Is this a good lens?

[scrapperjlc]

I just bought a Canon EF80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II lens on clearance for $50. I hope it works well with my Digital Rebel XT. I have an old Quantaray 75-300mm lens from an old Canon film camera that is very tempermental and I can only seem to get it to work by playing with the manual settings, and it takes too long. I am hoping this new lens, since it is a Canon brand, will work better, though it won't zoom as much, but it was a hard deal to pass up. Does anyone know if this is a good lens??

Thanks!

[LeeOtsubo]

I just bought a Canon EF80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II lens on clearance for $50... Does anyone know if this is a good lens??


Since no one else has replied, I'll put in my US$0.02 worth. I don't own that lens nor have I ever used it. It's one of Canon's consumer level lenses. Its big brother, the 80-200/2.8 (aka Magic Drainpipe) is an excellent lens and highly sought after by advanced amateurs and pros. Unfortunately, the f4.5-5.6 didn't inherit any of the Magic Drainpipe's fine qualities.

At 4.5-5.6, it's a very slow lens (doesn't gather a lot of light) and the old micromotor design makes autofocus painfully slow. However, compared to the Quantaray, it should be a speed demon.

On most lenses, you'll find the lens is sharpest when stopped down a bit. On this lens, you'll probably have to stop down to f8 for best results. That means you need lots of light for decent images.

Bottom line, you're never going shoot for National Geographic or Sports Illustrated with this lens but for $50, it should serve your purposes better than the Quantaray. When you step up to the 70-200/f2.8 (~$1100), this lens will make a fine doorstop! :D

[scrapperjlc]

Thanks for the input Lee! I guess since I don't have any current plans to shoot for NG or SI, I should be okay with it :D . The weather is finally starting to warm up a bit, and I can't wait to get outside and take it for a test run. Thanks again for the info!