This Lens Is Worth Every Penny!
I have been researching this lens for quit some time. I have seen many sample photos on the photography forums. The reason I decided to buy this lens was because of the versatility and sharpness of each shot. The auto focus is very fast and consistant. The colors straight out of the camera are very vibrant and need only minor adjustment in post processing. I am very happy with this lens and would recommend it to any professional or even enthusiast photographer. You definetly get your money's worth with the 24L II lens!!!
July 29, 2010
Maybe Not for Professionals
I purchased this lens for shooting small black box theatre productions without a flash, and these venues are typically not well lighted. This worked wonderfully with my Rebel. When I upgraded to a 5D and a 5D MkII I found this lens to be lacking. It still functions wonderfully, however the very pronounced distortion with the full frame boxes creates a poor fish-eye effect. Considering the investment required, it is an unforgivable drawback.
January 11, 2013
24LII, 35L, 24-70L
Performance:
24mm f1.4 L II is very similar look, size, and weight to 35L though it has a weather sealed metal body so it does not have plastic feel of 35L. Focus speed, accuracy, sharpness are also similar to 35L. It’s faster and a bit sharper than 24-70L Mk I at f2.8. There is chromatic aberration (color fringes) between f1.4 and 2.8 but it is much better controlled and not as ugly as 35L. But on the other hand it tends to get more flare than 35L. Images sometimes look soft at f1.4 because of color fringes, but other than that my copy produces quite sharp images from f1.4 and gets sharper when stopped down. And it also does pretty good job on corners. Bokeh is a little bit nervous and sometimes you may call it ugly. I don’t know if it is something to do with its focal length. 35L shows that tendency sometimes but 24L II does it more significantly. But you still can get creamy and soft bokeh. It depends on backgrounds. Even at f2.8 it seems softer than 24-70L. Another thing that I like about this lens is that it has a very short minimum focus distance.
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Value:
Since Canon released a new 24-70mm L II which I’ve read about how great and almost as sharp as primes are, I can see many people grab this zoom than those high priced prime lenses. And for the most of cases this new zoom will do the job. I’ve got my 24L II as a used with a very good price, so it’s well worth it for what I paid. But I might have picked a new 24-70L II if I didn’t have my old 24-70L.
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Bottom Line:
First of all I say that this is still a great lens but there are some other choices for this focal length. If you love to shoot at f1.4-f2.5 then this is the lens for you. And it is simply awesome.
January 4, 2013
All around excellence
I rented one of these to travel to South America. I spent 5 days in Colombia and 5 days hiking through the Andes in Peru. This is a tough lens. Well built, professional grade.
The image quality is absolutely fantastic. I can't speak highly enough about this lens in terms of image quality. The shots I took at f/8 were so sharp I didn't even touch them in post. Contrast and clarity are the absolute best (every bit as good as the 35L and 135L). I was using this on a 1D mk iii. I have seen some reviews of the auto focus being off, but my experience is nothing short of positive. I only shoot at f/1.4 when I have a single autofocus point selected anyway so then it's my fault it the right thing is not in focus. I don't trust any camera that much. Speed is excellent.
Manual focus is great, I always use the hyper focal length and manual focus when shooting landscapes. The focus ring is really smooth. Distortion is next to nothing.
Spend the money, learn to use it. The image and build quality is everything you would expect out of an L prime.
January 2, 2013
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