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Old 31st October 2012, 11:38 PM
Tom Stanworth Tom Stanworth is offline
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Default Concise Review of Canon 24-70 L II

Astonishing....

Build is top notch. Plastic, yes, but lighter than the old one and the balance is great on a body.

AF and handling is as you would expect from a modern L.

Optically it is jaw dropping. Wide open at 24mm, the corners have no right to be anywhere near this good. There is an improvement as you stop down but it is very minor. I did some basic tests to ensure that the lens is optically 'OK' and saw results that just beggared belief, when inspecting the fine twigs on strips of poplar trees or the leaves on hedges, gravel etc. All done to ensure a flat plane of course.

I bought this lens for commercial work on digital bodies, but it is going to get used on my Eos 3 and 1n HS bodies too. It is going to get a LOT of use.

The lens is insanely expensive (but not compared to Leica of course) but is without question the best zoom lens I have ever used and far better than most primes.

I will now sell the other mid range zooms which never quite made me happy. On my Eos 3 for general purpose documentary work with B&W film, this lens is going to be incredible to work with.

FWIW I got mine from Hdewcameras in the UK and saved a small fortune over the likes of warehouseexpress. About £500 in fact.

Yes, a lot of people have complained that this lens is much more expensive than the MK I version, but I'm seeing a level of optical quality I have never seen before in a zoom and which would leave me delighted in a premium branded prime.
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Old 1st November 2012, 06:27 AM
cesare cesare is offline
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Interesting stuff. I know nikon's current 24-70 is also a rather fine lens and a significant improvement over the previous version - I wonder what has changed to allow improved designs? Glass improvements, design, or manufacturing? I hope it's manufacturing as that tends to get cheaper with economies of scale, and trickle down to other products.

I've taken a slightly different approach to the canon zooms, and have the two F4 IS options (24-105 and 70-200) and use primes to complement. The general weight saving is a big win for me, and these two are both excellent performers for the sort of photography I do where the IS is a benefit (i'm almost always hand-held).

I wasn't impressed with the previous 24-70, but will certainly try the new one when I get a chance...
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Old 1st November 2012, 12:21 PM
Tom Stanworth Tom Stanworth is offline
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I too went for the 70-200 f4 to save on weight for travel, but I find that I want wider apertures for shallower DOF with the 24-70-105 range. I used a friend's 24-105 IS and found it handy due to the IS, but I found F4 limiting for my applications. As tempting as the 70-200 L II IS is, the non-stabilised 70-200 F4 I have is so good and so light that I can't see myself doing this. I have fast primes for portraits. I bought my 70-200 f4 just before the IS version came out, which is a bit of a shame.

Compared to the two copies of the 24-105 IS I have used, the 24-70 L II is in another league altogether optically speaking. The difference is not subtle at all. The new 24-70 L II really is like shooting with the better L primes, apart from on distortion. On film this might be an issue, but I will have to wait and see.


Quote:
Originally Posted by cesare View Post
Interesting stuff. I know nikon's current 24-70 is also a rather fine lens and a significant improvement over the previous version - I wonder what has changed to allow improved designs? Glass improvements, design, or manufacturing? I hope it's manufacturing as that tends to get cheaper with economies of scale, and trickle down to other products.

I've taken a slightly different approach to the canon zooms, and have the two F4 IS options (24-105 and 70-200) and use primes to complement. The general weight saving is a big win for me, and these two are both excellent performers for the sort of photography I do where the IS is a benefit (i'm almost always hand-held).

I wasn't impressed with the previous 24-70, but will certainly try the new one when I get a chance...
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Old 24th April 2013, 10:25 PM
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Bill Clark Bill Clark is offline
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I have the f2.8 24-70 having purchased it quite a while ago.

Agree, it is an outstanding lens.

When I was photographing weddings this was the lens I used for 90+ percent of the photographs I made.
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