View Product Details & Features about Doom 3 Go! »

The monsters are very nice opponents. Alltough they don’t share Einsteins IQ, they can be quite dangerous and they’re not exactly dumb either.Running into a room without being carefull is not a wise thing to do and will probably cost you your life. Design of most monsters looks fabulous and each of them has it’s own tactics and creepy sounds. Your arsenal is quite basic (but then again this isn’t weird, since you’re on a remote facility) but every weapon works well and fit within the game. The soulcube was a nice idea and adds a nice extra factor into it during the later levels. Of course there are some weaker points. I found the gameplay to be very good the first time. You know that crossing a room will probably trigger some monster, but first time you allmost never know when and from which direction it will happen and which monster it will be (in other words how bad it will be). The second time this factor is largely gone, which makes the game a lot less scary. In other words, the replay value of Doom3 is quite low. Nightmare might be fun to try but doesn’t add enough to replay the entire game. I didn’t try the multiplayer so I can’t comment on that. I bought this game to get a solid and scary single player shooter, and that’s exactly what I got. If you’re way of thinking is the same as mine, you should really buy this game. If you expect more, don’t bother.

In Doom 3, the enemies are so hard (I am playing on the hardest difficulty), that you will sigh with relief and feel lucky to be alive with every kill. I find myself ducking around corners, hiding under desks to ambush demons, and dashing behind walls to dodge fireballs. The weapons you have are powerful, but fair: a zombie will take several pistol shots to the chest before he goes down. Likewise, a few good bites from a Pinky demon will take you down fast. This is not one of those games where you can soak up tons of damage and move on. Every shot you make counts, and every hit you take hurts. If you are like me and still frame Doom 1 in your mind as the first and ultimate FPS, you will love this game. It takes you right back to 1993, but with the graphics and ammenities to boot. If you are looking for a more realistic experience a la Far Cry, wait for Half – Life 2. For now, I am going back to Mars to take on the legions of Hell.

Doom 3 is a superb sci-fi horror based first person shooter. If you like your sci-fi gory and enjoy being scared, then you are already halfway to liking this game. The graphics are superb, featuring revolutionary real time lighting and shadows which bring a movie-like atmosphere of terror to the game. The monsters are horrifically detailed and will make you nervous the first time you see them slumber out of the shadows covered in blood, and will scare you on occasions when you don’t see them coming. The games basis in horror cannot be emphasised enough. If you don’t like being scared or being constantly jumpy then I don’t think you will like this game. There are a wide range of different horror techniques used. From the simple usage of darkness and anticipation of being jumped from the shadows, to the artistic use of gore and grotesque monstrosities, to the occasional chilling supernatural encounter with an invisible and unknown force of pure evil. If Doom 3 were a movie it would be a cross between Aliens and Event Horizon.

You’re gonna explore different parts of the base with plenty of different themes such as: barracks, labs, factory, hangar, reactor etc. but you’ll also get to explore the outside of Mars’ surface as well as a space station, a hell-like alternate dimension and an underground Martian facility, buried under the surface of the planet for millennia! The weapons are fairly standard, but they are all a lot of fun to use! From pistols to shotgun, to automatic weapon, plasma gun and rocket-launcher everything is covered. Of course, you’ll get a new version of the BFG 1000, too! Last but not least there’s a weapon called a soul cube, which is an alien weapon that leeches health from an enemy and uses it to replenish yours. And, boy, does it come in handy later on in the game! Make sure you PC is up to date – and that your X-BOX power-cord is plugged in and have the spookiest 15-20 hours of gaming history. The Reverend.

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View Product Details & Features about Mac OS X version 10.6.3 Snow Leopard Go! »

I cannot say enough good things about Snow Leopard. I am thrilled to have my new Macbook with this already installed, and I am impressed at the speed at which I connect and surf online now! Even though I paid for the faster connection, the speed just hasn’t been there. My connection is so fast it feels like I am paying for a faster connection, when all I had to do was upgrade my operating system! Go Mac!

The install on my Macbook Pro was easy. The system is noticeably faster now. Especially Safari.

Good upgrade for the price. Increased boot speed, and snappier responses from apps and dock.

I updated my late-2008 MacBook to Snow Leopard and the entire process couldn’t be easier. I haven’t done any formal testing but my system feels faster. Visually, not much has changed but I think most of the changes are “under the hood”. I had a couple of minor annoyances that appeared intermittently but most of those have resolved with subsequent upgrades. Is it worth upgrading from Leopard? Good question. I am a geek and I like all my software to be updated. The price is very affordable and the process is very simple. But for some people, the small visual and feature changes may not be worth trouble. I’m sure others find upgrading an OS to be a daunting task anyway. But for most people, it should be worth it. I do think Snow Leopard is the easiest, most polished, most advanced, and most secure consumer OS currently available on the market.

The MAIN IMPROVEMENT I have noticed which personally affects me is a tweaked network sharing Finder. With 10.6, when you command-K to connect to a network share, it connects to your selected server nearly instantly, instead of the mysterious ~10 second pause that drove me mad in 10.5.8. Also, if you’re accidentally disconnected from a share while connected to a shared folder or drive, Finder won’t hang or possibly crash; it pops up a nice error message letting you know which drive(s) were disconnected, and lets you Ignore or Disconnect them. Another very welcome, and surprising, change! Despite reading what I thought was every tidbit written about 10.6 before its release, I’m still finding minor revisions (such as the two above) that nobody had mentioned previously. For instance, in System Preferences, under the keyboard bindings option, they revised the display of the options slightly so they are easier to navigate. It’s such a minor change, but obvious upon reflection; and this appears to be what Snow Leopard is all about.

I’m not going to go through a list of all of the feature changes included in Snow Leapard. The main page of this entry does a fine job of that and, when you tote them up, these are more often tweaks than they are big new features. The real changes are under the hood – Snow Leapard is firmly embedded in the new Intel technology. While it makes some effort to provide 32-bit emulation for some software, newer multiprocessor software will be the real beneficiary. From an end user viewpoint, if you are already at 10.5.6 or 7, you won’t find 10.6 a huge improvement. Occasionally something will appear a little differently or you will find a new button to click. What really impressed me is the ease of the upgrade. I used to live in fear of Apple upgrades that always seemd to obsolete expensive application software and take hours in the process. In comparison, installing Snow Leopard consists of inserting the DVD and clicking on the install icon. In less than an hour you will have a new OS. Or, that was the case for me, and I have a rather overloaded Quad Core Mac Pro with all kinds of bells and whistles.

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View Product Details & Features about Plantronics Voyager PRO Bluetooth Headset Go! »

By far the best bluetooth headset I have purchased. The sound quality is superb along with the noise cancellation. Very comfortable on the ear. Highly recommend this product.

Not only do the people I call from my noisy 1996 Ford diesel pickup think I am calling from a soundproof booth, I can hear them far better than any previous headset I’ve owned. And I believe the device might be invincible! My BlueAnt headset was drowned by a “helpful” son who washed the jacket I kept it in. It was toast. Disassembled, dried out, recharged. Nothing. The Voyager Pro just had its turn through the wash when my lovely wife treated the same jacket with a waterproofing solution–new headset in the same breast pocket as before. Disassembled, dried out (fan blowing on it overnight), and tried it. Worked fine! Didn’t even need recharging! Amazing product on all fronts–well, except it is not the coolest looking unit around, but beauty is only skin deep in Bluetooth headsets too! Disclaimer—I should mention that it has no idea what to do with the sound of hail on the roof of my truck, so if you only drive in hail storms this might not be the headset for you.

I always used a wired headset for many years with my cellphones, as I could never find one that really worked. They were either too fragile, battery didn’t last long, can’t hear the other end or the person on the end can’t hear me or all of the above. I bought no less than five, then ended up returning them because I was not satisfied. However, this year, headset technology apparently has seen so much improvements. I bought a Blue-Ant this year and thought it worked great. Then come along the Plantronics PRO! When I talked using this headset, the person on the end had no idea I used a headset. And I can hear them fine, just like using a landline. I am sure that is the experience you will find with this wonderfull headset. And that is the most important thing. The headset is feather-light and fully adjustable. The ear-piece and mike swivel all directions, so it is easy to fit to the contour of your face. I like the boom mike, I can make sure that fit properly near my mouth when I talk. It is not as compact as most other headset, but very comfortable to wear.

It is common to have my ears blasted when it is set to the highest volume. As for the second button which is used to answer and hang up calls, it is placed in the middle of the device. This is a problem because the center of gravity of the device is also in the middle so it is prone to dislodging and when you push the device into place you inadvertently hang up your call. Also, because the center of gravity is in the middle of the device, the weight is all on the earpiece which will lead to a slight discomfort have a few hours of use. In contrast the Plantronics Voyager Pro sacrificed aesthetics for ergonomics. To my delight, there was two buttons to control the volume and it activates/deactivates the mute feature when pressed at the same time. The long boom is great for picking up my voice but it makes the device large and awkward to carry around. The button to answer and receive calls is placed in the middle of the device where the boom connects with the ear piece. This is not so bad since the brunt of the weight is in the piece that fits behind your ear which means that the center of gravity is behind your ear.

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View Product Details & Features about DAZER II Ultrasonic Dog Deterrent Go! »

Like many folks, we have neighbors that have two very obnoxious dogs. They are small but loud and if they are outside, they are barking. They will bark at anything and more annoyingly… nothing. If we venture outside the barking becomes violent. What is most irritating is that it is difficult to become angry at the dogs because it is the owners that are to blame. They stand by in complete silence when their animals mis-behave and will do absolutely nothing to correct their poor behavior. My wife & I finally broke down and bought 2 devices – the Dog Dazer and the Super Bark Stop. One works, one does not. This device (Dog Dazer) is amazing. You open the box up and you hold a device in your hand that is about the size of a cell phone. It has a simple button on the top, a red LED and a strange looking metal disk in the front. You press the button, the LED glows red but nothing else appears to be happening. In fact, you wonder if the product is defective because it is completely silent and does not vibrate or anything.

I have 2 small dogs who bark at the neighbors when they are outside. No matter what we do, they won’t stop barking. When I received the Dazzer II, I couldn’t wait until they barked just to see what would happen. The instructions say to have a single command you use just before pressing the Dazzer. The dogs started barking, I said the command and then hit the Dazzer for a 1 second burst. The dogs immediately stopped and ran away from the fence. I have had the Dazzer II for 2 days and to my amazement, I have only used it 3 times. The dogs walk up to the fence very carefully and then walk away without barking. All I can say is that this really works. By the way our fence is over 50 feet from our patio and it still was heard by both dogs.

Once in awhile we still get a growl, but more often there is no sound at all. I AM SO HAPPY! I don’t dread going outside anymore! That dog was getting out of control and now I am in control thanks to the Dog Dazer II. So the moral of this story is, be patient…and hopefully your patience will pay off with SILENCE! ********************** (UPDATE 10/1)******************* O.k.. I don’t know what happened, but the dog started freaking out again. Not as much when I’m outside, but when my son is outside. I think she can smell me and then knows I make her ears hurt. One day she just freaked while I was out there zapping her, then she started with the low growl again. I think I just have a psycho neighbor dog with a very short memory!

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View Product Details & Features about George Foreman GGR50B Indoor/Outdoor Grill Go! »

I usually buy a $100 gas barbecue grill which lasts for about 2 years before it rusts out here in Pennslyvania. Using gas tanks is an extra expense, and the whole unit is an eyesore on my porch. It’s just me and my wife we need it for. I gave this George Foreman a shot after I ditched my gas grill. Over the past few weeks I’ve learned to adjust for the way it cooks, and the meat has met my satisfaction. I’ve been using it in 15F temperatures, calm winds, and without the lid, works fine. My only problem with this unit is the lid. The first time I grilled, it was pork. I used the lid on the unit with the handle turned to the vent position. I came back 5 minutes later, and the entire pork was poached on the top. That was my lesson to cook without the lid, unlike a gas grille which has lots of louvers and you can close the lid without killing the meat. Also, when you use the lid, lots of water condenses inside the lid, runs down the lid, and ends up in the drip tray. I made the mistake of carrying the grill into the kitchen after cooking two little pieces of meat outside the garage, the watery meat drippings splashed out of the hidden pan, ran through the bottom of the unit, and left me with a nasty trail to clean up.

This would be the ideal gift for anyone who likes to BBQ! The clean up is so easy- no mess and the food turns out great! I bought one for my husband so he could help out at dinner time and he really likes cooking the meat on it! When my kids go off to college I am going to buy each of them one to take- easy to use, no mess and easy to store! We are really enjoying it. We use it without the stand and it sits right on our kitchen counter and then when we are done I store it inside one of our kitchen cabinets!It comes with a stand to use outside too! Love The Grill!

This is my first time to purchase and use my own barbecue grill. We just moved to a house with a big sunny patio that was just screaming for a barbecue. I read lots about different kinds of grills on amazon and other web sites, especially customer reviews. I had decided on the Weber gold grill, since that seemed to be the all-time favorite. I had concerns about the environmental and health effects of the smoke/pollution caused by traditional grilling, but I thought it was one of those things I’d simply have to deal with, if I wanted to cook tasty food on our wonderful sunny patio. I don’t know why I didn’t buy that charcoal grill; I had it in my shopping cart at amazon for like a week. I guess I was still worried about the environmental thing. I went back to looking up electric grills, and as before, I noticed most of the reviews were pretty wishy washy. Then, all of a sudden I noticed all of the excellent reviews for this George Foreman grill. Some of the people said the food tastes just as good; some said they actually PREFERRED this to the charcoal grill, and some of them said you can grill outdoors without all of the hassle and mess of charcoal.

The second time I cooked with the lid “hanging off the back” as pictured. For some reason, maybe I set it there too lightly, the lid fell off, hit the ground leaving a big dent in the aluminum. This fall broke the tang on the black plastic that keeps the lid in the range of the vent position. I’ve used it a few more times over the past weeks and didn’t have any additional issues. The grille is easy to clean, and now that I don’t use the lid I barely have any drippings in the tray. The unit sits nicely in the garage and we haven’t bumped it over, since it’s round and the feet don’t stick out too far. I paid $100 for my last gas grill which lasted two years (ignitor stopped working first year). It also cost me about $20 a year to keep the gas tank filled up. So a yearly cost of $70 for gas, plus a little more to buy a wand lighter. I paid $65 for this electric grill, I expect it to last for five years based on the fact it’s just aluminum and plastic… won’t rust, and electric griddles last that long.

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View Product Details & Features about Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery 1-Pound-Loaf Programmable Mini Breadmaker Go! »

Initially, I had some difficulty removing the mixing paddle for cleaning until I discovered there was a tiny hook on the breadmaker shaft that helps retain the paddle while you remove the bread from the bread pan. Counter rotating the paddle slightly allows it to be easily removed from the bread pan shaft. The bread pan can be removed, inserted and locked in place very easily. The design allows you to place all of your ingredients in the bread pan prior to placing the pan in the baking chamber. This is a nice feature as it prevents the mess of ingredients ending up in the baking chamber, particularly if you are like me and tend to be messy. The Zojirushi comes with an instruction manual that has a variety of recipes that cover most of the types of bread or cakes that you would like to make. I strongly recommend following the recipes in the book exactly until you are comfortable with the bread making process. Once you have a good understanding of this breadmaker, you can modify the existing recipes or make your own to meet your unique taste.

I already had the large Zojirushi bread machine but we couldn’t eat those large loaves fast enough since there are just 2 of us. I had gotten good use out of it as I had used it twice a week for 4 years, and figured it would still be good when we had company. But this little Z is wonderful and does a super job. We have been on a camping trip for the last 3 weeks in a tiny camper and I brought it along because we don’t want to eat commercial bread. Before we left I got out 6 ziplock bags and measured all the dry ingredients (except the yeast) into each bag. So when we needed bread, after we camped at night I would set the bread machine up in the bathroom on the sink and it was simple to start a batch. It would be ready before bedtime. I am so glad I got this. The handle makes it easy to move around. We keep it in the camper’s closet when not in use. Highly recommend this for those who are serious about making their own bread.

Been using for over a year now. Never skipped a beat. Every morning warm fresh bread. After 100 loaves stopped counting. Jam making feature is a joke. Sweet breads ok. French Bread feature makes a very nice crusty loaf. I like the cast baking pan instead of sheet metal that many use.

I had an Ouster bread machine and it made good bread. But with the Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Home Bakery machine, I got exactly what I wanted: good bread every-time I tried, small loaf with little waste, and easy to eject the loaf! The kneader always stops in the middle of the loaf.

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View Product Details & Features about ScanGauge II Ultra Compact 3-in-1 Automotive Computer with Customizable Real-Time Fuel Economy Digital Gauges Go! »

And yes, SGII works in most Diesel vehicles made after 1996 (see the list on Linear Logic’s website). Highly recommended as a really useful automobile accessory that offers a LOT of “bang-for-the-buck”. UPDATE: September 2010. Have used this gadget for almost three years in my Yaris and in my Dodge diesel truck, and still functioning perfectly, despite being cooked in the hot summer sun on the dashboard several times. One issue I have noticed when using it in the Dodge: If I run through a tank of fuel while towing a heavy trailer, then another tank of fuel while the truck is unloaded (not towing or hauling anything), the calibration changes substantially. I usually use something like “45%” for unloaded, and “25%” when towing. However, even these numbers are only rough starting points. In general, over level ground at 55mph, I expect to get 20mpg unloaded, and 14mpg towing a 7800# RV trailer. But the Scan Guage is rarely consistant, even when I am careful to set the calibration to the same numbers I calculated the last time I towed the trailer.

I wasn’t sure what to think, this being my first scanner, but when my Passat died I found myself requiring a device that shows my mileage. Having the ability to show everything else was just icing on the cake. This unit has performed flawlessly and I would definitely purchase this unit again if I need to.

I love the scan gauge. If I had known about it, I would have not taken the expensive car computer display option. It has all of the engine information you can want and further it can be customized to your vehicle and gas usage. The display is very easy to use and intuitive, so no manual is really needed. When I sell the car, all I need to do is move the gauge on to the next, so it really is multipurpose. I only wish that my 95 RV had OBD II connections, so I could use it there as well. I strongly recommend it to anyone who has even the slightest desire to have mile per gallon information.

-I use it mainly for water temps and intake temps (running boost) to make sure my care is around where it needs to be. haven’t fiddled with other gauges, but its great. their are other ones out there that do the same thing, i just bought this one, because a member on the forum makes a custom bracket for my car (scion tc)

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View Product Details & Features about Nikon D3000 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens Go! »

Pros: I bought this camera specifically as a new DSLR user. After asking friends with photography experience, they recommended Nikon. I picked the D3000 because I was moving up from a point & shoot and don’t plan on making photography my new hobby. The main use for this camera is to capture pictures of my 18 mth twin girls and this does an AWESOME job at it. The shutter speed is a huge improvement over a point & shoot and completely worth the price premium. Cons: This camera doesn’t come with Live View so it took a little getting use to having to use the viewfinder to take pictures. Nothing big, just expect it. I didn’t get the telephoto lense and am now contemplating it. The lens that comes with it is fine, but a telephoto lense takes fantastic portraits. I’m also thinking about getting a bag to carry/store the camera for when I travel. It’s a $$ investment, so I don’t want to break it.

This has been a great camera that is fun to use. I upgraded from a coolpix and I wouldn’t ever go back for taking quality pictures on my own time. I’m not much of a camera junky and I couldn’t tell you megapixels and brand comparisons. I’m simply someone who wants to take better pictures and really enjoy them. So far the pictures I’ve taken are beautiful, and I’m even having one of the pictures framed onto a canvas (a closeup of a purple flower to match my girlfriends room). All and all if you are considering purchasing a nicer camera than the pocket size ones, this is a great camera for a first timer. I give it a 9/10. Good points: -beautiful zoom images -sleek black look -easy to use -sturdy design -quick picture taking -battery lasts a long time -decent software to import to your computer Bad points: -Needs a case to carry it around safely -Too big and awkward to carry for most social occasions -most of the shooting modes are not beginner friendly Hope this helps. Again this is a review from someone who has owned only the slim optical zoom hand held cameras (aka Nikon Coolpix).

Very good camera for freshmen. I’m still learning to use it. It may need more than 1 year time’s to get familiar with every function and setting of it, if you don’t take lots of time on really learning it, but just take photo shot radomly. The camera is also very well manufactured. Very good quality! and also very comfortable while holding it. It’s too much better than my friend’s D60 and Canon’s entry level SLR. For the lens, I don’t think I really need to buy a 55-200 for it. Maybe I will buy a better camera with the lens of 18-200 together several years’ later. Right now, this is enough for me!

For the beginner this camera is on the the best ways to start. Easy of use, low cost, and feature rich you can’t go wrong. I strongly suggest this camera for all students just starting out. If they don’t like photography this camera still has a high resale value.

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View Product Details & Features about Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom Go! »

I couldn’t be happier with my new canon camera. Again Amazon has done a great job on getting this to me very quickly!

I bought this camera Canon PowerShot A570IS 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom for my mother-in-law, who is 82 years old, wants to take pictures. This camera is very easy to use, even for an old lady doesn’t understand English. It has a image stabilizer and uses replaceable AA batteries. Good for international travel without worry of where to recharge the battery.

This camera is perfect for us. My husband wanted a camera with full manual so he can play around with getting the best shot possible. I wanted a camera I can just grab and quickly shoot to get a picture of our children in action. This camera makes us both happy! We have used this camera indoors at a party, outdoors at a picnic in the early-afternoon, while riding a horse, while our daugher was marching in a parade in the mid-morning, and at a zoo in the early evening. All the pictures turned out wonderfully. (Well, two of the pictures do have a sun glare on them when we were facing the sun while taking the picture.) The coloring on all the pictures is superb. You can even see the fuzz of our son’s sweatshirt in one of the pictures. Even when the camera was facing bright windows, the faces turned out nicely. (not too dark) The time between pictures has not been a problem for us. I was able to take three pictures of my daughter as she marched by in the parade. We do use 2500 NiMH rechargables, which we found are a must! The software that comes with the camera is very nice, too. However, after using the camera’s software to download the photos and catergorize them by date, we use Adobe Photoshop for our editing. This camera is so good, though, not much needs to be done to each picture. I would recommend this camera to anyone.

i am not really a camera person, knowing its techy details, but am thoroughly pleased with A570. Couldnt ask for more at this price. I have certainly used a Nikon (of the L series) in the same range, but this one is way better.

I am and have been a photograhy fan for many many years. I have used all kinds of cameras, including a pentax manual professional camera which I used for over 20 years. I decided to buy this Canon brand and I am delighted with its easy handling, its color brightness, and sharp images. Like for every product you buy, you have to read the instrtuctions and learn how to operate your camera so you get the best results. I bought one just like it for my daughter last December and I was impressed by the quality of the pictures she sends me so I decided to have my own. I would buy the exact same camera again. Just great. Great price too.

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View Product Details & Features about Tamron Autofocus 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon DSLR Cameras Go! »

I can’t speak highly enough about this lense, extremely accurate, fast and sharp. It’s not as rugged as the comparable Canon L series lense (which I own) but it’s only about 1/3 the cost and my own controlled tests have shown it to outperform the Canon lense. It also has a smaller O.D. so fitting it with filters will cost less and is significantly lighter which helps when your hauling it around for long periods of time. My conclusion is this is a great lense for portraits, weddings and general photography, though I still perfer the Canon lense as the ultimate rugged field lense.

I compared their L to the Tamron with a magazine full of text. The text (especially away from center) was MUCH sharper with the Tamron than the Canon L! Much. So, 1/3 the cost, and half the weight. The canon lens is weather sealed, and moslty a metal chassis. If those two items are important to you, then get the Canon. Otherwise, the Tamron is the way to go. I also considered the Sigma 24-70 f2.8, but the weight, filter size and flare resistance were all better with the Tamron. This lens works great. My only caveat is that the zoom movement is opposite to the canon lenses, which is a little disconcerting when you switch, but not a big deal.

Price was a major factor for me and the zoom range was important as well. Along with zoom range, another aspect of versatility included the lens’ ability to be useful for indoor or night photography. This is the reason why I bought the nifty fifty in the first place. I took more interest in the lenses that had a larger aperture; something about f/2.8 just screams sexiness to me. Well with these criteria in mind, I started to really look at the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L. This lens has received epic reviews from every photographer. Its built quality and its pictures are perplexingly amazing. My versatility requirement has been met at every angle. When I look at the price, my jaws dropped and suddenly this lens just became a lens beyond my reach. As price is a huge factor in buying anything these days, the price of the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L scared me away. But through my meticulously investigation into the 24-70L lens, I came across a small group of people who had found an alternative. That alternative is what I am really reviewing here: the Tamron 28-75 f/2.8.

I’m a long time Pentax user and for some reason passed over this superb lens. Instead, within this focal range, I opted for the Pentax DA* 16-50/2.8 lens. While that lens has outstanding construction, is weather-sealed, and whisper quiet (SDM), I was never satisfied with that product. I went through 2 copies and ultimately felt the 16-50/2.8 was too soft, quirky, and with decidedly poor CA. It was the lens I wanted and tried to love because I felt it rounded out my outfit perfectly. But this review is about the Tamron 28-75/2.8, not the Pentax lens it replaced. I absolutely love this lens – images are tack sharp and CA and distortion are well controlled all through its focal range. While not weather-sealed and all-metal like the Pentax, the lens is well-balanced and movement well dampened. This is a full frame lens with an aperture ring which I consider a positive. I use this lens both professionally in the studio and for portraits, interchangeably with the Pentax DA* 50-135/2.8 (another outstanding lens). It also makes for an excellent general purpose, walk-about lens – especially when the use of a prime lens isn’t ideal (e.g., stationary seating, etc.). On a last note, I waffled between the 28-75 and the 17-50 2.8 lenses, both from Tamron. For me, the additional length is more useful. When I need to shoot wide I usually reach for the DA 15/4. Currently this lens is used with a Pentax K5. I would buy this product again.

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