Sneakyracer wrote:Maybe the copy I used wasnt great. But it was quite bad at 24mm (sharpness, resolution and vignetting) and although it improved a lot by 40mm resolution isnt great away from the center no matter the setting. In the studio I shoot mostly products. I use either the old 50 f2.5 macro or the 100 macro (non-L) at f8~f11. I had the old 24-70 for a while but it was just too heavy for travel and although I used it in the studio a bit with good results I sold it a few years back and no regrets. The new 24-70L IS presents a nice alternative in that focal range due to its versatility.


Well, if you compare it to a macro prime...

Ralph Conway wrote:
It will be € 1449 here in germany including 19% VAT. That is 1555,42 in $ without taxes, $ 1851 tax included. Why the hell is this gear here so much more expensive than in the USA?

Ralph, aren't you the one that just lectured us on whining about prices. If you have to whine about the price, the lens is not for you...right?

J.D. wrote:
Sneakyracer wrote:Maybe the copy I used wasnt great. But it was quite bad at 24mm (sharpness, resolution and vignetting) and although it improved a lot by 40mm resolution isnt great away from the center no matter the setting. In the studio I shoot mostly products. I use either the old 50 f2.5 macro or the 100 macro (non-L) at f8~f11. I had the old 24-70 for a while but it was just too heavy for travel and although I used it in the studio a bit with good results I sold it a few years back and no regrets. The new 24-70L IS presents a nice alternative in that focal range due to its versatility.


Well, if you compare it to a macro prime...


Well yeah, but Im also really comparing to the old 24-70 I also used.

I am a big fan of the 24-70/70-200 combination so i guess this makes for a really nice F4 setup i.e 24-70 F4LIS and 70-200 F4LIS will be such a great setup. Likewise for those who need the extra stop there is always the option of the 2.8 versions. Still a little surprising the 24-70 2.8L MKII does not have IS. I am glad i picked up my 24-70 2.8L MKI when i did because the prices of canons recent upgrades put them out of my price bracket.

DavidP wrote: And then there's the fact that the IS only handles movement in TWO dimensions . . NOT the third one (towards and away from the subject). Movement in THAT direction (at distances used in macro mode) would be far more devastating than movements in the other two directions.

Should AI-servo focus not take care of that?

Anwyay, I agree, altogether there will not be enough EOSfun in the 24-70L/4.0L IS lens for me. I'll keep the 2.8 version.

chez wrote:
Ralph Conway wrote:
It will be € 1449 here in germany including 19% VAT. That is 1555,42 in $ without taxes, $ 1851 tax included. Why the hell is this gear here so much more expensive than in the USA?

Ralph, aren't you the one that just lectured us on whining about prices. If you have to whine about the price, the lens is not for you...right?

Hello chez,

first I did not lecture anybody. Second: It was not mentioned as "whining". What do you think, why I set this ironic (to me) smiley?

I replaced my Ds1 mkII and older lens with a 5D mkIII at the same time I bought the new 24-70 mkII. Cost for cost I've spent less and gained more with an upgrade to technological low light photography I was unable to get before without using flash, but am at the extremes of latitude. Its looking like two lenses that will both deliver similar goods. Back in the days of film F4 was liveable with for a zoom, compensating for the dullness in low light by buying extra bright third party screens for my Olympus system. If the two lenses are pretty much like for like in image quality right now it ends as an age thing if I was 25 I would get the F4!

eosfun wrote:
DavidP wrote: And then there's the fact that the IS only handles movement in TWO dimensions . . NOT the third one (towards and away from the subject). Movement in THAT direction (at distances used in macro mode) would be far more devastating than movements in the other two directions.

Should AI-servo focus not take care of that?

Anwyay, I agree, altogether there will not be enough EOSfun in the 24-70L/4.0L IS lens for me. I'll keep the 2.8 version.

+1
I am hoping Canon will release a new ultra wide angle zoom with improved optics. I would not mind a 14-24mm or 16-35 III

I honestly don't understand why some people are whining in this thread. If the new 24-70mm f/4 L IS lens performs very well optically, then I'm sure the price tag can be justified. I much rather have Canon spend the R&D and develop something that is truly spectacular to justify the price tag rather than give a half-heart effort to target a specific price point. If some of you guys can't justify spending that much money on a f/4 lens, then don't. It's simple and I'm sure market forces will eventually help determine what is the right price for this lens.

For me, I'm really excited about this lens as a potential complement to the 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens. It'll be an awesome travel combination with either the 6D or the 5D MK 3.

Fred Miranda wrote:
eosfun wrote:
DavidP wrote: And then there's the fact that the IS only handles movement in TWO dimensions . . NOT the third one (towards and away from the subject). Movement in THAT direction (at distances used in macro mode) would be far more devastating than movements in the other two directions.

Should AI-servo focus not take care of that?

Anwyay, I agree, altogether there will not be enough EOSfun in the 24-70L/4.0L IS lens for me. I'll keep the 2.8 version.

+1
I am hoping Canon will release a new ultra wide angle zoom with improved optics. I would not mind a 14-24mm or 16-35 III

14-24mm would be very nice since there will be no overlap with the 24-70mm lenses.

and still no updated 50mm 1.4, for goodness sakes canon....

eosfun Wrote:
The latest introductions Canon made make other systems, like Sony's look small. Canon does offer a system that gives the enthusiast photographer and professional the ability to cherrypick and build a personal system setup like no other imaging company. They offer zoomlens ranges, primes, with and without IS, special feature lenses (Tilt and Shift, Softfocus, macro head lenses, etc.) like no other company. Their price policy makes it clear that they want us to know that you are buying the best quality. Building a coherent and adequate photographic system has become a puzzle like choosing a cellphone and the right subscription As we all know, that is no EOSfun.

Anyway, this is without a doubt the philosophy behind Canon latest introductions. I guess we are going to see some more unexpected, and to my taste underwhelming, news the next year. I am not sure if Canon is on the right track though. The market is moving rapidly away from the traditional D-SLR and Canon should bring more convincing products with an innovative character.

+1

Beni wrote:
and still no updated 50mm 1.4, for goodness sakes canon....

I've got the intuition a new 50 is coming very soon. I'm ready to bet it's going to be announced during the upcoming year.

Although, I'm also ready to bet it isn't going to be a f1.4, for several reasons. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be a 50 f1.8 or f2 IS USM.

Well it looks like Canon is finally getting around to replacing the ancient clunkers, many of which go back to the early to mid 90's and they have all been released with IS. So we can expect the replacement for the plastic (not-so) fantastic to quadruple at least, although $500 for a high quality 50 f/1.8 IS would be quite reasonable. We can take it as a given a new 50 f/1.4 would be close to $1K.

lsquare wrote:
I much rather have Canon spend the R&D and develop something that is truly spectacular to justify the price tag rather than give a half-heart effort to target a specific price point.

Such as the Nikon 24-85 f/3.5-4.5 VR... an optical disappointment by today's standards and by Nikon D800/D800E standard.

I handled and was allowed to shoot (without memory card) with the new 35/2 IS yesterday at a Canon conference here in Iceland. The lens was probably a prototype since I was unable to find a serial number and it seemed like the IS button did not work. The good news is it very responsive, quick and secure focusing and the on screen image looked contrasty and sharp at f/2. It's larger than the 35/2 buzzer but still a compact lens. Would probably be considering getting it if I didn't already have Zeiss 35/2 ZE.

The 24-70/4L was smaller than I imagined, much smaller than the 24-105/4L.

Ralph Conway wrote:
It will be € 1449 here in germany including 19% VAT. That is 1555,42 in $ without taxes, $ 1851 tax included. Why the hell is this gear here so much more expensive than in the USA?

I can tell you why Ralph.
The US s Canons biggest market and to assist sales there Canon pushes prices up in less important sales markets.
Hence the rest of the world has and will continue to subsidize the US market prices so they can offer much lower prices than even Japan where the gear is made.
To see Americans whining about gear prices is the ultimate irony when we have been paying truckloads more for years so they get lower prices...

Are you sure about this?

There where times (the 1990s) when germany was the most important market for some electronic stuff, earning over 60% of world sales, UK about 25%. US and Japan did less then 10% only. As far I remember the stuff was cheaper in the US anyway ... (Amiga computers, of course ).

dehowie wrote:
Ralph Conway wrote:
It will be € 1449 here in germany including 19% VAT. That is 1555,42 in $ without taxes, $ 1851 tax included. Why the hell is this gear here so much more expensive than in the USA?

I can tell you why Ralph.
The US s Canons biggest market and to assist sales there Canon pushes prices up in less important sales markets.
Hence the rest of the world has and will continue to subsidize the US market prices so they can offer much lower prices than even Japan where the gear is made.
To see Americans whining about gear prices is the ultimate irony when we have been paying truckloads more for years so they get lower prices...

The EU and European market passed the USA market a few years ago. And there was a lot of threads about it here at FM when it happened.
And the prices are more about tax, VAT and value of the currency when comparing like this.
Also remember that the warranty and similar things are less good and shorter in the US compared to most other countries

Ralph Conway wrote:
It will be € 1449 here in germany including 19% VAT. That is 1555,42 in $ without taxes, $ 1851 tax included. Why the hell is this gear here so much more expensive than in the USA?

That's weird. In France it's launching at 1699 euros - roughly $2200. First time I see a major difference in price between Germany and France regarding lens prices, and interestingly, this did not affect the 35mm IS USM sold for the same price.