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Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Canon 24-70mm F/2.8 L is a Keeper

Now that I've had a couple of days to play with my new (actually used but new to me) Canon 24-70mm lens I can say I am glad I bought it. This is exactly what the hype is all about.





My first shots of our new born child confirmed this lens is sharp, even wide open. Obviously stopping the lens down will give sharper images, but I am fine shooting at 2.8. This is a big improvement over my Tamron 17-50mm F/2.8 VC lens. I know there is a big difference in price, but I was skeptical that the Canon images would be twice as good as those shot with the Tamron lens.

Here are the photos displayed on the video above. I realize they're not the best photos just yet. I just wanted to take some test shots. You can click on each photo to view my comments.












The final straw with the Tamron lens came when our son Presley was born the other day. I hadn't received the Canon lens yet and was stuck capturing the moment with the Tamron. The lighting was less than optimal and the lens was hunting to find the focus point.  I handed the camera over to a nurse to take a photo of me and my son and the lens never stopped hunting. She was confused and I was fuming. At that point I was better off with my camera phone.

That night the lens came. I stopped home to take a shower and pick up the lens. I drove back to take some shots of Mom and baby. There was an instant difference. Not only could I get acceptable shots at 2.8, but there were no more focus issues, just frame and shoot.

The build quality is supreme, but that can be good or bad. The good is I have no fear of bumping the lens, the bad is the lens is heavy..

The only improvement I would make on this lens is image stabalization. I tried to take a few shots in low light that required slow shutter speeds around 1/30th of a second, but I haven't had much success even zoomed out at 24mm.

24-70 or 24-105

I can sum up the debate between these two lenses with a short story. Not long ago I was in the heat of researching my next lens when I took my kids to Legoland, California. We were in line for a ride when I spotted a guy with the 24-105 hanging around his neck (obviously attached to a DSLR body). I said, "Nice lens. Do you like it over the 24-70?"

The guy responded, "The 24-70 is a nice lens".

That is all he said, but he didn't have to say any more. Clearly he had regret over not purchasing the 24-70 and experienced similar limitations I found using the 70-200mm F/4. Even with IS you still need a lot of light for and F/4 lens, and you probably need to stop down.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Why I Didn't Like the Canon 70-200mm L USM

The lens I wanted to love.

The title of this post says it all, but let me show you why I returned the lens. Perhaps I should begin with the video I posted on Youtube.



Here are the sample photos I mentioned in the video.











As a result of these findings I opted to return the Canon 70-200mm F/4 L USM lens. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to love this lens. I knew proper light was going to be an issue for this lens given the smaller aperture, but after reading reviews on Amazon I decided to give it a go.

In the end I decided to go with another strategy. I purchased the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens from Adorama. The lens will arrive December 29 and I will then compare it to my current Tamron 17-50mm f 2.8. I'm expecting the results to be strikingly different with the Canon outperforming the Tamron significantly. My full report will be updated on this blog. If everything goes well I will sell the Tamron and save up for the Canon 135mm L lens.

In closing I'm disappointed with my introduction to the L lens line. I was so excited when I researched the lens and found excellent reviews and tests shots on other sites. I spent several hours on The Digital Picture examining the ISO12233 shots and thought the lens would match the hype. I'm not sure what happened but I do know what I saw in those photos.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Help Me Pick A Lens



Here is the poll.

Which lens should I buy?
 Canon 70-200mm L f/2.8 USM ($1,300)
 Canon 70-200mm L f/4 IS USM ($1,100)
 Canon 135mm L f/2 USM ($1,000)
 Canon 70-200 f/4 USM ($600)
 Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM



  
pollcode.com free polls 

Update - As of this date I haven't picked any of these lenses. I sold my other lenses except for the 50mm 1.8 and found a used 24-70mm 2.8 lens from Adorama. I've been in love since, although I frequently yearn for a longer focal length. Perhaps one day I will buy one, but not until I buy the new Canon 600 flash.

Please feel free to provide any comments that support your choice from the list above, or provide another choice not listed.