Tag Archives: f/4

Equipment

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L II vs. 24-70mm f/4L IS vs. 24-105mm f/4 L IS (and more?)

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Anyone who spends any time in photography forums discussing Canon lenses has seen this topic come up regularly: the comparisons between the 24-70 and 24-105mm L zoom options. If you follow this subject you are familiar with posts asking which of these lenses is “best” or claiming that one or another is great and the others are poor, and with the ensuing debates. Rather than re-writing what I have to say about this every time the subject comes up, I thought I would post once here and then link back to this article.

(Update 1/4/13: Things have changed in significant ways since I first posted this review back in 2011 – primarily with the introduction of two newer Canon 24-70mm L zooms. I have made a few updates to this post to reflect those changes. I have now had the opportunity to use the updated Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens. It is also a very fine lens and a great performer. In addition, there is now a Canon EF 24-70mm f/4.0L IS USM lens as well, and the Canon 24-105mm f/4L F/4.0L IS lens is still available. Canon shooters have an over-abundance of good lenses that cover the 24mm to whatever-mm focal length range at this point. All three of these current lenses are excellent options and the functional differences among them now are the primary basis for selecting one over the others. If you need f/2.8 and are OK with a smaller focal length range and not having IS, the 24-70mm f/2.8 could well be your choice. If you can get along without f/2.8, are OK with the smaller focal length range, would like IS, can make use of semi-macro capabilities and want a smaller lens, then the 24-70mm f/4 IS lens can be a great option. If you don’t need f/2.8,  but do value image stabilization and a significantly larger focal length range, the 24-105 is a wonderful choice. )

(Update 1/8/15: And now there is yet another lens in this general category from Canon, the EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens. I have incorporated some information about this option below.)

Continue reading Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L II vs. 24-70mm f/4L IS vs. 24-105mm f/4 L IS (and more?) →

Commentary, Equipment

New Canon Instant Rebates on Lenses

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It looks like new rebates are available on Canon lenses, at least via B&H Photo/Video. Given the recent increases in Canon lens list prices, this may be a good opportunity to save some money on that lens you have been waiting for. The list of eligible lenses includes some very popular ones.

If you are ready to spend over $5000 on a 200mm f/2 lens (!) you can save $500. Many other lenses offer instant rebates in the $100-$150 range with some less-expensive lenses offering smaller rebates. Lenses available under this offer include:

Equipment

Resisting Temptation: Canon 5D2

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I shoot with a Canon 5D. It is a really fine camera for my purposes, and after a couple of years of fairly substantial usage it is still working quite well.

Canon recently introduced the 5D2, which appears to be a very fine upgrade to the 5D line in pretty much every important way that we could expect in a camera sold at this price point: 21 MP sensor, a high quality video mode, dust reduction features, bigger and better monitor, and so on.

I’ll almost certainly get one… in due time. I resolved to not be an early adopter of the new camera, for several reasons. Early adopters typically pay list price of more for their cameras. To the extent that some glitches are not always discovered in pre-release testing, it is not uncommon for the first production run to have a few “issues.” And, most important, my current camera works really, really well. The 5D2 could, indeed, be “better” in some ways, but not so much better that I must rush out and replace it immediately.

But now that the 5D2 seems to be reaching the retailers in larger numbers, I’m starting to see interesting deals. For example I saw a couple for $2700 that included immediate availability and free shipping. I saw another legitimate price that was even lower. There have been a couple of deals on the 5D2 bundled with the EF 24-105mm f/4 L. (Those won’t appeal to me since I already own that lens.)

Note to self: Be strong, Dan. :-)

If  you are ready to buy your 5D2, you can purchase this product from B&H Photo via this link and help support this web site – thanks!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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Equipment, Tests

An Example of Corner Performance on the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS

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Sample24105f16Corner.jpg
I’m taking the opportunity to use the photograph I posted earlier today to illustrate a couple of technical points about equipment and technique. Here is a 100% magnification 400 x 400 pixel crop from the far upper corner of the photograph.

Not much to look at, but that isn’t the point. At this resolution, you are looking at what would be a small section from a print that is four or five feet wide. Before I explain why I think this is important, some technical information about the image: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS, 2.5 second exposure, f/16, focus point was on the foreground tree seen in the full image (e.g. – perhaps 50 feet closer than the subject of this test image), IS disabled, tripod, mirror lockup, remote release.

Some doubt the ability of this particular lens to produce sharp images. This sample challenges lens performance in a number of ways: it is a very low contrast image, the crop is from the far corner of the frame, the crop is not in the focus plane of the photograph, at f/16 the effects of diffraction blur should be just visible at this magnification.

With all of that context in mind, this cropped sample represents quite good performance. This section of the image would be very sharp, indeed, in a print at 16″ x 24″.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.