Reviews written by Giorgio Carlet

KMZ Helios 40 - 85mm f/1.5 (old)

Pros: Unbeatable swirl bokeh, great contrast,

Cons: weight, poor edge sharpness, prone to flare, embarrassing chromatic aberration

Opinion: Let's start by specifying the model in my possession: it is one of the first steel-colored versions of the 59/60 with M39 screw mount, I have been using it for years, first on 1100D with 1.6 crop which made it similar to a 135mm, then on canon 6D and now on sony A73. Only with sony I was able to enjoy a correct focus thanks to a forum on this site where the problem of the draw was explained: although it is an M39, it does not have the Leica draw, but it corresponds to the draw of an M42 so to use it correctly you have to buy an m39-m42 conversion ring and then mount an m42 - Sony E adapter. Otherwise, at the very least, you lose focus to infinity. In handheld use, it is necessary to shoot in live view, zooming in on the relevant detail on the screen to get the focus right. The focus area highlighting functions help, but at f/1.5 it happens that they are not enough. Add to this that it is a beast of over 900g to which you add adapter and camera and you too understand how normal it is to get the focus of a photo right every 10 shots. Once the desired focus shot is obtained, the result is generally very good, it is generally not a "clean" shot, the sharpness is valid only in the center and moving towards the edges it degrades strongly, the contrast is good, but the chromatic aberration is strong and as soon as you play with a little saturation in post production you will realize it, In any case, Lighroom does a good job of removing this defect. Another defect in shots against light: it can have strong flare problems. So put your subject in the center of the frame, zoom in on the detail, hope it doesn't move too much, focus and shoot as soon as you feel it's in focus. The photo will show you a spectacular bokeh that spirals behind the subject in focus, anyone who looks at that photo will not see problems of sharpness, flare, chromatic aberration and not even focus errors and will be amazed by the result.

sent on April 29, 2025

Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM

Pros: Robust, compact, fast autofocus, sharpness, price

Cons: flare and chromatic aberration

Opinion: bought used by a user here on juza a couple of years ago in the last year has basically become the main optics with which I shoot being focused on real estate photography, nothing to say about sharpness as confirmed by other reviewers is magnificent, used with the 6d autofocus with focus in the center is almost instantaneous in all conditions, while in other places it often struggles , but there the problem I think is more to the outdated technology of the 6d. The only sore notes I often detect are an annoying chromatic aberration in the parts a little more overexposed and flare in some conditions despite the lampshed, reading the other reviews I see that no one has complained of chromatic aberrations so I wonder if it is I who have exaggerated pretensions or if it is my faulty model, in any case nothing that is not easily recoverable in post production. For those of us who do not have ample financial resources, this objective turns out to be a magnificent compromise with a view to more demanding future purchases

sent on November 12, 2020

Canon 1100D

Pros: Economic, Lightweight, Fast

Cons: Plasticky, Much Ado over 400 iso, display low quality

Opinion: There are now two years that I have this machine, I can just make a little spending a 'substantial gladly pass on to something superiore.rnSenza doubt a great choice for those who want to enter the world of photography but does not know if there will be, but if you han already clear ideas better to invest a little 'more consistent: to 6 months of purchase we become aware of all the limitations of this machine, at night and evening hours is unusable without a flash, just get up the iso starts seeing a lot of noise in the picture, acceptable up to ISO 400, after which it begins to be quite annoying, needless to say, to 1600 ISO for taking pictures with the stars, the result is very disappointing and it will take a lot of post production to achieve a result accettabile.rnSe you try to zoom in on the display to look at the detail of the focus of the pictures you will not have a vision enough to raise doubts, then using it with manual lenses, for which you are forced to use the display to the focus ( by mirinor you can not figure out if the subject is in focus but on occasions you use the manual focus), the poor quality of the display you sentire.rnViste limitations is still a great product to start: it forces you to learn how to use it in order to achieve better results with higher performance machines that would otherwise be very less difficoltà.rnNonostante defects, however, situations in daylight will give great satisfaction, purchased for € 360 with the kit 18-55, at the time I could not afford more expenses, view I think that the devaluation does not sell it, and rather will transform photographic IR.rnTutto seen in all the price is still a great product.

sent on February 09, 2015