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Author
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stepheno
Pixalo Crew
Registered: July 2005
Location: Brighouse
Posts: 10196
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Review Date: Sun March 18, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £595.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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IS, Ring USM, Sharp, Build Quality
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Cons:
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No lock
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I've had this lens from new for about four weeks now and it has had a range of use including both in and outdoor.
It is an L lens which shows in its construction and sturdiness providing better protection against moisture and dust. The constant f4 is a delight - some might prefer the constant f2.8 of the 27-70 but I prefer to have the extra 35mm and with the ISO of my 30D I don't have any worries.
The IS is first-class and quiet. The ring USM is very quiet, provides very speedy AF and also full-time manual focus if you require it. The lens is not too heavy although not as light as ny previous Tamron 18-200 but that's a price I'm happy to pay.
I have seen no vignetting or CA but, to be fair, I haven't used it in all conditions yet. I certainly have not experienced any flare and that has been shooting in sunlight. Image quality with my 30D is, I think, outstanding.
It is my constant walkabout lens and is on my camera at all times. Do I miss the extra 95mm the Tamron gave me - no, if I want to zoom in any more I just walk nearer. Are there any negatives I hear you say. Only two points. Firstly the lens does extend when zooming but it is not a problem to me and secondly there is no lock. However the amount of friction is sufficient that it does not creep when carrying it so again not a problem to me.
My final remark is that I regard this as the optimum walkabout lens for my purposes and at current prices will not break the bank, in fact I think it is a decent price for an L lens. I have given it a 10 because, to me, it meets all my expectations. Highly recommended 
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Dave
Pixalo Crew
Registered: July 2005
Posts: 18317
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Review Date: Tue July 8, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £525.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Build quality, Focal range, Quiet focus
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Cons:
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Bought this lens primarily for portrait & wedding work. The focal range is perfect for quickly zooming from full length shots, to shoulder & head.
Build quality is excellent & on par with the Nikon Pro lens I used before.
The quite focusing is another advantage for wedding work, so not to disturb the ceremony
For a walkabout lens I would find the 24mm not quite wide enough, but you have to expect these compromises when you want to maintain optical quality over the focal range it offers.
Recommended
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spxxxx
Forum Regular
Registered: September 2006
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Posts: 729
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Review Date: Tue July 8, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Light - sharp - good range on full frame
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Cons:
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harsh bokeh - f/4
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I got this for wedding work on a 5D and it's a great versatile lens.
My copy is sharp wide open - but do check - a mate had to send his back twice to get one as sharp as mine.
max f/4 can be a problem in dimly lit churches - but IS does go some way to help.
Biggest drawback for me is bokeh - it's quite harsh at times - I got a 24-70 f/2.8 because of this but still kept the 24-105 because I think it's sharper.
Good lens, good value and well built
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Dave
Pixalo Crew
Registered: July 2005
Posts: 18317
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Review Date: Sun August 17, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 4
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Pros:
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Focal Range
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Cons:
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Flare problem at F4 on 2 lenses now :(
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Well since my last review I started to notice something not quite right with image quality at F4. I then ran some tests & found unacceptable flare at F4. See full description of problem here:- http://www.pixalo.com/community/came...-f4-26223.html
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The_Camera_Poser
New here
Registered: January 2009
Location: Tasmania
Posts: 30
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Review Date: Thu January 8, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Versatility, image quality, IS, fast focus, sealing, sharp from f/4, good magnification.
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Cons:
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none, other than a bit of flare and a little soft at 105mm.
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For a zoom with a bit of range, this baby rocks. I have little tosay that hasn't already been said. The images from my 24-105 aren't quite as sharp or contrasty as those from my 17-40, but the focal length range and IS more than make up for this. If I had to choose one lens out of Canon's line-up, this would be it.
My copy has a bit of flare, but nothing at all like Dave's. It's a 2006 model.
The bokeh could be better at f/4, but then it's not the sort of lens I use for great bokeh. Also, it's a wee bit soft and still highly useable at 105mm, though I do wonder if this is more aa function of the lens being used at it's longest focal length and the IS not quite being as steady as it is at 24mm.
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Rob Barron
Loves the place
Registered: September 2006
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 7225
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Review Date: Fri June 12, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £500.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, excellent IS, smooth bokeh, L quality
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Cons:
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nothing
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I would like to clarify that the price I paid is slightly irrelevant as it was bought with the 5D MkII making it about half the normal price. Currently most places selling for a street price around £900.
I contemplated whether to buy this lens with the camera body for quite a while because I had the 28-70mm f/2.8 L series lens and wasn't sure I needed this one. In the end I went for it because despite losing one stop in the aperture, I would easily gain that back in the image stabilisation and the extra focal range is useful now that I don't have a 1.6x factor to apply. The range here is good because comparing my older lens with the equivalence factor applied, I was going from a 45 - 112mm to a 24mm - 105mm, almost the same at long end but far better at the wide end.
I also have the 17-40mm f/4 L and so am used to working to f4 and between the two I had all I needed for super-wide through to most everyday situations.
Ok, so how does the lens come out in terms of quality etc? Quite simply, the answer is excellent. I was cautious because of Dave's experience with the f4 - f4.5 problem but this is definitely not a problem now. I have tried to replicate the problem several times and I just can't so I guess Canon have sorted that out now.
I did wonder whether the loss of a stop of aperture would affect my ability to get a lot of blurring with differential focusing but that is not an issue at all. It might be for someone using this on an APS-C sensor (though is just as good as the 17-40 of course) but on a full-framme sensor, you get shallower depth of field anyway so I still gete far better blurring (bokeh) than I have ever done before. Indeed, I can happily isolate a subject from its background at a smaller aperture as seen in this shot which was taken at f/8:
At wider apertures it is beautiful creamy and the main subject stands out perfectly.
The IS is excellent and I would say is better than the 3-stops quoted in Canon's tech specs. To give you some idea, I took a shot at a silly speed just to sow how well it would perform. Now this wouldn't win any prizes but given that this was taken hand-held with a shutter speed of 1/2 a second, I think you'll agree it's not at all bad!
Here is a 100% pixel view: I focused on the end of his nose so this isn't the sharpest area of the shot but note the hairs/fluff sticking up in front of the eye as that shows the point fairly well:
I wouldn't of course normally dream of taking a photo hand-held at that sort of speed but if it can perform that well at 1/2 second, I'd have no worries at all about using it for a 1/15th second shot if I had to.
The Autofocus is very positive, fast and quiet and the zoom ring, despite not having a lock, doesn't drift at all when holding the camera lens down. It is smooth and stays in focus well from wide to telephoto.
I now have three lenses covering the range from 17mm to 400mm all in l series so when combined with my macro lens and the ubiquitous nifty fifty, I think my lens needs are pretty much covered.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the 24-105mm lens to anyone looking for the perfect lens to use as their standard walkabout lens.
Cheers,
Rob
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Pixalo Photography Community
