Canon lens: 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

[JimGA]

Somewhere in the early 90's, I purchased my first Canon EF lens. It was a 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 USM. I still have it today. I remember opting for the 3.5-4.5 instead of the 4.5-5.6, another lens that Canon also offered in the same focal lengths.

Just today, I decided to look at Canon's website to see if they still had this lens, and it appears that they no longer offer this specific lens. They do, however, still have the 28-105mm, f/4-5.6 USM.

Does anyone have any experience with the 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5, and does anyone why Canon discontinued it?


-Jim

[justme_dc]

I own a 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM. I've had it for about 10 years now. It's an ok knock around lens. It has a fair amout of chromatic abberation and is uniformly soft around the edges of the frame but I still use it from time to time. I usually keep it mounted on my spare body for back up shots when I have a prime mounted on my main body. It'll shoot a good usable 4X6 print past that and it starts to show it's limitations. I does however shoot circles around the Tamron 28-200 that I made the mistake of buying when I switched from FD mount bodies to the EOS system.

As to the difference between the two lenses, I bought my father the 4.5-5.6 version because the earlier model was phased out. The latter and current version has improved close focus ability and has a "Macro" range. If memory serves it has a little flower icon on the lens to indicate it's macro ability. Optically I personally haven't seen much of a difference between the performance of these two lenses. The new one may have a slight edge but not enough to make me switch.

Canon is consantly updating their lens line, I must assume that the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 USM was just replaced in favor of the newer model.

[Vicente]

JimGA wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with the 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5, and does anyone why Canon discontinued it?


-Jim

I don't understand, EOS 28-105 3.5-4.5 is not discontinued. I bought a 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM II last year.
You can find it at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh2.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist _html___206434___CA28105352EF___USA___CatID=274___ SID=F53F97D25F0

[justme_dc]

vicente wrote:
I don't understand, EOS 28-105 3.5-4.5 is not discontinued. I bought a 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM II last year.
You answered your own question my friend, the lens you purchased is the mkII version of the discontinued 28-105mm 3.5-4.5.