Impressive Features of Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Some of Customer Reviews

A superb lens, October 8, 2009
By Craig Dickson (San Mateo, CA USA)

I bought this lens to replace an old Tokina 28-70mm f/2.8 that I had been using since about 2001. The Tokina was a very good lens, but on digital cameras it had serious problems with ghosting whenever something like a light bulb or a flourescent tube was in the frame. It also had a very annoying mechanism for switching between auto-focus and manual focus that had to be worked just right or it wouldn’t let you switch.

The Canon EF 24-70mm L USM is even more of an improvement on that lens that I had expected. Not only does it extend down to 24mm, focus faster, control flare and ghosting much better, and implement manual-focus sensibly (including, like all ring-USM Canon lenses, the ability to adjust focus manually even in auto-focus mode), but it’s much sharper. I had no idea how sharp a zoom lens could be until I bought this lens! It is just a bit soft wide open at the long end of its range, but from 24-50mm or so it’s quite sharp even at f/2.8, improving to stunningly sharp by f/5.6. Softness creeps in again at about f/11 due to diffraction limiting, but that’s a natural optical restriction, not a flaw in the lens.

Ergonomically, the lens is excellent. The zoom and focus rings are well-placed and move easily, with a comfortable level of resistance. It is a fairly large, heavy lens, but typically so for Canon L-series lenses, and not much more so than the Tokina that it replaced in my setup. I don’t find it uncomfortable to hold, but I do tend to keep my left hand under it for extra support when in use.

Aside from the minor softness at the long end that I mentioned above, the only significant negative of this lens is the lack of image stabilization (IS), which would come in handy in low light situations.

One interesting property of the EF 24-70mm is that it reverse-extends when zooming — that is, the inner barrel is extended more at the shorter focal lengths, and fully retracted at 70mm. This seems counter-intuitive until you notice how this interacts with the lens hood, which is mounted on the outer barrel and so does not move with the inner barrel. The EF 24-70mm has a much deeper hood than I have seen on other standard-range zooms, and the extension of the barrel at shorter focal lengths means that the hood optimally covers the lens at all focal lengths. At 70mm, the lens is fully retracted, so the hood provides an appropriately narrow field of view; at 24mm, the lens is maximally extended, and the hood provides correspondingly less coverage.

To sum up, the EF 24-70mm L USM is an excellent lens, fully worthy of the L-series designation. The only improvements I would hope for in a future update would be IS and a little more sharpness at wide apertures near 70mm. Until that lens comes into being, I’ll happily continue using this one.

This Lens Is Nuts, November 2, 2009
By PD (Heartland)

It seems ludicrous to “review” this lens as if it has to live up to some standard. It IS the standard, this thing rivals prime lenses in all aspects. I shoot a 5D Mark II and own several L lenses, all f2.8, and this 24-70mm is best in class image quality-wise. I’ve had it for a week and from day one I marveled at the image detail and contrast (and the bokeh that stays smooth up to f5.6!). Don’t toy with the 24-105mm, the f/4 series of lenses is very good, but they’re not WHOA. Buy up to the 24-70mm and have that WHOA back in your images.

I’m posting this review on several sites. I researched this lens vs the 24-105mm vs the Tamron 28-75mm for months, and now I’m 100% satisfied I spent the money. Besides image quality, it’s built like a tank (weighs almost as much!), and the hood design is brilliant with the way it deals with 24mm and still provides full coverage at 70mm. Please, just use the hood for protection and don’t put a $20 UV filter over this superb piece of glass. Put that $20 towards a good circular polarizer…

Well?? Stop reading this review and get the sale going already!

Buy It or see complete Features and Reviews Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

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