B&H pricing on EF 80-200 f/4.5-5.6 II

[polloloco81]

I'm looking into purchasing the affordable EF 80-200 f/4.5-5.6 II and I notice BnH has listings for the lense with both an imported and USA version. The pricing for the imported is $110 while the USA version is $120. I'm just curious why there's such a price difference.

Also, anyone got anything to say about this lense as far as quality is concerned? I need a good zoom lense, but I can't afford some of the more expensive ones and the EF 80-200 f/4.5-5.6 II seems to be a nice one for its price. Can anyone post some example pics? Thanks!

P.S. Do you guys think I would be wasting my money on getting such a zoom lense that doesn't support IS? The following link only gave the rating of the lense a 3.

http://www.photodo.com/prod/lens/detail/CaEF80-200_45-46II-105.shtml

[ron chappel]

As i like a bargain,this lens is abit of a favorite of mine :)
It is a little better than the normal kit zooms for image quality*,it's tiny,light and very fast focusing (usm version or not)

The go with grey or american versions is that the american versions are offical imports with normal canon warrantee,while the grey version has been bought by B&H at some overseas wholesaler or giant retailer .B&H get them for a good price,add their own warrantee and sell them abit cheaper than the official imports.There is nothing illegal about this at all,and you still get the same product(well...sometimes you get slightly different overseas versions of the same product).
The drawback is having to send the item back to B&H for any warrantee claims :?



*I've had very good results from this lens but have only used it much on a film camera.
Sure the first version was no good but the version II has awsome contrast and rather good resolution-certainly a little better than the 75-300 lens.Some say they didn't like it for a slightly odd colour cast.Many bag it because it's a kit lens...while never having used it :evil:
Overall a great little bargain if you don't need to go all the way to 300mm

[polloloco81]

Thanks for the indept reply Ron. I was wondering if you, or anyone have some example pictures taken with the lense? I saw a few examples posted over at the dp forums and the quality of the photos were terrible. It could have just been because of the photographer and not the lense. I really want to get the lense in time for a Jazz festival this coming weekend, but I don't want to throw down my money before at least knowing the picture quality the lense has to offer.

[ron chappel]

Sorry i sold it just before i got the 300D so have no online pics.I have looked online alot for good examples of what this lens can do-like you say most are no good because ofd the photographer or ruined by scanning from film

These are a good example of that the lens is like in real life-good but obviously not as sharp as a prime or an L zoom

http://www.pbase.com/image/26008750
http://www.pbase.com/image/27883816
http://www.pbase.com/image/28904081
http://www.pbase.com/image/27883756
http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/view?id=1187922
Not sure if you can view the last one full size.I think that site requires a paid membership these days :?
If you can't,PM me and i'll send a copy of it Plus another that may be the very best example i've found from this lens-unfortunately i can't find it online anymore but i have a copy here

[polloloco81]

Well I'm sold. I just ordered the import version from B&H. I notice the quality is actually pretty nice if taken in daylight/outdoor, which is what I'll be mainly doing. Plus, you get what you pay for, and this lense will hold me over until I win the lottery :D Once again, thank you very much for the input.

[ron chappel]

Yes that's a good way of putting it-daylight will bring the best out of any lens. :)
I've also noticed that even really cheap crap lenses look very good with fill flash as well-in fact the only half decent 300D kit lens pics i have are with fill flash :(

[RikWriter]

This lens is okay, a bargain for the money really.
Here's a shot I took with it.
http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v260/RikWriter/Jetski_Jumping_on_Lake_Powell_small.jpg

That said, I wound up taking mine back 1)because I could and 2)because I was in the process of buying the 70-200 f4 L lens.