Canon Telephoto Zoom EF f/4L IS USM Lens

Terrific All Around Lens

Posted Jun 18, 2006 - I've used this lens for shooting both outdoor portraits and landscapes and it is incredibly sharp and a versatile lens. The image stabilization is great allowing use without a tripod in many instances. I keep this lens on my camera 90% of the time (I have also the 17-40mm 4L and 70-300mm EF IS lens). I purchased this lens in March 2006 so it has a later build date (in contrast to earlier problematic copies). If you had to purchase only one L lens which gives you the most flexibility and quality build this is the lens for you!

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A Lens for Everyone! (If you can afford it!)

Posted Jun 23, 2006 - First off if you purchase a lens that is advertised as f/4 how is the fact that it is f/4 a weakness? That's kind of like buying a Yugo and then saying it doesn't do 175 MPH. Yes this lens is f/4. However, the IS makes up for a lot. Being able to handhold a shot at 1/15 of a second is awesome. Remember though, the IS will only stop the camera from moving, not the subject. So if you have an active child your trying to photograph then you need a f/2.8 or even faster lens. If this lens was f/2.8 then the filter size would be 99mm and weigh 4 pounds. The USM is fast and silent. So is the Image Stabilization. The IS is silent to the ear. If you put your ear up to the barrel of the lens you can hear the IS engage when you press the shutter button. The IS will drain the battery a bit because of the moving parts but will not be too noticeable. So buy some extra batteries and enjoy shooting. I tried the 17-85mm IS and the 28-135mm IS and this lens wipes the floor with them. I was unable to get a satisfactory shot out of either lens. The 24-105mm is tack sharp with excellent colors. Out of camera shots with no post processing were excellent. Definitely an L quality lens, with the L price. The 24-105 is also light and easy to manage. I bought mine in April 2006 from Dell. The date code on mine was UU0304 meaning it was made in the Utsunomiya, Japan factory in March 2006. I like having a 1 month old lens. Verdict: I recommend this lens to anyone with the budget that shoots within this range. Update: I finally bought some lights, umbrellas and a softbox and this lens was beautiful in my makeshift studio. The photos came out perfect. The colors from this lens are awesome in the studio. And talk about SHARP! This lens stays on my camera about 74.568% of the time.

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EF 24-105mm f/4

Posted Apr 17, 2006 - Like most people, I struggled on deciding between 24-105 f/4 and 24-70 f/2.8. I went for 24-105 because of the IS, size, weight, and extra 35mm zoom. It's suppose to be a "walkaround" lens. 24-70 is just too heavy. I assume I got a good copy. It's very sharp wide open between 24-50 mm. At 105mm, it is still very sharp 1-stop down. The color and contract is just amazing. Bokeh is smooth, not like some pics I saw on pbase. It's worth for the "L" price. Highly recommended!

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Great walkaround 24-105L IS

Posted Jan 30, 2006 - Would have loved it to be a f2.8-4.0, but with the IS you can get very sharp indoor shots without flash. Lenshood included, nice weight distribution for the 20D. I havn't tested fully the infinity clarity yet, but for everything else I am in awe of the precision and color. I bought it for a walkaround so I didn't have to lug a bunch of lenses around. Havn't had my others out since this purchase. [17-85IS, Tamron 24-135, 50mm 2.5 are all tucked away now]

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Amazing Lens - Highly Recommended

Posted Jul 18, 2006 - This was my first L-class lens, and I have to say that it has opened my eyes to a world of photography that I didn't think I could attain. My photos have much greater clarity, and the image stabilization helps in low light conditions. The focal range on this lens is great for general use. I can take close up portraits as well as decent landscape shots without having to switch to another lens. I highly recommend this lens if you have the money and are looking for a high quality lens for your SLR or digital SLR.

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Great One Solution Lens!

Posted Jun 7, 2006 - I purchased this lens April 2006 (build date UU0310) at a super price net of the Canon rebate. Based on the specifications I knew the potential short comings of this lens, but they were acceptable. When I read other reviewers posting that the price is a "cons" I laugh. The price is only a "con" if you borrowed the lens; loved it, but couldn't afford it. If you purchased this lens then price was evidently not a "con". Also, the complaints about "low light" situations or that it should be f/2.8. Get over it and review the specs again. The lens is f/4. If f/2.8 was important to you then you should have purchased the EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM (an awesome lens). I borrowed one from a friend and I hope to purchase one in the future. This lens is a great walk around lens and not so great for other situations. I'm rating this lens based on the specifications and not on what I want it to be. For those of us who talk about Vignetting, CA and Distortion your probably correct based on your subject matter and I've noticed a little in certain situations, but at the end of the day it is still a solid lens for me. This lens can't be everything for everybody.

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Super-Sharp Lens Once Canon Fixed It

Posted Mar 2, 2006 - Tried two copies - both had soft images due to severe autofocus errors. Kept the second and sent it to Canon for calibration - now focuses perfectly. The calibrated lens is very sharp and usable even wide open at f4 and improves only slightly when stopped down to f5.6. Much sharper at 24-50mm than my 17-85mm IS lens. Above 50mm my 17-85 gets almost as sharp at the L-lens. Oozes excellent L-lens build quality with smooth focus and zoom. The IS works wonders for handholding in low light if the subject is stationary. My rating would be 5 stars had it had been properly calibrated at the factory.

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Great Lens. The best all around.

Posted Jan 3, 2006 - It is the best lens in this range (24-105mm), this lens simply cannot be beat. It is really sharp even wide open and corner to corner on a FF sensor. The IS an amazing feature. I like to shoot at low light situation without using flash, and I am thrilled because I managed to handheld at 1/5 with IS consistently. It is on par with other L lens. The only complain I have is that it does not have f/2.8

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Great all arround lens

Posted Feb 23, 2006 - What more can I say: It's a Canon! Their quality really shines through here. Just sold my 24-70 f/2.8L but had time to do a shooting comparison (i borrowed it from my friend for a week before i decided to purchase it... .) The 24-105 matches the 24-70 quality and it offers much longer range which I need and Image Stabilization (IS). I am very happy with this purchase.

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Canon 24-105mm f/4L

Posted Jan 10, 2008 - I finally made the plunge and purchased an L-class lens after several years of using a much cheaper product and lots of digital editing. After looking at several alternatives including the 28-70 f/2.8L I decided on the 24-105 because of the focal range. After receiving the lens (right on schedule from Beach) I was not disappointed. I've read several reviews that list the f/4 and the focal range as weaknesses, if you wanted a faster lens or one with a different focal range, you should have purchased something different. This lens is as advertised, a 24-105mm f/4L. Many folks have stated that they have experienced some softness at the extremes of the focal ranges with this lense, I can detect no difference throughout the zoom. This lense is so sharp that I was able to reduce the sharpness setting in my 350D back to normal after having it bumped up for years to compensate for a cheap lens. The USM alone is worth a significant portion of the cost of this lens. Quick and quiet!! I've tested the IS on ambient indoor lighting on still subjects and it works incredibly well. Now I just have to start saving for the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM.

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This is One Great lens!

Posted Apr 1, 2006 - This is a great lens. I have a Rebel XT and it instantly became my favorite lens because of the quality, size, reach, and of course IS! I don't think my 24-70L will get much use anymore. I also have a 17-40L that I will use for wider shots, but the 24-105 will definitely be on my camera most of the time. The IS is great and is very quiet and effective.

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Canon L-lens w/ IS

Posted May 4, 2006 - This is a nice Canon L-lens with Image Stabilization. The IS really works, and I can handheld up to 1/15 sec and still get a nice shot. It is lighter compare to the 24-70mm F/2.8 and offers a longer zoom. The IS only has one mode, compares to some of other IS, has mode 2 for panning. I didn't notice much different on the battery life, when IS is on. Image is sharp even at fully open F/4. Depends on the need, if you shoot in low light condition most of the time, than go with the 24-70mm F/2.8. If not, definitely 24-105mm F/4 is the choice.

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Great walk around Lenses

Posted Apr 5, 2006 - just got it last week, played around with it on my Las Vegas trip, it's an alsome lenses. IS helps alot on 105mm end, enjoy it on easily take a sharp on this length.

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Great lens

Posted Mar 16, 2006 - This is an excellent lens. My older Sigma 18-125 is very close in sharpness, though Canon performs better in corners on my 20D. Difference in contrast is more prominent between the two (again, Canon wins), and IS as well as ring-USM simply put this lens in a different league. In 70-105mm range picture quality is very close to the other lens that I have - Canon EF 70-300 IS

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Pretty good all-purpose lens

Posted Feb 8, 2006 - I could hold 1/10 of a second without any bluring. I haven't used it in the long end, 80-105 zoom range. I'm going to be using it in studio and general purpose photography.

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