User reviews on lenses are only slightly better than user reviews on tripods.
The problem with tripod reviews is that almost everyone had one of those 25$/€/£ silver plastic piece of junk and the moment they upgrade to a tripod with no rattle when shaken, it's OMG BEST TRIPOD EVER. Rock solid, absolutely steady etc. Average tripod sees even less use than a power drill and it's lighter too.
With user reviews on lenses, it's also a bit like that. Is it slightly sharper than the kit lens and has a wider aperture? OMG MY CANON 50/1.4 IS THE BEST LENS EVER. Or every lens with plastic exterior will be labeled as "solid construction but it's not metal therefore 7/10" even though the lens will be much better built than most all metal lenses.
Simple users can't really be trusted with these and yes, pretty much all of us are simple users. Most lens reviewers at least have access to an arsenal of gear and have mostly established views on different lenses so you can figure out what they mean by something when they say it. I trust Klaus and Markus with what they do since they probably have experience with more lenses than all the rest of us combined and they are pretty open about their methodology in their reviews. Some random guy who had 6 zoom lenses and two primes from the 90s and early 2000s? No.
Also my worst lenses... Can't really remember one being truly awful because I've mostly made good purchases. However, one sticks out for different reasons:
Canon FD 28-85/4
One of the best zoom lenses made in the 80s, according to some people. f/4 fixed aperture all the way through and very sharp too (compared to other zoom lenses from the era).
The problem was the weight and mediocrity of the focal range covered.
It was my first lens after my 50/1.4 and I had jumped on it when I saw it on a shop window. It is a pretty rare lens and had a very good price tag (much less than what it was available for on eBay) so I bought it on the spot. For a whole year, I used it almost exclusively. Sometime later though I realized that with the combined weight of the lens and my T90, I began to leave the camera at home more and more often. Everytime I had a photo opportunity, the camera was back at home.
They say the best gear is the one they have with you, in that case this was the worst gear since it was never with me.
Later I realized since a 28-85 focal length is neither here nor there, all I did was stand in a single spot and zoom in and out. The moment I put my 50/1.4 back on my camera, I remembered that I had feet too and started looking for better vantage points. All it did was making me lazy by giving me the zoom capability. Also 28mm isn't really wide and 85mm isn't really long.
Did I get good photos out of it? Yeah.
Will I ever long for another standard zoom? No.
The new forum combines consecutive posts into one? That's interesting.
The problem with tripod reviews is that almost everyone had one of those 25$/€/£ silver plastic piece of junk and the moment they upgrade to a tripod with no rattle when shaken, it's OMG BEST TRIPOD EVER. Rock solid, absolutely steady etc. Average tripod sees even less use than a power drill and it's lighter too.
With user reviews on lenses, it's also a bit like that. Is it slightly sharper than the kit lens and has a wider aperture? OMG MY CANON 50/1.4 IS THE BEST LENS EVER. Or every lens with plastic exterior will be labeled as "solid construction but it's not metal therefore 7/10" even though the lens will be much better built than most all metal lenses.
Simple users can't really be trusted with these and yes, pretty much all of us are simple users. Most lens reviewers at least have access to an arsenal of gear and have mostly established views on different lenses so you can figure out what they mean by something when they say it. I trust Klaus and Markus with what they do since they probably have experience with more lenses than all the rest of us combined and they are pretty open about their methodology in their reviews. Some random guy who had 6 zoom lenses and two primes from the 90s and early 2000s? No.
Also my worst lenses... Can't really remember one being truly awful because I've mostly made good purchases. However, one sticks out for different reasons:
Canon FD 28-85/4
One of the best zoom lenses made in the 80s, according to some people. f/4 fixed aperture all the way through and very sharp too (compared to other zoom lenses from the era).
The problem was the weight and mediocrity of the focal range covered.
It was my first lens after my 50/1.4 and I had jumped on it when I saw it on a shop window. It is a pretty rare lens and had a very good price tag (much less than what it was available for on eBay) so I bought it on the spot. For a whole year, I used it almost exclusively. Sometime later though I realized that with the combined weight of the lens and my T90, I began to leave the camera at home more and more often. Everytime I had a photo opportunity, the camera was back at home.
They say the best gear is the one they have with you, in that case this was the worst gear since it was never with me.
Later I realized since a 28-85 focal length is neither here nor there, all I did was stand in a single spot and zoom in and out. The moment I put my 50/1.4 back on my camera, I remembered that I had feet too and started looking for better vantage points. All it did was making me lazy by giving me the zoom capability. Also 28mm isn't really wide and 85mm isn't really long.
Did I get good photos out of it? Yeah.
Will I ever long for another standard zoom? No.
The new forum combines consecutive posts into one? That's interesting.