Canon 24-105 f/4L IS II

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
I've been using the older 24-105 lens since 2009 and I love it! Well, after a few Beam and Cokes and sitting around, playing with my camera and messing around on the computer, I pulled the trigger on a new Canon 24-105 f/4L IS II! Probably hard to justify being nearly identical, just newer. Oh well, I can sell the older one for a couple hundred at least. And PayPal Credit is super motivating (0% 6 months).

Wife. Would. Kill. Me.

Anyone else use either version of this lens? What do you think? I keep it on my 7D Mk II 95% of the time.
 

bykfixer

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
20,348
Location
Dust in the Wind
Sounds like a good range for everyday uses.

How is it at the opposite ends of the range? What I mean is does the lens distort images at the far ends of the range?
My Nikon 18-105 gets good at 24-ish but fish-eyes everything from 23 back. And 105 is pretty good, but better at 100. Not a good lens for architecture photos but not a bad walk around the city lens.
 

nfetterly

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
3,764
Location
Cincinnati area, but lots of travel
I've got the original version as well. Handy range for walking around, but much prefer my Sigma 50 1.4 Art lens (big and heavy, lots of glass, way better than the albeit less expensive Canon 50 1.4) and my 70-200 2.8 IS - while both aren't as convenient the pictures just seem to "pop" alot more. I'm shooting a 5D MKIII.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
Sounds like a good range for everyday uses.

How is it at the opposite ends of the range? What I mean is does the lens distort images at the far ends of the range?
My Nikon 18-105 gets good at 24-ish but fish-eyes everything from 23 back. And 105 is pretty good, but better at 100. Not a good lens for architecture photos but not a bad walk around the city lens.

Lots of reviews talk about that distortion, and prove it with images, but after 10,000+ shots on my cameras (20D, 30D, 50D, 7D MK2) I've never seen it at all. Maybe they're using full frame cameras? I guess that would make sense. My 10-22 gives some pretty good distortion even on those 1.6x cameras, as expected. Another fun lens BTW! But the 24-105 is great. I looked at the 24-70 but would really miss that 105 range. I use it a lot.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
Excited to get this tomorrow! I hope it's as good, or better than my old version. I've heard good and bad. Lots of pixel peepers out there, so I'll need to wait and see it for myself.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
Got it...love it! Hardly worth the money to upgrade, but it seems a little sharper and quieter IS. Plus I just wanted a nice new lens :)

Traded my old one in for about $375, so that takes some of the sticker shock away. I could have gotten more by selling, but after the hassle and shipping/paypal fees, I said no.
 

ssanasisredna

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
457
Got it...love it! Hardly worth the money to upgrade, but it seems a little sharper and quieter IS. Plus I just wanted a nice new lens :)

Traded my old one in for about $375, so that takes some of the sticker shock away. I could have gotten more by selling, but after the hassle and shipping/paypal fees, I said no.

Do you have a full-frame that this will go on at least some of the time? Too late to change, but the 18-135 for the 7D would be more flexible and just as sharp and save you some weight on a long excursion.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
Do you have a full-frame that this will go on at least some of the time? Too late to change, but the 18-135 for the 7D would be more flexible and just as sharp and save you some weight on a long excursion.

No. I had one but upgraded to this way back when. Gotta have that L glass!
 

bykfixer

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
20,348
Location
Dust in the Wind
No. I had one but upgraded to this way back when. Gotta have that L glass!

With todays stratospheric leveled ISO's doing so well f4 is certainly a good choice... especially with L glass.

Some strategic thought process in depth of field can yield pretty good bokah as well. Only times I use wide open f-stops is in close up photos like macro type pix.

Good score.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
With todays stratospheric leveled ISO's doing so well f4 is certainly a good choice... especially with L glass.

Some strategic thought process in depth of field can yield pretty good bokah as well. Only times I use wide open f-stops is in close up photos like macro type pix.

Good score.

I agree. Unfortunately I hardly had any time to play with this lens...I inserted a CF card yesterday and bent one of the pins in my camera!! Off to Canon for a ~$300 repair :( Stupid me!! I could try it myself for a $50 part on ebay, but I can't risk it considering how many times I've screwed up things trying to do it myself.

I'm kicking myself since I always use the SD card/slot, but did the CF for a firmware update since I had a blank CF. Not a necessary repair since I have the SD slot, but figured to just get it done for resell/trade-in later on.

One of the few photos I got before breaking the camera...more of a quick "walk by" as it was lying on the kitchen counter.

34701773542_c999aa39e6_b.jpg
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
It's too late now, but United Camera Repair does the memory card repair for what's listed as $121 including return shipping.

Definitely not too late. I'm only out the $10 UPS to ship it right now. I'll see what the quote comes back at. I put "$300" into my head just so I'm prepared for the sticker shock. If it does come back around that, I may have them send it back and go with United Camera. THANK YOU for that recommendation! I'm totally fine with $121. I didn't think about searching for another place to fix it.
 
Top