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musicjohn
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Registered: Sep 14, 2005
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Nov 16, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great lens. Very sharp, even at f/4
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Cons:
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None
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I've owned this lens now for a month, and I have never seen such sharp pictures come rolling out of my memorycards.
The Image Stabiliser is a great feature when lighting conditions are far from optimal.
The lens isn't cheap, but definately worth every penny. Works very well on my EOS 350D
For sample pictures you can look at my homepage:
www.johnenarie.com
and click on the button "Foto's" or Fotoshows" on the left hand side menu.
I could definately recommend this lens to anyone who seeks a great, sharp, contrasty and true-color lens.
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 Nov 16, 2005
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fotografz
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Registered: Mar 11, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 217
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Review Date: Oct 30, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $985.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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The one to have if you're only having one. Smaller size is worth the penalty of f/4, but IS helps make up for even that. Close focusing ability.
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Cons:
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Distortion, but I've come to expect that from any Canon wide. A bit dimmer viewfinder due to f/4 max aperture. Still don't like the lens extending out of it's main body as you zoom.
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I got this lens primarily for general wedding photography. Combined with the 5D, it cuts down on the weight I have to carry for 7 to 10 hours at a crack. The zoom range is almost perfect, with a longer focal length the only supplemental lens needed ( or faster aperture lenses for shallower DOF ). However, I've been mildly impressed with the DOF of this lens at 105 because you can get in pretty tight on the subject.
I'm not a fan of zooms in general, but I am of this one for the practical applications listed above.
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Oct 30, 2005
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paymenow
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Registered: Oct 29, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Oct 29, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,250.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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great lens that handles well, it's sharp, and has true image color.
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Cons:
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none yet
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people say, you get what you pay for..... and this is no exception. Yes, I paid a lot for this lens, but it is worth every cent. I have read many articles stating how this lens preforms in certain test(good and bad), but the bottom line......canon made a dam good lens.
If you are thinking about buying this len, go for it..... or buy a cheaper lens and correct the image in photoshop.
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Oct 29, 2005
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jan zlin
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Registered: Oct 23, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Oct 23, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Professional lens for all-around use in many situations. I LOVE the sharpens and color rendition on my images produced by this lens. Very pleased to have it on my new 5D body all the time.
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Cons:
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Any.
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Oct 23, 2005
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frenchy2
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Registered: Oct 21, 2005
Location: France
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Oct 21, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,220.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Exceptionally sharp, very good IS, nice color.
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Cons:
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Price, f/4, little soft at 105mm, did i mention price ?
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Great for the 1.6x sensor. My new walkaround lens !
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Oct 21, 2005
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Zagisis
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Registered: Mar 29, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 30
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Review Date: Oct 19, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,250.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Smaller, lightweight, quiet focus.
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Cons:
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Cost, Needs light
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After much hoopla, the Canon EF lens, 24-105mm F4L USM is available. The supplies are limited, some stores are back ordered until late November 2005.
Which much anticipation I waited to receive and try out this "walk around" lens. The features like Image Stabilizer is suppose to give the equivalent effect of a shutter three stops faster. The USM for fast, quiet focusing which it does. Manual focusing is available in autofocusing mode. Tight seals to ensure dust proof, moisture protection. All of this is already available on other Canon L lens.
This lens has been on my Canon 1D MK II for 8 days now. I like the lens, more for its size than its ability to provide sharp quality images. So far I kind would have liked this lens to have an constant aperture of 2.8. It does not do well in cloudy or darkly light subjects. The constant 4.0 opening tends to produce softer photos. The middle ranges are probably where I see better results. I write all of this with some hesitation. I am hoping with some real outdoors shooting that I will be a big fan of this lens. The quiet focusing is almost too fast. It makes it feel like the camera or lens has not reacted to the subject. Something that I have to get used to.
Having already owning the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L lens, I have to make some comparisons. Although this larger and heavier lens is more expensive, its does produce some quality photos. Being fair to the new 24-105 lens, I must give it some more time to win my confidence. As of this point I pray that my investment will pay off.
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Oct 19, 2005
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thompsonkirk
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Registered: Feb 20, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 286
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Review Date: Oct 17, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Portable, compared to 24-70L
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Cons:
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Substantial barrel & pincussion distortion; soft corners at 24-28mm. Full-frame sensor really taxes the lenses! Makes me think 1.3 sensor, not FF, is ideal.
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I was pleased with resolution & contrast, but barrel distortion at WA & pincushion above 50mm are pretty serious. I tried PSCS Lens Correction & Panotools LensFix - more control & better results with the latter. The problem is that lens correction tools & WA corner softness interact - lens correction tools can create a further 'smearing' of already-soft corners. PhotoKit Capture Sharpener can help considerably with this.
IMO the real advantge of this lens is its compactness & weight. 24-70 yields better corner sharpness & less distortion.
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Oct 17, 2005
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dennyg
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Registered: Apr 19, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 63
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Review Date: Oct 17, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,300.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Solid, positive operation. Excellent IS (best I've used in the Canon IS line). Sharp. Fast AF.
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Cons:
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Outside of price, none come to mind.
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Although I've only had the opportunity to use it with my 20D, I'm very impressed with the lens. Light, compact, sharp and I especially like the new IS, it is faster locking and more effective than my older IS lenses. For me, it makes a great package with the 20D.
I hope to get a chance to give it a good workout this week with my 1DsMK2 and see if it functions as well there. But I'm certain it will.
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Oct 17, 2005
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sprocket01
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Registered: Jul 19, 2005
Location: Denmark
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Oct 15, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,250.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Great IS, a good range, fairly lightweight, very sharp, good contrast,perfect walk around lens.
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Cons:
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the price. But hey, you gotta pay up to get first in line for this great lens
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I have only had the lens for about a week, and so far I'm more then happy. To be honest I'm ecstatic about image quality the lens makes. I haven't been able to test it thoroughly yet, but what I have seen so far makes it a sure winner in my eyes. even considering the hefty pricetag. And I have not noticed any softness at any focallength og apertures, not even at 105mm f/4. Perhaps I just got lucky and got perfect copy of this lens. But a lot of other peoply seams to be happy about this lens too. And IS works like a charm as well. So if you got the money to spend, I can highly recommend this lens any day of the week.
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Oct 15, 2005
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Fred Bopp
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Registered: Jan 2, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 199
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Review Date: Oct 15, 2005
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Recommend? |
Price paid: $1,200.00
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Pros:
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Size, build & color. IS works well
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Cons:
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Overpriced @ $1200 should be about $900USD Lens is too slow @ f4.0
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Recommended for casual walkabout use where there is good light. The lens is sharp and has good contrast. Works well on all my Canon EOS DSLR's. On 5D with FF it does have some easy to correct vignetting.
I use my 24-70 for event work as it is a faster lens and this makes a difference in my type of work.
If I had to choose between the 24-105 and the 24-70 I would take the 24-70 hands down. It is just a far better lens and worth it's cost. The 24-105, IMHO, is not worth the price to me.
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Oct 15, 2005
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Fred Bopp
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Registered: Jan 2, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 199
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Review Date: Oct 15, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Size and build. Sharp. Black color
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Cons:
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Overpriced. Should be about $900USD Too slow @ f4.0
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I recommend this lens with reservations:
Good for shooting in daylight for panoramas and as a walkabout lens when traveling.
Not good for any low light shooting like indoor events where flash is prohibited. It is just not fast enough.
Tried it on my 1D Mk2 and 5D with good results within the ability of the lens. If you are going to use it for general shooting with good light you will get very good results. If I had to choose between my 24-70 2.8 and the 24-105 4.0 I would take the 24-70 hands down.
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Oct 15, 2005
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akivisuals
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Nov 11, 2003
Location: United States
Posts: 1793
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Review Date: Oct 12, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Light weight, range, sharpness, contrast, color, IS!
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Cons:
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Price, f4
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After buying two 24-70L's and one 28-70L I finally tried this new 24-105L IS to try to supplant my trusty Tamron 28-75 f2.8 XR Di. I think I've finally found a lens that can do that. My little Tammy was sharper than all 3 of my Canon L zooms but after doing a quick little comparison with the new 24-105L I've found a new winner! I'm REALLY excited because I really wanted a lens that has IS, quick Canon USM focusing and L-quality glass to replace the Tamron. Don't get me wrong, the Tamron is a great little lens and extremely sharp, but I really wanted IS and better focus speed. The range is also much more versatile and the lens is much lighter than the 24-70L which I traded away to get this lens. I'll miss the extra stop but the 3 extra stops of handholdability are well worth it IMHO.
What I noticed in my comparison is that the Tamron almost always exposes at 1/3rd stop faster than the Canon choices. I don't know why that is, but it just does. Also, the Tamron has a slightly warmer color balance. The contrast of the Canon is better and the color is also much better straight out of the camera IMHO. I'm incredibly happy that I found this lens! It's going to be on my walkabout camera 90% of the time as my Tamron was, but will get more use with the IS and added range. Now the gap between my 10-22 and 24-105 is a meager 2mm vs 4mm. And the overlap for long lenses is 35mm instead of 5mm.
In my 3 years on this board I've never posted a review here before, but I was so pleased by this Canon offering that I felt it to be my obligation to post these thoughts here! Get one.
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Oct 12, 2005
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tanglefoot47
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Registered: Oct 12, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 14725
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Review Date: Oct 12, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,099.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Light weight, IS, great color and contrast, well built. This lens will become my favorite walk around lens. I sold my 24-70 2.8 with great regret but after using it I am very happy.
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Cons:
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COST
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Oct 12, 2005
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Jiggytrav
Offline
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Registered: Sep 1, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12
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Review Date: Oct 11, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Very sharp from 24-70mm wide open
Image Stabilization works as advertised (up to 3 stops)
Great range on FF, decent range on 1.6x crop
Excellent build quality, as expected from an "L"
It's a great "walk-around" lens
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Cons:
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Slightly soft from 80-105mm wide open, better stopped down a bit
Expensive
Some barrel distortion/pincushion
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While I could easily sugarcoat my review and say this lens is the greatest thing since sliced bread, it wouldn't be fair to those seeking an honest evaluation. Instead, I'd like to point out its strengths and weaknesses based on usage with the Canon 20D:
THE GOOD:
1) WIDE OPEN (24-70mm). Wide open (F4) performance is great at 24-70mm. At this range, the lens really excels in sharpness and detail. I would be so bold as to say the sharpness of the 24-105 wide open at F4 rivals my 35 F1.4L stopped down to F4 - it's that good. The sweet spot seems to be between 35-55mm (perhaps with sharpness peaking at 50mm). Also, corner sharpness on the 20D (as expected) is very good.
2) RANGE and IMAGE STABILIZATION. On a FF camera, the range would be perfect, though it's still very useful on a 20D if you have a wider lens to supplement it. I have the Tokina 12-24 F4 to go along with this, and I think they will be a great combination. That said, the range at 1.6x will be sufficient for 90% of the shots I take. The IS is no surprise really, it works as advertised and will come in handy quite often.... though not for shots of my kids! ;-)
3) CA/PF. Surprisingly, CA/PF seems to be VERY rare - and I have looked for it in all of my shots. You won't see any of that nasty stuff you see on some lenses with wider apertures (my 35L has some heavy CA at F1.4-2 for example). I would not be afraid of using this lens wide open at any time because of concern for CA.
4) BUILD QUALITY. Build quality is excellent, as you would expect from an "L" at this price point. The zoom is just right - not too stiff (it was a little stiff at first), not too loose to cause zoom creep. The lens is hefty, but not too heavy for a "walkaround" lens. I'm hoping to use this lens for years to come, and there is no indication that it won't last for years. The lens comes with a hood and pouch. I'm also using a multicoated UV filter for protection.
5) COLOR/CONTRAST. Obviously this is something that is subjective and can always be corrected in post-processing, but this lens gives some very good results straight out of the camera. Though I don't always agree that the difference is major, I have to admit that the "L" lenses do have an edge here.
THE BAD:
1) WIDE OPEN (80-105mm). I have noticed some softeness with this lens wide open at longer focal lengths (105mm in particular). It's not unusable by any means, but definitely not as sharp as the shorter range. Stopping down the lens improves the sharpenss a great deal, however.
2) DISTORTION. As many other reviews have noted, there is some barrel and pincushion distortion. This may be a concern for those who shoot architecture or subjects with important lines, but it will not be a concern for most shots. I have not done any tests to measure the distortion, but I thought I'd mention it because it seems to be a bit more than the 24-70 F2.8.
3) PRICE. $1100-1250 is a lot of money for a lens, and I would hope the price comes down a bit after us "early-adopters" snatch up the early shipments. However, with a contrant F4, a decent zoom range, IS, and L quality, its worth seems to be significant.
OVERALL: With a great range, excellent build, useful IS, and exceptional optics (especially in the 24-70 range), this lens is a real winner. It will certainly be used on my 20D more often than not.
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Oct 11, 2005
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james lander
Offline
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Registered: Aug 26, 2003
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3
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Review Date: Oct 9, 2005
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Good size and weight. Resolution as good wide open as stopped down to F8. Ideal partner for IDS Mk ii.
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Cons:
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CA at 24mm at extreme edge with a full frame camera, not improved by stopping down.
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A bargain when compared to the 24-70. A plaeasure to use.
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Oct 9, 2005
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jonbrach
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Registered: Dec 22, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 895
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Review Date: Oct 7, 2005
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Recommend? |
Price paid: $1,249.00
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Pros:
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sharpness,reach,build quality,IS
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Cons:
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none so far
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im impressed...the lens is as sharp as my good copy of the 24-70 2.8 with additional reach and an incredibly effective IS...in fact,the IS works so well that it will be difficult for me to shoot with my other non-IS L len's.i see this lens spending alot of time on my 20d
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Oct 7, 2005
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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509
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861020
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May 10, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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86% of reviewers
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$1,518.30
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.49
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8.02
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9.0
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