Canon 28-135 IS qn: Dust resistance/sealing

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Photography Singapore : One Thread

i've my heart set on a Canon 28-135 IS for my EOS 50, and is planning to purchase it in the near future, as a replacement for my Tamron 28-200 Super.

however, recently, i was playing with a used lens, and saw quite a lot of dust specs INSIDE the lens.

this bothers me alot, if i'm gonna spend close to S$1k on my dream lens, i wouldn't expect to see > 20 visible dust specks inside my lens after 1 month of use, which was the age of the one i played with.

wondering if this is normal with time, as i also have the same problem with my 28-200, but after a period of 2-3 years, not 1 month.

i was under the impression that bad sealing only happens to low grade consumer lenses like mine, not to "quality" glass, which i expect the 28-135 IS to be.

thanks in advance for any opinion/advice.

-- Stormjumper (stormjumper@myrealbox.com), March 21, 2002

Answers

I don't understrand why you plan on spending $1k for a Canon 28-135 IS USM. You can get this lens in the UK for <400 pounds sterling (about $600), and used, but mint, for <300 pounds sterling (about $450). I've found that with the odd exception (Leica rangefinders and Mamiya 7 for example) most photographic equipment costs much less in the USA than in Britain, so you should not have to pay anywhere near $1000. Incidenally, if you justr want a convenient wide-tele zoom, the older 35-135 USM (non IS and a bit slower) is now dirt cheap second-hand at about 100 ponds sterling ($150).

-- Tom Rose (tom@trose.net), November 25, 2002.

To deal with your original point: The 28-135 IS USM is a consumer quality lens. Canon's 28-70 f/2.8 is the pro-spec wide-tele zoom. Not much range, but that is the price of a fast aperture and mminimal linear distortion. I have never owned the 28-135, but I did have the older 35-135 for 3 about years, often used it in some very nasty, dusty environments, and it never got any dust inside the lens, so the problem is not endemic to Canon's mid-range lenses. Finally it costs about 40 pounds sterling in the UK to have a lens professionally services (dust sucked out, all lens surfaces immaculately cleaned, lubricants renewed, mechanical slackness tightened up, electrical contacts cleaned, infinity focus checked.

-- Tom Rose (tom@trose.net), November 25, 2002.

To deal with your original point: The 28-135 IS USM is a consumer quality lens. Canon's 28-70 f/2.8 is the pro-spec wide-tele zoom. Not much range, but that is the price of a fast aperture and mminimal linear distortion. I have never owned the 28-135, but I did have the older 35-135 for 3 about years, often used it in some very nasty, dusty environments, and it never got any dust inside the lens, so the problem is not endemic to Canon's mid-range lenses. Finally it costs about 40 pounds sterling in the UK to have a lens professionally serviced (dust sucked out, all lens surfaces immaculately cleaned, lubricants renewed, mechanical slackness tightened up, electrical contacts cleaned, infinity focus checked.

-- Tom Rose (tom@trose.net), November 25, 2002.

I own two and the last one cost $450 U.S. The other one i have had for a year and no dust problems at my end. I think if you look after the lens and don't find yourself in a dust storm you should be ok. It is a terrific lens. I had read reports about the image stabilization and thought fanatics were exagerating yet i did a child portrait session the day after daylight savings (which i forgot about) at between1/6th and 1/8th of a second. Of course i expected to have to reshoot but i ended up selling the whole set of images. If you can afford it get it.

-- Chris Fawkes (chrisfawkesphotography@hotmail.com), December 18, 2002.

You can see some examples of this lens at my site. www.chrisfawkes.com

-- Chris Fawkes Photography (chrisfawkesphotography@hotmail.com), December 18, 2002.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ