A Little 24-70L Love

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Archive 2009 · A Little 24-70L Love

trumpet_guy
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p.1 #1 · A Little 24-70L Love

I'm usually not one to start appreciation threads, but I want to spend a little time
praising the 24-70L for the great "event" lens that it is. A wonderful focal length
range on full frame and a first class portrait zoom on crop bodies.

I was the trumpeter at a wedding last weekend and also shot some candids
of the ceremony and receptions. The lens delivered in so many ways: Good
sharpness, contrast, color, bokeh, and AF performance on my 5D. I see why
wedding shooters choose this lens so often.

In the past I've enjoyed this lens, but always felt there were better options
for landscapes and long distance shooting, but for studio and indoor candids
this lens is hard to beat in the Canon system. Just a great combination of
qualities, well balanced. Now if it were only a bit lighter.

The Brick delivers!

Sep 25, 2009 at 06:53 AM

SKumar25
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p.1 #2 · A Little 24-70L Love

Where are the pictures!?!

Sep 25, 2009 at 06:55 AM

trumpet_guy
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p.1 #3 · A Little 24-70L Love

Forgive some issues with perspective/rotation.

2013 © trumpet_guy

Sep 25, 2009 at 07:18 AM

trumpet_guy
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p.1 #4 · A Little 24-70L Love

The bride's grandfather -- 102 years old.
[wide open; the reflection off the glasses is unfortunate]

2013 © trumpet_guy

Sep 25, 2009 at 07:22 AM

trumpet_guy
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p.1 #5 · A Little 24-70L Love

The reception was in an art gallery. Black ceiling + red walls = no bounce flash.

The bride is 49, by the way. Quite amazing skin.

2013 © trumpet_guy

Edited on Sep 25, 2009 at 08:29 AM · View previous versions

Sep 25, 2009 at 07:27 AM

Daan B
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p.1 #6 · A Little 24-70L Love

Nice shots

Yeah, the 24-70L is my main wedding/event lens too (next to my fast primes). The focal range is just perfect on FF for this type of work. IQ is excellent: colors, bokeh, contrast, distortion, CA's and sharpness. I only wish that it was a little sharper wide open at both ends of the zoom range. Between 28-60mm it is tack sharp at f/2.8 tough. And you are right, it is d@mn heavy (when you are carrying two cameras fully loaded around your neck/shoulders).

Sep 25, 2009 at 07:34 AM

dancam
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p.1 #7 · A Little 24-70L Love

I've been going back and forth about purchasing the 24-70L for a while. I was playing with a 24-70L at the local camera shop earlier today actually and almost bought one. Glad to hear you like yours although, it makes my purchasing descisions a little harder

Sep 25, 2009 at 08:03 AM

trumpet_guy
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p.1 #8 · A Little 24-70L Love

I feel the lens is optimized for studio distances, though it works very well out
to infinity. But any magic it delivers is seen in the closer ranges. My previous
copy was good also. I think it was ever so slightly inferior to this copy, but
AF accuracy was most likely the cause. And the Rebel XT I used it on certainly
didn't cut it in the AF department.

Consider renting one and see how it does for you. I often prefer primes because
I need the extra one or two stops and the little more resolution, but this zoom is
still a real winner.

Sep 25, 2009 at 08:08 AM

Mike Mahoney
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p.1 #9 · A Little 24-70L Love

Yep .. solid lens. Not spectacular, but it does a lot of things right.

Sep 25, 2009 at 11:02 AM

SKumar25
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p.1 #10 · A Little 24-70L Love

trumpet_guy, those are superb, well done!!

Sep 25, 2009 at 11:11 AM

PierreB
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p.1 #11 · A Little 24-70L Love

After two duds, my third 24-70 is a beauty.

Sep 25, 2009 at 11:11 AM

Will Patterson
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p.1 #12 · A Little 24-70L Love

I've had a few of those lenses but I'm trying a Tamron 28-75 now. Nice lens at 1/3 the price.

Sep 25, 2009 at 11:32 AM

johntodd
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p.1 #13 · A Little 24-70L Love

trumpet_guy wrote:
The bride is 49, by the way. Quite amazing skin.

Certainly, the guy in the middle of the second shot is impressed :-)

Sep 25, 2009 at 11:38 AM

Daan B
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p.1 #14 · A Little 24-70L Love

trumpet_guy wrote:
The reception was in an art gallery. Black ceiling + red walls = no bounce flash.

BTW What is the Nikon-shooter doing in the last shot... bouncing perhaps

Sep 25, 2009 at 12:24 PM

SkankPile
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p.1 #15 · A Little 24-70L Love

Just sent mine back to canon for the 2nd time. Mine is soft at 2.8 and the focus varies back-front-back through the zoom range so for me the 24-70 is always a crap shoot on the results unless you manually focus.

Your color look great in the mixed light.

Sep 25, 2009 at 12:30 PM

Sam tran
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p.1 #16 · A Little 24-70L Love

After sending my 24-70 back to Canon for calibrate, I will keep this lens for life...well, until the 24-70mm MKII came out (with less weight, IS and f/1.4 - pushing my luck here

)

Sam

Sep 25, 2009 at 12:51 PM

NinaS
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p.1 #17 · A Little 24-70L Love

yep, it and the 70-200 f/2.8L are the only two lineses with a home in my main camera bag ... love the 24-70 for everything I've used it for

Sep 25, 2009 at 01:35 PM

jrscls
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p.1 #18 · A Little 24-70L Love

Nicely done. Are these on FF or crop?

Sep 25, 2009 at 02:15 PM

mfoto
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p.1 #19 · A Little 24-70L Love

I've flirted with the idea of getting this lens for a long time but so far I have favoured the the 16-35L / 85L combination. I fill the gap with plastic fantastic, which only sometimes is fantastic if you ask me. I am looking to close the gap with a 50 1.2L one day. I know it does not replace the flexibility of the zoom but each our own way.

Sep 25, 2009 at 03:42 PM

garyvot
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p.1 #20 · A Little 24-70L Love

Trumpet_guy, those are great... nice work! I too adore the results produced by this lens on full frame; only wish it were lighter and smaller.

Daan B wrote:
I only wish that it was a little sharper wide open at both ends of the zoom range. Between 28-60mm it is tack sharp at f/2.8 tough.

The lens should not really be soft at any focal length. Have you had Canon look at it?

FYI, there was a thread posted in the last couple weeks from someone who had Canon work on his 24-70 and they explained to him why the lens goes soft; internal zoom sleeves can wear out, causing shift in element alignment.

Here's an example at 70mm wide open (ISO 1600 on the 5D Classic)... fine detail still holds up despite the high ISO and hand held situation:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Sep 25, 2009 at 04:05 PM

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