Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Review

The EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM is surprisingly pricey ($2400) so everyone wants to know how well this lens performs (previously featured reviews here and here). Now it's slrgear's turn to review this Canon lens. Some excerpts from their test:

    • The Canon 24-70mm ƒ/2.8L II USM is one of the sharpest lenses Canon has produced
    • The Canon 24-70mm ƒ/2.8L II USM keeps chromatic aberration very well under control
    • Going from infinity to close-focus takes well less than one second, and point-to-point focusing is lightning quick

From slrgear's conclusion:

Canon has made dramatic improvements to this lens series, which is sure to become the darling of Canon wedding shooters around the globe. The price tag is significantly steep, but there are enough improvements over the previous lens to more than justify the price.

Specifications:

    Large aperture L-Series standard zoom lens that combines high image quality and enhanced durability.

    New optical design utilizes one Super UD lens element and two UD lens elements to minimize chromatic aberration in the outer area at wide-angle; as well as eliminates color blurring around the edges of the subject, for images with high resolution and contrast.

    Combines 2 types of aspherical lenses to reduce spherical aberration,and achieve high image quality across the entire screen area and throughout the full zoom range.

    Highly resistant to dust and water, enabling shooting even in harsh and rigorous conditions.

    Circular diaphragm (9 blades) delivers beautiful, soft backgrounds.

    Ring USM, high-speed CPU, and optimized AF algorithms for fast autofocusing.

    Optimized lens coatings ensure exceptional color balance while minimizing ghosting.

    Fluorine coating on front and rear lens surfaces reduces smears and fingerprints.

    Zoom lock lever locks the zoom position at the wide end for safe transporting.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

[via slrgear]

 

Olympus OM-D EM-5 vs Canon EOS M Auto Focus Comparison

Yes, the EOS M’s AF is way slower than the EM-5’s AF. It’s a pity on an otherwise such well performing camera as the Canon EOS M. Tomek Kulas at M43.eu wanted to know how much slower than the EM-5. The video above shows a simple test: pointing both cams to the same subject and using touch-to-shoot.

Canon please give us a firmware update that fixes the issue!!

Canon EOS M price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA [M43 via PetaPixel]

First Canon EOS 6D Video Footage -Update

The video above shows sample footage shot with a pre-production Canon EOS 6D by BBC freelance cameraman Johnnie Behiri. For the video above Behiri used the following lenses: Samyang 35mm, a Canon EF 70-200 f/4L, and a Tokina 11-16mm.

Behiri found the high ISO very clean and usable, but found moire to be too strong and the image to soft.

Behiri says that although the camera records very clean high-ISO footage (1250 is “very much usable”), the camera has a number of weaknesses as well, which include severe moire, a soft image, no headphone socket, and a lack of clean HDMI out.

The video below was shot using a Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L with ISO 800-1250.

In Behiri's own words:

Canon 6D is the latest in Canon’s full frame HDSLR family and honestly, there is simply no substitute for the full frame sensor “look”. The footage was taken with a pre production model camera and hopefully the video quality in the final version will be improved.

[planet5D via PetaPixel]

 

BBC reporter Behiri shots with the 6D.

mmmm…Canon 6D (“beta quality”) test footage from Johnnie Behiri on Vimeo.

BBC reporter Behiri had the lucky chance to play with the new Canon 6D. And what came out from his testing you can see on the video on top. Enjoy watching!

And here in very short are his pros and cons:

Camera strengths:
-Full frame sensor
-Clean high ISO in video mode (1250 is very mush usable).
-Manual audio adjusting
-PAL/NTSC

Camera weakness:
-Severe moire
-Soft image
-No headphone socket
-No audio through HDMI while recording (for monitoring audio on new EVF’s)
-No clean HDMI output