Canon EF 28-105mm F3.5-4.5 II USM

...been upgrading my entry level Canon EOS300 35mm camera and this was the ideal choice of lens. It is wide enough at the bottom and has a decent zoom range making it the perfect "walkaround" lens.

I did struggle to find it in stock in the UK from sources that would guarantee it was a UK model and not a grey import. In the end I ordered it from Jessops online and had them deliver it to their Winchester branch, so that I could ...
...I also bought the matching Canon lens hood, which while not cheap (£16) is of course a perfect fit. I topped this all off with a Hoya UV filter so I know the lens has been protected from day one.

All in all, this is a great lens and is a perfect step up from the kit lenses of the current crop of prosumer Canon SLRs without cost the earth like the L series. It's a shame that Canon don't do a 55-250mm lens of an equivalent quality as ... more

I have recently been upgrading my entry level Canon EOS300 35mm camera and this was the ideal choice of lens. It is wide enough at the bottom and has a decent zoom range making it the perfect "walkaround" lens.

I did struggle to find it in stock in the UK from sources that would guarantee it was a UK model and not a grey import. In the end I ordered it from Jessops online and had them deliver it to their Winchester branch, so that I could collect it on the day of the wedding I was attending. Please be aware that this is the third iteration of this lens, the first had a flower to depict the macro function and five blades, the second had the word macro to depict the macro function and seven blades and this one has been subtley restyled and also has seven blades. To compund matters there is some uncertainty over whether the ones made in Japan are better than those made in Taiwan, due to slightly improved optics. I can't say as I believe all Series 3 lenses are made in Taiwan.

Initial impressions are very good. The build quality is leagues ahead of the kit lenses, both for my EOS 300 and my EOS 350D, and yet the weight is not so much as to upset the handling of the outfit.

There are three key benefits to buying this lens over the typical kit lenses. Firstly, as mentioned build quality. This lens has a internal focusing mechanism with a centrally mounted focus ring making the use of polarising filters a breeze. Furthermore, if you hold the lens downward there is no zoom creep, and even in auto fcous mode you can still manually focus. Secondly, it has the brilliant USM II focusing, which is smooth, silent and very fast. And thirdly it's image quality. The shots from the wedding I attended literally pop out at you because, particularly at lower focal ranges, there is just such an improvement in sharpness.

In addition I also bought the matching Canon lens hood, which while not cheap (£16) is of course a perfect fit. I topped this all off with a Hoya UV filter so I know the lens has been protected from day one.

All in all, this is a great lens and is a perfect step up from the kit lenses of the current crop of prosumer Canon SLRs without cost the earth like the L series. It's a shame that Canon don't do a 55-250mm lens of an equivalent quality as that really would mean you'd have two lenses for almost all eventualities. For now though, this and a prime 50mm are the only two lenses I need. 

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