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Jia Wang
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Registered: Apr 3, 2005
Location: Singapore
Posts: 120
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Review Date: May 17, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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- Beautiful bokeh
- Responsive and fast AF
- Solid built
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Cons:
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- Weight
- Extending barrel
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Finally got my copy of this lens after a 3 years long wait (to save up as well as improve my photography skills to justify this super lens)...
I must say that in today's world of DSLR and 1.3-1.6x crop factor bodies, 24mm is hardly wide enough... But what I was looking for was a zoom to plug the gap between my EF17-40.. f4L and Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lenses... Been doing without it for many years, mainly because I uses my 50mm f1.4 to fill in the gap...
Was toying with the idea of getting a 24-105mm f4L too, but figured that I would rather have the wider aperture than the stretch of the focal length and IS...
Optics-wise, I'm more than happy with the quality and the bokeh is extremely smooth... Probably due to the circular blade apertures of this lens...
I did a short test-shoot with this lens at a shopping mall and boy this lens rocks!
http://www.pbase.com/jiawang/vivo_2470_test
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 May 17, 2007
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JohnnyCat
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Registered: May 9, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 0
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Review Date: May 14, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Good Color
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Cons:
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Not Sharp out of the Box
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My experience with 3 Canon L lenses is that they are not sharp out of the box. All 3 L lenses I have owned had to be sent back to the factory in California for calibration. After 70-200 L 2.8 IS USM was returned it blew me away beyond my expectations. Didn't realize a lense could be so sharp. 24-105 F4 just too slow, not sure I would recommend this lense. I sold it. However, the 24-70 L USM is just right. Especially on a 5D. I'm an amateur but the difference of the L lenses on a 5D is considerable. I'm always shocked at how good some pictures come out on the 5D without always trying. However 20D/24-70 L 2.8 also rates as a good combination; If your considering moving up try this combo, you won't be dissapointed, that is after Canon "adjusts" your lense for a "second time." PJP
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May 14, 2007
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Pablo Vicente
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Registered: Apr 24, 2007
Location: Belgium
Posts: 160
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Review Date: Apr 29, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Fast and reliable focus, 2.8 @ 3200 ISO leaves the tripod home when needed, good hood for sun and shock protection, so sharp I don't always need the normally obliged unsharp mask, details in pixels, nice constrast
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Cons:
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expensive price, weight requires steady hands, attracts bystanders
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Having used this lens in fashion, street, event and nature photography it is what stays on the camera as standard.Requires steady hands and you won't need to work out your arms a lot when using this with a cam+ grip + speedlite unit.Difference with standard lenses is obvious at 100 per cent.The 28-105 USM II does perfom very well and costs 1/4 the price.What to choose ? Depends on your return-on-investment plans and the need of a fast lens.
I have shot concerts @ 5.6 , but L @ 2.8 really makes a difference.I would not recommend it to a person new to photography because of the high price better invested in prints and studying ( I started with 100 dollar lenses ) , but rather to someone who already knows what he/she is doing and wants to climb up.
Most studio portraits on my site are done with this lens.For extreme close ups I like to use the 700-200 2.8 and the 100 2.8 macro.
greetings,
Pablo
www.PabloVicente.com
www.digitalpixels.net
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Apr 29, 2007
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retrofocus
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Registered: Apr 19, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 2394
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Review Date: Apr 19, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,154.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Well built lens. Constant max. aperture f2.8 between 24-70mm. Fast autofocus. Excellent optical quality. Very good color reproduction and nearly perfect contrast.
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Cons:
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None
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I bought this lens as addition to my Canon 100-400mm L lens and the Sigma 10-20mm lens. Since I use a D-SLR with a crop factor of 1.6, the efficient focal length of this lens is 38-112mm. It is a fast lens, nicely applicable for some close-up and portrait photographies. The autofocus with a silent USM drive is fast and reliable. The front lens does not move when focusing. It also allows to manually change the focus in the AF mode.
Since I already have a Sigma 10-20mm lens it did not matter to me that this Canon lens provides only a relatively small wide angle range on my Rebel XT.
This lens is heavy, but I prefer better to have an excellent buit quality with metal instead of plastic frames.
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Apr 19, 2007
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PhotoproX
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Registered: Apr 6, 2007
Location: Albania
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Apr 15, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,300.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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sharpness, contrast, flare resistance, close focusing
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Cons:
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not that fast if you´re used to prime lenses, external focusing (covered under the hood though)
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Possibly one of the best quality mid-range zooms available today with great IQ and good range from wide to light tele. This one allows both group shots and single portraits (and everything in between) in one package.
The lens is not too heavy and balances well on the 5D. At 70mm its as sharp it gets even wide open and produces pleasing bokeh. The wide end is a little worse, still on a very high level though.
Looks like I found my ideal travel and landscape lens.
Coming from Canons L primes, constant 2.8 aperture is not really fast and even the cheapo 50/1.8 beats it at 50mm. But then, the 50 sucks at every other focal length...
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Apr 15, 2007
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emandavi
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Registered: Feb 15, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 998
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Review Date: Apr 4, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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sharp 2.8 lens (isn't that why we buy it?). Great as an all around lens, especially on a 1.6 factor camera. With this lens on a 1Ds MII, and a 70-200 2.8 L IS on my 20D, I don't ever have to change lenses.
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Cons:
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When using Full frame camera, 70mm just isn't enough sometimes, and I hate to be switching lenses in the middle of an event, so I have 2 cameras on me.
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Poor price, since Tamron does something comparable for under $400. This lens is beautiful for head and shoulder shots on a 1.6 crop camera. I was able to buy a used 28-75mm lens (Tamron) 4 days after buying this lens, and it beats the Tamron, no contest. But if I was able to buy the Tamron prior to spending money on this lens, I wouldn't be writing this review. The Tamron isn't as sharp at 2.8, and the focus isn't as dependable, but you can get some real winning photos with the Tamron lens if you're not going to blow the prints up larger than 11x14. I'm speaking of shots taken at the 2.8 aperture of course (why else would we spend the money if it wasn't for the 2.8?)?
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Apr 4, 2007
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Aryo
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Registered: Nov 13, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 15
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Review Date: Mar 29, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Excellent image quality/build.
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Cons:
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None.
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Honestly, I've been too busy actually using the lens to post a review. For what I shoot, this is an excellent choice for the sharpness and clarity. The focusing is quick and silent. This lens is the workhorse of my setup because it's so versatile. The construction is quite sturdy and with proper care will last for a long time. If you're looking to cover a broad range without spending a lot on numerous lenses, this is a good start (followed by the 70-200mm L [all are good]).
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Mar 29, 2007
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kenscott
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Sep 16, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 11
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Review Date: Mar 21, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,219.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great range, sharp and fast.
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Cons:
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heavy
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I bought this lens from Calumet photo the week of March 12th 2007 and I have noticed a few things that Canon updated silently. I noticed that the AF switch is different from other versions that I have seen. I also noticed that the Zoom internals are different. The lens used to zoom out slightly after you hit 50mm on the way to 70mm. With my 24-70 it goes from full-out at 24mm to full-in at 70mm. On the older versions you had to get it to 50mm to be as short as possible to pack it away. I feel that the zoom is more dampened in a nice way. I think that they changed the zooming internal workings of the lens. The other versions that I have used have slipped around a little too much. Doing a test VS my canon 50mm 1.4 at 2.8 the prime 50mm is only slightly sharper than this zoom. I really enjoy this lens.
Enjoy,
Ken
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Mar 21, 2007
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aeubank
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Feb 20, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 608
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Review Date: Mar 20, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Beautiful bokeh, good light and vignette control. Very sharp. A must-have for a serious photographer. If you whip this baby out, you'd better know how to take pictures.
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Cons:
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Attracts quite a bit of attention (not that that's a bad thing).
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This lens is a must-have for any serious photographer. I've had mine for some time and I love the fact that this lens always delivers. Others have stated that they have received a soft copy, but mine is definitely sharp at all focal lengths.
I chose this lens over the 24-105 f4 mainly because I know and appreciate the value of having that additional stop that this lens allows at f2.8 which is twice the light over the f4 model. Even without IS this lens delivers big results. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for. Build quality is superb and will probably last many years to come. When you have this lens on your camera, people know you mean business. It seems to attract attention everywhere it goes.
Some have complained about the weight of the lens, but it feels just right for me. Overall, you can't go wrong with this lens. Rock solid Canon reliability and quality.
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Mar 20, 2007
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Julius
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Jan 26, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 865
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Review Date: Mar 16, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,079.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent built, fast focusing, very sharp at every aperture focal length.
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Cons:
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Heavy lens with an oversized hood, but the hood is very effectice.
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I have seen many different opinions about this lens however mostly positive but apparently some sample variations do exist.
I must be one of the lucky ones since my copy is nothing short of outstanding in every respect on my 5D FF camera. It is very sharp even at the maximum aperture (wide open) with very good contrast and edge to edge sharpness at every marked focal length. I also have the 24-105L IS lens which is an excellent walk around lens but does not have the same edge to edge uniform sharpnes what this lens has. It is very comparable (if not even better) at the center of the field but sharpness falls off slightly towards the edges. Comes very close at f/11.0 but still not the same. So when it comes to serious landscape photography using tripod, this is the lens I can depend on.
To me it equals sharpness and contrast with any fixed focus length lens and the slightly hevier distortion is easily corrected in PS with the PT lens plugin.
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Mar 16, 2007
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recordproducti
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Registered: Jul 11, 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 176
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Review Date: Mar 14, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Crisp, sharp and accurate. Very good colours. A great partner to a FF sensor.
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Cons:
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Quite heavy makes my 5D feel like I need to get the battery grip.
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I bought mine just a week after buying a 16-35L and feel spoiled for choice as both complement each other very well.
On my first family outing with the 24-70L I snapped away trying the lens out at a range of apertures and got home expecting that just a few would be any good. All bar a few were keepers and that was a surprise. I've since used this on a good number of shoots and feel very confident in using it in low light wide open. Wide open it's quite sharp but at around f/4 on my copy I felt it was running close to my 100mm f/2.8 macro.
I had been drawn to the 24-105L IS but as welcome the IS would have been I needed to be able to suck in more light and have a pretty distortion free wide angle for the times that my 16-35L was at home and when flare could be a problem this seems more controlled that the 16-35L but naturally it's not anywhere as wide.
My 50mm f.1.4 is a very good copy and so was expecting that this lens would not match it but I suspect that except for the very low light situations I'll not be using that so much. The 24-70L seems much faster to focus and it's bang on, silent and an excellent performer.
The big worry from reading forums was the apparent QC issues so was almost expecting to have to take it back to get another copy. I need not have worried. Yes, mine may not be as good as some others, I've not been able to compare yet, but using the 100mm macro as a datum it's looking excellent to me.
A big thumbs up from me!
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Mar 14, 2007
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Rahul Rangan
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Registered: Jan 8, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 134
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Review Date: Feb 27, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, almost silent and FAST AF, Excellent quality, free manual focus
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Cons:
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Weight of a small child, slightly soft wide open
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Excellent lens. I picked it up about two weeks ago (used) and have since shot about 800 images. I never want to put it down! This has quickly become my favorite all-purpose lens. I don't think I've taken it off my camera since I've gotten it (except for cleaning purposes). Highly reccommended.
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Feb 27, 2007
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bocaminus
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Registered: Apr 19, 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 486
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Review Date: Feb 25, 2007
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Recommend? |
Price paid: $1,200.00
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Pros:
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Range, built, quality
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Cons:
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Price
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This is my second review. I shoot with FF bodies and this lens remains on most of the time on my camera. After almost a year using it, I have to say this lens is one of the best zoom glass Canon ever made. I use 17-40, 70-200 f/2.8 and 16-35L but 24-70 always keeps the top spot on my list. I read many reviews in here where folks are complaining that 24-70L is not as sharp as some L primes ... that's completely normal cause I haven't seen one zoom lens that outperforms L prime.
24-70L does excellent job in low light conditions. I think it's fast, accurate and very versatile. It looks and feels very solid and durable .... built to survive WWIII.
Some recent shots I took with 24-70 ... http://senicphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/2488612#130600583
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Feb 25, 2007
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seattlesteve
Offline
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Registered: Oct 1, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 240
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Review Date: Feb 17, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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beautiful bokeh, very fast focus lock, good color/contrast, great L build quality
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Cons:
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big hood, not quite wide enough on a 1.6 body
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I've gone through several different lenses looking for the right 'walk around' lens. First was the 28-135 IS then the 17-85 IS and then the 24-70. The 24-70 was a breath of fresh air for shooting in lower light. The lens was eventually sold to purchase the outstanding 17-55 IS which was much more usable on cropped body. I would probably go back to the 24-70 if upgrading to a ff sensor.
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Feb 17, 2007
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peanuthead
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Registered: Jul 12, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 20
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Review Date: Feb 15, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,060.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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fast and accurate autofocus, sturdy build, handling, hood performance, sharp wide open
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Cons:
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Heavy, big.
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This lens replaced my 24-105mm 4L IS which I also loved. This lens is very sharp wide open at all focal lengths. Focusing is very fast and accurate as expected. There is slight distortion at 24mm, but much better than 24-105mm. I really like the build and handling. Hood design is excellent - I like the fact that it attaches to the main body rather than the zooming part - feels much more sturdy and sure.
Overall, a great serious lens that performs at the highest level in every aspect.
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Feb 15, 2007
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Jeff Beck
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Registered: Jan 5, 2007
Location: United States
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Feb 13, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,200.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Quality feel, great images, fast-spot on autofocus
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Cons:
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A little bulky and a little pricey, but well worth it in both regards
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I picked mine up a month ago from BH at the same time as my 30D, also picked up a 50 1.8 for grins. 3200 exposures later my 50 has recorded maybe 25 of them, the 28-135IS I've had for a while has become a memory.
This lens is excellent. I truly feel bad for the people who have had problems with theirs, this thing is great.
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Feb 13, 2007
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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531
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879204
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Mar 22, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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89% of reviewers
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$1,193.60
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.70
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8.39
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9.3
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