USM lenses at a good price + low aperture

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parker455

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Hello everyone,

I'm increasingly becoming fed up with not using USM focussing, it drives me made when that focus ring starts whirring and trying to get bits into focus.

Does anyone know any relatively well priced USM lenses, with low aperture, say 2.8 through to 4? Or straight through?

If it comes to it i'll fully switch to primes, i quite fancy a 50mm 1.4 as an upgrade to my 50mm 1.8.

I also own a sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5, dead sharp at 17mm 2.8 but i'm still not a fan of the focussing.

Another option is selling all my lenses and getting a 17-40 L f/4, but then low light club photo's aren't going to cope too well.
Hope i'm clear enough guys, help is much appreciated!

Thanks,

Tom.
 
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Hi mate,

Ive got a 50mm 1.4 - if you fancy trying it out pop round some time !
 
Hi Steve,

Would love to, might be about tomorrow as i've got a day off. Are you? I'll bring the 60D round for a play.
 
To clarify, you are having problems with HSM (Sigma's system) Rather than USM (Canon's system) right?

Sorry I cannot give any useful help as my two Sigmas are for my Pentax, but it surprises me as they focus faster than my Pentax lenses.
 
I'm not exactly having problems with it, I just prefer internal focussing without the noisy moving focus ring.


Prime example is with a 50mm 1.8, the focussing is so noisy and annoying it drives me mad!

Just looking for internal versions to get rid of it, it's especially annoying in low light situations where it's just chugging away trying to focus.


Hope you get my drift,


Steve hopefully I'll be around all day tomorrow so I'll pop in around then. I'll let Mat know too.

Cheers!
 
Be careful with buying Canon "USM" focus lenses as there are two versions of USM focusing.

When I bought my 70-300 lens I was quite dissapointed to discover the USM was "micro motor" and not "ring" USM

The micro motor USM is no doubt an improvement on the bottom rung focus systems but not a patch on the ring USM found in better lenses and of course the L range.

HTH

David
 
... and with the 70-300mm you don't get full time manual focus, just an awful noise if you try :D
 
the 50mm 1.4 is usm but still extends when focusing like the 1.8. It has the micro focus motor not the ring type.

if you are taking club shots the 17-40 wont cause a problem as i guess you will be using flash as well. THe flash will have focus assist and that lens is quick to focus.
 
That's true I tried the 1.4 out today and it wasn't actually as sharp as my 1.8 *uh oh*. Spent ages testing them against one another and my 1.8 turned out better,

Is there any 'cheaper' 35mm's or 28mm's?


As for the L, we tend to use a 8mm fisheye for the club effects, usually at f3.5 and it works out pretty cool, I'm going to look into getting one but it's the F/4 that puts me off. I had a 70-200 f4 L lens and that was a nightmare as soon as the darkness crept in, I found it only really useful in the light.

Got some real thinking to do hmmmmm


Thanks for the replies folks!
 
The Canon 35mm f/2 is a brilliant lens.

It doesn't have USM but IMO that really doesnt matter! I only worry about USM/HSM if I'm going to use a particular lens for sports shooting.
 
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I think 35mm would be the last one you'd want to use without a proper USM . 50mm f1.8 speed/noise is truly horrible.
 
Starastin said:
I think 35mm would be the last one you'd want to use without a proper USM . 50mm f1.8 speed/noise is truly horrible.
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Why? I don't get why USM is so important on a prime?!
 
For me, it's the nosey motors in the standards that drives me insane.


I missed out on a 28mm f2.8 on eBay earlier, sold for £110! Mint + was boxed. Damn.
 
parker455 said:
For me, it's the nosey motors in the standards that drives me insane.


I missed out on a 28mm f2.8 on eBay earlier, sold for £110! Mint + was boxed. Damn.
Click to expand...

I'd just get a new one. if you don't ask the serial you might get one from '80ties, although it will still be mint etc.
 
parker455 said:
For me, it's the nosey motors in the standards that drives me insane.


I missed out on a 28mm f2.8 on eBay earlier, sold for £110! Mint + was boxed. Damn.
Click to expand...

You know the 28mm F2.8 is not a USM lens..?
 
Starastin said:
I'd just get a new one. if you don't ask the serial you might get one from '80ties, although it will still be mint etc.
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Autofocus EF mount? from the 80's?

And i realise it's not USM, but for that price i wouldn't complain as much i don't think.

I'm just looking for a sharp lens on my new 60D as my walkabout 17-70 sigma doesn't seem to get along well with it. Although it was dead sharp on my 550d..
 
Well I would say again, the 35mm F2 is a superb little lens. I really love mine.

Oh, and the autofocus EF mount was introduced in 1987 - which was also the year the 28mm F2.8 was introduced. There have been no design changes since this time...
 
85/1.8 is a great medium Tele with USM and a good price. Most of the wider non-L Canon primes are crap unfortunately..

17-55/2.8 IS rules the zooms.
 
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