Canon 80-200mm F2.8 L - A Real Magic Drainpipe

[Jiri Vrozina]

it is on my list with upcoming 85mm f1.4....
http://www.thephoblographer.com/2012/10/28/first-impressions-zeiss-135mm-f2-0-ef-mount/

 

[Nick Morrison]

That Zoom is indeed pretty sharp. The Contax 135 2.8 is actually pretty sharp wide open. Not BLAZING, but SHARP.

 

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

More impressive I think is the near color match. Sharpness is a nice bonus

 

[Gerard Hearne]

The Canon magic drainpipe (EF 80-200 mm f2.8 L) is quite well-known, perhaps less so is its smaller sibling, the mini-magic drainpipe: Canon EF 28-80mm f2.8-4 L. It is also astonishingly well-built and has beautiful optical quality. The autofocus isn’t super-fast but it’s fast enough. I still use mine (I have more than one) today, alongside modern Canon EF L and Zeiss ZE lenses, it is that good. The downside is that it’s focus by wire, if it fails you have a paperweight, unless you can find a repairer. That said, they can be bought at quite low prices, I have four (!) copies for which I paid £414, £347, £200 and £170. Having bought my first one and liking it, I bought a second one as a back-up. The third and fourth ones were too cheap to ignore, at those prices I don't mind taking a punt. The cheapest one’s focus did fail recently, though I hope to get it repaired. Time will tell. If you get chance, try one, you will be pleasantly surprised.