Canon Ambassador Jeff Ascough On Shooting With The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

The Canon Professional Network (CPN) published an interview with photographer Jeff Ascough. The talk is about the new Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens (price & specs). A lens that has outstanding optical performance and a rather hefty price tag.

Over the past few months Canon Ambassador Jeff Ascough has been photographing weddings in his distinctive documentary style, primarily with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR teamed with the EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM zoom lens. He spoke to CPN about his experiences shooting with the latest incarnation of an already much-loved standard zoom lens; one that is smaller, lighter, more durable and optically more sophisticated than its predecessor.

The lens is actually sold for around $2050 (B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA, rent it here). We featured lots of reviews (here, here, here). DxOMark called the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II a peerless performer.

CPN: The lens is more durable and is better weather-sealed than its EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM predecessor. What is your opinion on the build quality of the lens?

JA: “To be honest the old 24-70mm wasn’t the best made lens I’ve ever used. But this one seems a lot ‘tighter’ – that’s how I describe it – everything is more positive. It’s much more solid.

Ergonomically it’s much better – it’s a smaller lens and I’ve got quite small hands, so when you use it with a camera ergonomically it’s much nicer to use. The zoom ring is really nice because it’s not as wide as the other lens was in terms of the actual ‘throat’ of the lens – you haven’t got to move it so far to get it to zoom in and out. The focus is really nice as well – that’s just on the end of my scale with my fingers.”

Read the interview here.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens price check: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA, or rent it here.

[via The Digital Picture]

Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM Review (DPreview)

EF 24-70 f/2.8L II

DPreview reviewed the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM lens (price & specs), one of Canon’s top level pro lenses.

In the conclusion they write:

Conclusion – Pros

  • Superb, almost flawless optics
  • Impressive flare resistance
  • Fast, silent, and accurate autofocus
  • Excellent build quality including weathersealing

Conclusion – Cons

  • Unpleasant vignetting in the 50-70mm region at F2.8 on full frame
  • Noticeably lower image quality at close focus distances
  • No image stabilisation
  • Very expensive

In fact, the 24-70mm II follows its big brother, the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM (price & specs), in being a lens that’s so good we’ve found it difficult to pick out any significant flaws. It’s superbly sharp, even wide open, but manages to combine this with lovely bokeh. Distortion is pretty well under control (and of course easily corrected in post processing), and chromatic aberration extremely low. Vignetting can be a problem towards the long end on full frame cameras, with a very abrupt falloff in brightness in the corners at F2.8. But again that’s easy to correct, either in post-processing, or in-camera with recent EOS models.

The 24-70mm deals well with difficult lighting too, and handles shooting directly into the sun without much image degradation due to flare. Autofocus is fast and decisive, and we’ve found it to be impressively accurate on higher-end cameras such as the EOS 6D (price & specs). The entry-level EOS 650D (price & specs) can struggle to hit perfect focus every time at F2.8, but that probably reflects more on the camera than the lens. The build quality is difficult to fault too, combining weathersealing with a welcome wieght reduction compared to its predecessor.

Nothing surprising, the EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II was called a peerless performer by the DXOMark’s people.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM price check: [shopcountry 2160] The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM can be rented at borrowlenses (click here)

[via dpreview]

Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM DxOmarked (a Peerless Performer)

Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM DxOmarked The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM (price & specs) has been analyzed by DxOMark. And it scores really really good, they call the lens a «peerless performer». If it wasn’t for the price (it’s $2500), this would be a dream lens, even without IS (my take)! DxOMark writes in the conclusion (emphasis mine):

With an DxOMark score of 26, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 MkII is the highest scoring professional fixed-aperture mid-range kit zoom of any brand in the DxO Mark database and comfortably outperforms rivals as well as the firm’s earlier Mark I version, particularly with regard to the sharpness levels across the frame. We’re used to seeing a noticeable deterioration in performance in the outer fields at longer focal lengths even with high-quality optics from the big-name marques but the new Canon bucks that trend. As for distortion and vignetting, it manages to hold its own against rivals even if it hasn’t quite managed to improve on those over the outgoing Mk I version.  In spite of the complex optical construction, some chromatic aberration is visible in the corners that may require additional removal in post-production software but levels remain in line with the best of rival offerings. The main downside, however, is the very high price. At $2,500 the lens is far less accessible than the model it replaces, but the reduction in weight and size coupled with the boost in optical performance looks set to satisfy future demands from as yet unannounced high-resolution cameras.

Interesting, and plausible: the EF 24-70mm has been designed with future DSLRs in mind. Please Canon let us know what is in your labs.

The pros and cons of the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM seconding DxOMark:

Pros

  • Good sharpness (16P-Mpix), only equalled by the Sony Zeiss equivalent.
  • Distortion well controlled
  • Transmission improved
  • 805g total weight (145g lighter than predecessor).
  • Compact design.

Cons:

  • CA noticeable in corners.
  • Large (82mm) filter diameter (though front/rear element are protected with a fluorine coating)
  • Very high price

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM price check: [shopcountry 2160]

Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM DxOmarked

[via DxOMark]

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Mark II Review (SLR Lounge)

SLR Lounge reviewed the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Mark II (price & specs). Not everything gets a positive opinion, but the auto focus:

The Mark II is now boasts a faster and more importantly, more accurate autofocus compared to the Mark I. The AF snaps almost instantaneously and there were no back-focus issues that I felt plagued my Mark I. Photojournalists, wedding photographers, and event photographers, will benefit tremendously from the near-instant and accurate AF speed.

Quoting from the conclusion:

The new 24-70mm Mark II is such big improvement over the Mark I that I now shoot over 25% of my portrait and engagement session images with this lens. I have come to prefer it to the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L whenever I do not need the extra wide angle. There are even times, and it is crazy that I am saying this, I preferred it to the Canon 50mm f/1.2L because the bokeh was good enough and gave me the extra flexibility in zoom.

The Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Mark II gets a rating of 5 out of 5.

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Mark II price check: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA [via SLR Lounge]

Rumor: Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L IS Prototype Out In The Wild (May Be Announced In 2014)

Not the rumored prototype but the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

Latest murmurings about the highly speculated EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens. Canon Rumors reports:

There are plans to release an EF 24-70 f/2.8L IS sometime in the next 18 months. I have confirmed from two sources that the end of 2013 or early 2014 is the earliest we’d see a production model announced.

So no announcement in the next months, according to the sources. It is somewhat weird that Canon takes so long to field test the new EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens with image stabilization.

Btw, there is a deal going on at B&H for the EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM lens: you can get it for $2049 (click here) with free overnight shipping. Normal price is $2,299. The final price shows up after having added the item to the cart.

Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II USM price check: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA [via CR]