Canon EF 24–105mm f/4L is II USM Lens

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I read the technical reviews and knew what to expect in terms of sharpness and features. Ill just report on three things that were slightly different than I expected. 1. The lock button only locks the zoom in the retracted position. It does not lock the zoom in any arbitrary position. One of my biggest frustrations with version I of the 24-105mm, besides the lens hood, was that the zoom would creep when pointing down at a subject. Canon tightened my old lens up for me, but it still wasnt quite as tight as Id like. I was hoping for a feature like the zoom lock on the Canon 100-400mm f/4-5.6, but with a switch instead of a ring. On the plus side, the zoom on version II is nice and stiff, yet still easy to rotate, so hopefully it wont creep with use. It feels nice - firm and smooth. 2. While I know the lens is slightly heavier, it sure doesnt feel like it. Feels similar to the old model. 3. Nice surprise: The lens hood. The lens hood on version I of the 24-105mm was a mess to attach and remove, like several of Canons other older lenses. The new lens hood glides on effortlessly and snaps cleanly into place. It is a huge improvement. There is a little button on the hood you press to release the lens hood for unscrewing, similar to the lens hood on the 100-400mm f/4-5.6 II. The new lens hood has a cheaper interior - its a matte finish plastic instead of the darker light-absorbing felt of the version I lens hood. The darker felt on version I not only had better light absorption, but also attracted dust which was actually a good feature - it kept dust off the lens. I slightly prefer the old inner lens hood treatment, but Ill bet in practice nobody will be able to tell the difference between the two. Other comments: Ive played with the image stabilization, and it seems steadier than the old model.

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This lens is criticized on photography boards because people feel the current version 1 is a better value at current lower prices and because they dont feel it is as sharp as 24-70 2.8 Ii (to be expected). When version 1 of this lens got bundled as a kit with 6D it went from being considered a high quality lens to being maligned as a "kit" lens. It is difficult for the 24-105 to get respect! I used version 1 of the 24-105 for over 10 years and upgraded to version 2 because it is my main travel lens along with my 70-200 f4. So far I am very pleased with the clear sharp images, build quality, handling, and IS. It is bigger but not noticeably heavier than version 1 and balances well on the 6D with or without grip. Am happy with upgrade. Difficult part was finding it in stock on Amazon.

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Like many, I had hoped that Canon would make a replacement version for the original 24-105 for some time. Having owned and used that lens for years on lower resolution cameras, I found it to be a good general purpose event lens and really appreciated the focal range. It was not as sharp as my 24-70 2.8 II, but I really liked have the extra reach at the long end and the IS. The new lens (this item) arrived last week and Ive been out photographing with it on my 5D MkIV and wanted to test the IS capability and overall sharpness as I will use it, mostly handheld. I was anticipating it to be a bit sharper, edge illumination to be better, and the IS to be more effective, and Im very happy to report that on all counts I am very pleased with this new lens. I find it a worthwhile improvement on all counts, and a bonus that the lens zooms in and out smoothly for better video compared to V1. Overall it is what I was hoping for and I am very pleased and glad it finally arrived. (I understand that the earthquakes in Japan many months ago set back production of some products, causing the delay.) For the money I think its a great value and a overall a great lens.

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What can I say, if you are a Canon full frame shooter and you want the most practical travel lens, then this cant be beat. The image quality and focal range are great. Image quality wise, its not a huge upgrade from the mark 1. However, IQ improvements aside, there are a two small but important (at least to me) things about the mark 2 that made me upgrade. First, the mark 2 has a zoom lock. Not the biggest thing to most, but the zoom creep on the mark 1 drove me nuts! The zoom on my copy is pretty damn stiff, so I dont even need the zoom lock right now. But Im pretty sure after a few years of use it will loosen up and there will be good chance I will need to use it. Second, the image stabilization is near silent. The mark 1s IS noise was really loud and obnoxious which might not bother some, but really bothered me. The mark 2 also promises better IS performance, although I never really had an issue with the actual IS performance of the mark 1. So overall, I am very happy with the lens. It is a bit larger and heavier than the mark 1, but the improvements make it worth it for me to deal with the added size and weight.

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Love this Lense. Not good for low light situations but can be worked around with a higher I SO. It is a bit heavy but worth it. It is a lot more expensive to get a 2.8 zoom.

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Great lens, very sharp and produces great photos. I use it with my Canon EOS 6D Mark II. Low light performance is okay, only goes down to F/4. But other than that is a great daytime travel lens. I’ve taken it to Rome, Amalfi Coast, Puerto Vallarta, Dominican Republic, very durable lens.

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It’s a good portrait lens, but it’s not good for weddings & events. The focus is off and the camera shake is pretty bad. Wish I had realized this before my return window closed. I thought I was the problem, but it’s not me or my 5D Mark IV.

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Upgrading the standard kit lens to this and I love it. Its a great lens for all around shooting and video (what I mostly do) since it has the IS.

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I had he previous version of is lens for about 7 years, baptized it accidentally in a river, sadly, and this is the awesome replacement. My waling-around lens, as was the other. This is a bit sharper and focuses quicker. Canon IS lenses set the standard.

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This is a great lens! Perhaps it is an overkill on my Canon 7D but the quality of build, stability of IS and precision of zoom is outstanding! I am yet to compare the sharpness of this lens compared to my Canon 50mm 1.4 but the first results are promising. I also particularly like the zoom lock feature and the fact that aperture stays fixed (e.g. 4f) no matter how I zoom, compared to the kit lens. Depending on the use, the downside can be its size and weight. It matches well with the clunkiness of my 7D.

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