LENS S16 Canon 8-64mm or Canon 11,5-165mm

[Claudio Cea]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone has experience with these 2 Super 16mm lenses.

 

1. Canon 8-64mm and the
2. Canon 11,5-165mm

 

Which one do you prefer. The Canon 8-64 is a bit older.
I heard the 11,5-165mm loses a bit of contrast at the far end.

 

[Dom Jaeger]

They're both very good, which is preferable would depend on whether you needed a wider zoom or one that went more telephoto. By the way, I've personally only ever come across Canon 11.5-138 (12x) and 11-165 (15x) zooms, never an 11.5-165 (which works out as 14.3478..x). Some googling brings up references to an 11.5-165 but I think these could just be a typo that got re-posted again and again - the internet creating its own version of reality.

 

If you had to be picky, the 11-165 breathes a lot more and does lose a little contrast at the long end, but it's a 15x zoom compared to an 8x like the 8-64. Minimum focus on the 11-165 is a bit over 3 ft while the 8-64 goes under 2 ft.

[Claudio Cea]

They're both very good, which is preferable would depend on whether you needed a wider zoom or one that went more telephoto. By the way, I've personally only ever come across Canon 11.5-138 (12x) and 11-165 (15x) zooms, never an 11.5-165 (which works out as 14.3478..x). Some googling brings up references to an 11.5-165 but I think these could just be a typo that got re-posted again and again - the internet creating its own version of reality.

 

If you had to be picky, the 11-165 breathes a lot more and does lose a little contrast at the long end, but it's a 15x zoom compared to an 8x like the 8-64. Minimum focus on the 11-165 is a bit over 3 ft while the 8-64 goes under 2 ft.

Hi Dom and thank you very much for your input. I heard the 11-165 loses a bot of contrast from 150 on. Do you by any chance know the Canon 11-138 too? Then I was also looking at the Zeiss 11-110, which costs more. Just wondering which of all these is the best compromise for a zoom lens and which one has the best glass?

 

Best, Claudio

[Dom Jaeger]

Hi Claudio,

again all I can say is they are all good, as good as S16 zooms got, so it comes down to the condition of each individual lens and which one might best suit the kind of work you want to do.

 

8mm is quite a lot wider than 11mm, so if you need wide coverage the 8-64 (or 7-63) would be better, and a minimum focus under 2 ft can be very handy sometimes, inside cars etc. If you are covering sports or doing something that needs a bigger range and longer focal lengths the 11-165 would be more useful. The Zeiss is very sharp, a little faster and would intercut well with Superspeed primes for example, but it breathes a lot and doesn't go very wide or particularly long. It can go macro though.

 

Choose the compromise that suits your requirements.

[Deepak Bajracharya]

Namaste,

 

If it is for the feature, then IMHO 8-64 has advantages like as said the good wide end, minimum focusing distance and almost non breathable quality etc.

 

With best regards,

Deepak Bajracharya

[Chris Burke]

Canon 8-64 has beautiful contrast and color reproduction, very snappy and sharp. It is a great all round work horse lens. Given the choice, I would pick that one. The close focus is a great feature.