Thoughts on the canon 35-80mm?

[Pumpkinwaffle]

Every now and then I go to second hand shop, like anyone I guess. But today I found a canon 35-80mm (no idea it's a I, II, or III) for 40€ which is less than the average ebay price in France.

After some research the reviews are really contradictory, and I'm left once again clueless. Which is why I'm turning to you guys

So far I have the 18-55 kit lens, a nifty-fifty (goes without saying) and a fisheye adapter for fun.

I hope to find this lens kind as balance between my two lens, with a zoom that actually is one (can't say that 55 zooms in much). I'm also interested the macro possibilities when removing the front element. Now I am very fond of blur and wide aperture in general, which doesn't seem to be this lens' strong point. But one has to keep an open mind and try new things. And covering a higher range should come in handy.
I shoot mainly street photography and stop motion. But want to be able to have an all purpose lens (I felt rather useless at a concert when with a 55mm...)

So if anyone has played with it before, please let me know your thoughts on it. That macro hack has some pretty neat effects I could see fit in some Artsy video stuff.

[Chungdha]

just bring your camera to the shop they surely will let you test it to see if it works fine, however my advice search for 70-210mm f4 or a 28-105mm which be a better range for concert shooting 80mm is kind short too.

[1%]

F/4-5.6 and 1.6 crop make this lens a weak deal.

Its actually a competent macro... I might pick one up for that if its really ~$20

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismdale/4102833080/

[Pumpkinwaffle]

Thanks for the input :]

As tempting as those other lenses are, they're far beyond my little student budget ^^ Indeed 80mm is not much of a zoom and loosing the aperture is pretty weak. Having a macro option would be nice though.

I'll head to the shop and try it and see, I'll keep in mind that it's main point would be macro then. I must say i'm really fond of those macro shots from the link

[Chungdha]

Canon EF 70-210mm f4 is old one not the L series white which are 70-200mm f4. The 70-210mm has macro plus its continues aperture makes it great for filming without exposure change. It should be around 100bucks or less if you can find it. Here is a link to a review of the lens http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/70-210mm.htm

[Pumpkinwaffle]

As reasonable as 100€ may be for such a lens, 35€ was already pushing it for me (purchased my 550D and 50mm recently, leaving a big hole where my bank account used to be).

Once at the shop though I decided to go for it! The lens was in good condition and 15€ less that ebay prices. It's a mrk3 for those who wonder. Got rid of that pesky front element and glue gunned a filter in it's place to give it more of a "moded" touch.



So far I'm loving it! Not that I had the occasion to play with the real stuff. It's more than enough to begin with, and will be a great plus to have for next year in art college. Here's two snapshots I took





In my opinion it's worth every single penny. Thank you everyone for the input, that 70-210mm will be probably be next on my list. I'll just make myself one of those and I'll be all set for macro
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/dubstylzh20/5941916698/sizes/l/

[1%]

Its nicer than my macro rings/extenders.

[Chungdha]

You know if you just only wanted to go macro you could had bought a special adapter called reverse kitlens adapter. It basically flips the kitlens around putting the mount on the front which cost you like 5 or 10 bucks to buy the adapter.