Formal and Informal F Stops

Formal and Informal F Stops

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Testing the new Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8l II USM

  


The other day I purchased the new Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L II USM lens.  After shooting with it for only 3 days, I can truthfully say that this is now my favorite canon lens. I had complete my research and understood what I was buying, but still, it really didn't stop me from having a few niggling doubts in my mind. Doubts about the $2,300 price was my major worry. I understood it would be a great lens, but was it really worth that much money? I’ve been a photographer for a few years now but that does not prevent me from questioning the price of digital camera supplies.

When I got the lens home I positioned it carefully on my writing desk. I studied at it for a second almost as if I was letting the purchase sink in. I began to unfold the box and carefully took out the lens. It’s not anything dynamic to look at. It’s just a lens. Okay, I will admit, I have the familiar “Red-Ring” fever. This is an affectionate way of discussing a Canon shooters enthusiasm to using nothing else but L series lenses. It describes me perfectly. Well, you can’t blame me really, they are incredibly beautiful and sharp quality.

So what’s so particular about this lens that I just must write down an evaluation about it? To begin with, the glass quality is nothing like Canon have ever done before. If you hanker after sharpness then this is your lens. I discovered that  fstops at in the region of F11 give more clarity and sharpness than other lenses at do at F11.

It will detect the smaller fine points of a subject in very filtered lighting. This is one of the benefits of using a quick lens. Fast lenses work well in low lighting conditions. They do this because of the wide aperture. But open apertures are not as clear as smaller apertures, right? Right. So what do we do about focusing in filtered light? Does this lens still maintain the sharpness of the image? Yes it does. There is sharp detail at F2.8 even if you underexpose a photo.

I took a series of photos about the studio. I chose F2.8, no flash fill or normal room lighting was employed. I selected 6400 ISO to assist get as much lighting as I was able to. My shutter speed was about a 50th of a second. To my astonishment I found my test shots to be clearer and more sharp than expected. Clear and sharp in really low light? You bet they were!

Not only does the filtered light sharpness performance impress me, so does the reaction of the lens. I discovered that as I worked on getting good focus on an region of a subject it grabbed it and held strong. I didn’t have to keep getting the right focus and sharpness on a regular basis. Some lenses I have used in the past have had difficulty getting the right focus and sharpness, particularly when the scene was deep black or very dark grey. The lens held the focus quite sharply all the way to the edges. Admittedly I used a medium to small aperture to keep focus the entire image, but it’s the speediness and accuracy of how the lens mastered this shady subject that impressed me the most.

When I was doing my test shots, I did not use a tripod. It was pretty much hand holding the camera in really low light to see what would happen. I wanted to see how the lens kept focus and clarity. In a shady scene you would have definitely noticed camera shake.

I have discussing getting the right focus and sharpness in dim light. What about sensitivity and other performance issues? Well, aside from being fast to hold sharp focus, I am impressed by the absence of lens flare and no warping at the edges. In a number of lenses you find some bothersome distortion at the start or end of the focal length scale. For example some 24mm lenses can make the exact edges of the frame of the image look like they were photographed through a bit of glass. That’s because when the lighting goes through the lens, it begins to bend and creates a warping outcome. Not with this lens. I have not noticed any distortion at all. This is relevant to the 70mm end of the range also.

It seems to reproduce colours a lot better than any other lens I have shot with. So far all my vibrancy alterations have been very small. This is great for the reason that it means you do not have to spend a long time editing your shots. It just seems to pick up more true colour than my other lenses.

Receptiveness, sharpness, superior colour capture and optimum low light performance is what I love about this lens. It’s a bit heavy in weight, but all the L series lenses are. I am used to heavy gear now so it does not worry me in the slightest. I have yet to find out why this lens is so first-rate. Canon have really set precedent for the entire industry. I highly recommend this lens.

All photos are copyright by Amy Renfrey and must not be used without payment and permission.

Sample images of the Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L II USM

Sample images of the Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L II USM