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.