Canon L zooms and 21mp

FM Forum Rules
Canon SLRs, primes, and zooms lenses reviews

FM Forums \| Canon-mount SLRs \| Join Upload & Sell	Search Used
1 2 end

Archive 2008 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Geofn
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #1 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

My 16-35L (Mark I), 24-70L, 28-300L IS, and 70-200/2.8L IS all perform well on my 1Ds3. The 24-70L was a bit soft (even on my 400D) but after micro-adjusting the focus it is quite sharp. Higher resolution doesn't make your lenses performance worse; but it can reveal lens weaknesses. However, those weaknesses are generally only visible when viewing at 100% crops. For any given print size viewed at normal viewing distances (for that size print), the 1Ds3 (and presumably the 5DII) will provide superior IQ to a lower resolution capture. I wouldn't let concern over your lenses failure to perform keep you from upgrading.

Sep 24, 2008 at 01:53 PM

abam
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #2 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

i doubt anyone here is such a good photographer that they're being held back by L zooms.

Sep 24, 2008 at 01:58 PM

Ben Horne
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #3 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

abam wrote:
i doubt anyone here is such a good photographer that they're being held back by L zooms.

You might want to reconsider that statement. I have a heck of a time getting very sharp corners on a landscape shot when it's printed at a normal size (>= 12x18). Also, the chromatic aberration on high contrast edges near the edges of photo is a major fault of the lens. I would consider that to being held back to a certain degree.

Sep 24, 2008 at 02:40 PM

cineski
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #4 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Anyone suffering from "Soft Lenses" should send their body and lenses in to Canon to be calibrated and projection tested. All my zooms are sharp as a tack because of this.

Sep 24, 2008 at 04:15 PM

bmstudios
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #5 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

No problem with the 70-2002.8 IS
Original at 200mm then cropped.

2012 © bmstudios

Sep 24, 2008 at 04:42 PM

Ben Horne
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #6 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

cineski wrote:
Anyone suffering from "Soft Lenses" should send their body and lenses in to Canon to be calibrated and projection tested. All my zooms are sharp as a tack because of this.

Even the best 24-70mm will still be soft wide open, or stopped down all the way. My 24-70mm has been in to canon, and it's as good as it can be --- but it still gets trampled by even a decent prime until about 5.6 or f/8. Unless you just shoot in the sweet spot of the L zooms, 21MP will definitely outresolve them. That's why I love shooting with the primes --- I can shoot the faster apertures without the dread of knowing that the images will be soft.

Sep 24, 2008 at 07:59 PM

RobertLynn
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #7 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

I don't foresee Canon needing to upgrade all of their lenses for the 5D2. it would have been done with the ds3 how long ago?

While the primes are almost always going to yield a better IQ, the zooms should do fine. There would have been complaints long ago. I think this just came up because some people hate their 24-70s, and want the optical performance of the Sony or Nikon one, in a Canon format.

I don't foresee any reason why the 5d2's images would be any less sharp than the 5d1's. While they may shine with primes, think of them like this...they should make the most of the zooms.

Sep 24, 2008 at 11:20 PM

RobertLynn
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #8 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Ben Horne wrote:
cineski wrote:
Anyone suffering from "Soft Lenses" should send their body and lenses in to Canon to be calibrated and projection tested. All my zooms are sharp as a tack because of this.

Even the best 24-70mm will still be soft wide open, or stopped down all the way. My 24-70mm has been in to canon, and it's as good as it can be --- but it still gets trampled by even a decent prime until about 5.6 or f/8. Unless you just shoot in the sweet spot of the L zooms, 21MP will definitely outresolve them. That's why I love shooting with the primes --- I can shoot the faster apertures without the dread of knowing that the images will be soft.

Mine gets sharper at f/4, but at f/2.8, it's darn sharp. Mine is on a cropper though.

Sep 24, 2008 at 11:21 PM

RobertLynn
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #9 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

f/2.8

f/4

Sep 24, 2008 at 11:23 PM

RobertLynn
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #10 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

The above two have no extra sharpening.

Here is one at f/4, in real use. Not some graph, or chart, but a real subject.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/690229

Sep 24, 2008 at 11:25 PM

SoundHound
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #11 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Many lenses will give good results but the best lenses will give better results. My favorites are my 200mm F2.0 300 F2.8, 135L, 85L and 15FE in that order. I hope to get an adaptor for my 14-24 Nikkor some time soon.

Sep 25, 2008 at 04:39 PM

jaclarkaus
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #12 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Nobody can convince me that they will get worse results on a 1DsIII than on a body with less resolution as a result of the increase in resolution ... simply does not make sense. Lenses by their nature are analogue devices.

It may be the case however, that lesser lenses do not make as great improvement on the higher resolution sensor that a better lense would.

All my lenses (at least the ones I have used) give great results on the 1DsIII and it comes down to picking for focal length and aperture ... although the 85L is a favourate at the moment (as is the 300 2.8 on the DIII)

Sep 25, 2008 at 09:11 PM

bnesbitt
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #13 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

I too have noticed my 24-70 being soft on my 1DsIII. I used this lens a lot on my 5D, but now I rarely use it all because of the softness. My 70-200 IS is sharp as a pin, almost as good as a prime. My little 17-40 is the real surprise here as it still prodices great images, although in fairness I only tend to use it for landscapes at optimal aperture (well it's still as good as it was on the 5D). Now I tend to use primes a lot and let my feet do the zooming

Sep 25, 2008 at 09:53 PM

stanj
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #14 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

The 24-70 has lost a lot of love with me on the 1Ds3. Not sure why; I know that mathematically there should be not much of a difference between the 1Ds2 and 1Ds3, but it somehow doesn't gel with the new camera.

I echo Ben's sentiments about the 16-35/II.

I don't think the 70-200/2.8LIS is all that bad, but then again I rarely use this lens.

The 400DO looks great with the 1Ds3.

Overall I don't think the 5D2 or 1Ds3 should strike fear in you and your lens collection. I still love my 24L, which has been badmouthed for years even with crop cameras (mainly by non-users). There's more to life (and photography) than pixel peeping

Sep 25, 2008 at 10:05 PM

David Tognazzi
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #15 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

My best friend has a Canon 1Ds Mark III. His best lens, sharpness-wise? 135L F2 prime. He says none of the zooms are tack sharp.

He also says the 85L F1.2 works great.

Sep 25, 2008 at 10:28 PM

bobbytan
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #16 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Make my day?

RobertLynn wrote:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Sep 25, 2008 at 10:42 PM

globalkiwi
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #17 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Studio58 wrote:
what a crock.... you guys are kidding yourselves.

I'd be interested in having you expand on this - & no I'm not being sarcastic or confrontational. It's just that the logic behind this thread seems a little dodgy to me.

Sep 25, 2008 at 11:10 PM

RobertLynn
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #18 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

bobbytan wrote:
Make my day?

RobertLynn wrote:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

What's funny about it, he couldn't be happier. He loves the camera. Every time, without fail that I get out the camera, he starts strutting around. The crappy thing is, I get it out when he's being cute, then he mvoes like a little bastige! He heee!

When that pic was taken, the cat was yawning, and if you've ever watched a cat yawn, towards the end of the yawn, when the mouth is almost closed, it does that.

Sep 25, 2008 at 11:23 PM

Studio58
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #19 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

globalkiwi wrote:
Studio58 wrote:
what a crock.... you guys are kidding yourselves.

I'd be interested in having you expand on this - & no I'm not being sarcastic or confrontational. It's just that the logic behind this thread seems a little dodgy to me.

Look, it is simple really. I make my living out of producing images for clients. They love them. Never once have I had a client make a negative comment on the technical aspect of an image, the opposite in fact. The images out of my 3 series cameras smash anything I was able to produce using negatives, even better than my Hasselblads .
There have been times when I have detected a shortcoming..... I am more inclined to ignore it knowing that ultimately the technology will progress & the product will improve. The quality at this point in time is already superb.
Rather than the glass half empty approach, I prefer to dwell on the positive. For example, my
85 1.2 on the 1DS3.... man that rocks. Or my 300 2.8 is just fantastic. My 70-200,24-70, 16-35 etc, not in the same league but they do a job that works for the clients & me too.

Sep 26, 2008 at 12:17 AM

michael49
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #20 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

Ben Horne wrote:
You might want to reconsider that statement. I have a heck of a time getting very sharp corners on a landscape shot when it's printed at a normal size (>= 12x18)...

Maybe its time to go back to 1.6X crop.

Sep 26, 2008 at 12:35 AM

kin.vhw
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #21 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

shouldn't the L zooms be sharper on a 1DsmkIII or a 5DmkII due to the smaller pixel pitch than that found in croppers (1.6, 1.25)? I was under the assumption than the smaller the pixel pitch, the less lpi resolved from a lens. Am I really off in this one?

Sep 26, 2008 at 04:48 AM

davekone
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #22 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

This thread is amusing to say the least. Someone will chime in and say that film can out resolve the 1Ds III, yet the lenses are not good enough.

If the lenses can not resolve what the 1DS III sensor can see, one would think the image could not be better on this camera body versus the previous model because the lens just can't see it. Now if someone thinks that 18mp is the max the lenses can resolve somewhere between the last body 1DS II and this one, the next body certainly will show no benefit since the lens is maxed out.

Edited on Sep 27, 2008 at 12:18 PM · View previous versions

Sep 27, 2008 at 11:30 AM

dhphoto
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #23 · Canon L zooms and 21mp

I use a 24-70L on my 1Ds3 all the time. I'm usually stopped down to between f8-f13 with MLU and on a tripod and the results are excellent.

I'd rather have the scope to crop precisely with the zoom than mess about with all sorts of different primes. I honestly don't think I could tell the difference at those apertures anyway.

David

Sep 27, 2008 at 11:54 AM


FM Forums \| Canon-mount SLRs \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 end