[RainMan]

So I got my copy on Friday and Saturday took it out for my first use. I bought the lens pretty much for night landscape/astrophotography and it's going to replace my older Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 in those situations. A few thoughts-

• Like others have mentioned, it's heavy
• Focus motor is QUIET. You won't hear much to verify focus so keep that in mind.
• The focus ring is firm with just enough resistance. In other words, it's not sloppy & excessively free turning. This was great since there's a narrow range for focusing wide open.
• The f1.9 really lets in the light so even it you're stopped down to f2.8, using Live View to focus at night was MUCH easier than with my Sigma 17-70 at the same f2.8

I've seen some other observations of lens flare when wide open. I experienced this as well. Here are a couple shots:

6s @ f2.8, ISO800, 18mm


This is a huge improvement over my Sigma 17-70. Due to the "supermoon", I wasn't able to take any good shots of the night sky & stars so that will have to wait for the near future. All in all, I'm really impressed with the lens so far.

8s @ f4, ISO800, 28mm


Neither image has been processed. Both are just "save as" straight from the RAW DNGs. I'm a little bummed about the lens flare but oh well. If I recomposed, minus the actual moon, the flare disappeared. The last thing I'll note is how sharp it is! This is a 100% crop from the right center edge of one of the previous photos:

Great shots and lens breakdown Scott.