4-F5.6, used in late model Canon Rebel SLR film bodies. Possibly Canon's cheapest and lightest kit lens they ever made. It's absolute torture on a crop-sensor DSLR like my EOS 20D. I wish I was kidding. Even the EF-S 18-55mm kit lenses are better than this wide open. Unfortunately I have two 18-55's and they are both broken.
I knew this thing was gonna be awful upon reading reviews on the interwebs, but oh my gawd is it bad. I've shot with it for a couple months since 1. It's the lens that came with my 20D when I bought it at my local antique store, and 2. It's the only working canon lens I've got for it at the moment. So I'm pretty much stuck with it.
At F4 the images captured with this lens even in broad daylight are extremely soft. So soft that I've had 3MP chinesium toy cameras capture sharper images than this thing! The only two cameras in my collection that give this lens a run for its money in terms of softness is my Sony DSC-T1, Olympus D-150 "Brio" Zoom and D-520 Zoom, both of which share the same lens.
At F5.6 and F8 images are sharper, but never tack-sharp. My particular lens is sharpest at F9, and at smaller apertures diffraction and enormous amounts of lens flare kick in. Wide angle on a crop-sensor Canon DSLR with this lens may as well be nonexistent. Actually, it IS nonexistent!
The only good things I can say about this lens is well, it produces decent 10-point sunstars (if that's your thing), and it's light as heck. Not that it matters since my 20D weighs 2lbs with the vertical grip and both batteries anyway.
It's the Canon EF III 35-80mm F4-F5.6, used in late model Canon Rebel SLR film bodies. Possibly Canon's cheapest and lightest kit lens they ever made. It's absolute torture on a crop-sensor DSLR like my EOS 20D. I wish I was kidding. Even the EF-S 18-55mm kit lenses are better than this wide open. Unfortunately I have two 18-55's and they are both broken.
I knew this thing was gonna be awful upon reading reviews on the interwebs, but oh my gawd is it bad. I've shot with it for a couple months since 1. It's the lens that came with my 20D when I bought it at my local antique store, and 2. It's the only working canon lens I've got for it at the moment. So I'm pretty much stuck with it.
At F4 the images captured with this lens even in broad daylight are extremely soft. So soft that I've had 3MP chinesium toy cameras capture sharper images than this thing! The only two cameras in my collection that give this lens a run for its money in terms of softness is my Sony DSC-T1, Olympus D-150 "Brio" Zoom and D-520 Zoom, both of which share the same lens.
At F5.6 and F8 images are sharper, but never tack-sharp. My particular lens is sharpest at F9, and at smaller apertures diffraction and enormous amounts of lens flare kick in. Wide angle on a crop-sensor Canon DSLR with this lens may as well be nonexistent. Actually, it IS nonexistent!
The only good things I can say about this lens is well, it produces decent 10-point sunstars (if that's your thing), and it's light as heck. Not that it matters since my 20D weighs 2lbs with the vertical grip and both batteries anyway.