Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Zoom Lens

The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens is the company's top-end standard zoom; it's pricey, but a solid performer.

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  Sharp throughout zoom range. Constant f/2.8 aperture. Fairly compact.

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  Pricey. Not stabilized. Some distortion. Telescoping design.

Technical testing revealed slight colour fringing at the shortest focal lengths, which was a disappointment, but in all other respects the results were outstanding. Resolution peaked above 0.4 cycles-per-pixel and the MTF curves never once fell below the critical 0.25 cycles-per-pixel threshold.

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  Excellent sharpness, Build Quality

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  Slight colour fringing at short focal lengths

The EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM is a near-flawless lens with optics that come very close to matching a set of top-quality primes. With fast, accurate autofocus and weathersealed construction, it's difficult to find any really serious faults at all.

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  Superb, almost flawless optics, Impressive flare resistance, Fast, silent, and accurate autofocus, Excellent build quality including weathersealing

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  Unpleasant vignetting in the 50-70mm region at F2.8 on full frame, Noticeably lower image quality at close focus distances, No image stabilisation, Very expensive

The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens is clearly the best performing Canon full-frame-compatible general purpose zoom lens available. It is the best from both an image quality perspective and from an AF speed/accuracy perspective.

Sharp, fast, compact, and durable—this lens is a pro's best friend.

The latest in a line of storied lenses going back to the 28–80mm f/2.8–4L of April 1989, this is Canon’s fourth high-speed, full-frame, standard-range, L-series autofocus zoom. The previous 24–70mm f/2.8L was introduced in November 2002, and compared with that lens, this version II ($2,299, street)...

Handling and features A professional standard zoom lens covering the popular 24-70mm focal range, which sports a constant fast maximum aperture of f/2.8 and silent focusing with full-time manual focus override.

There's not much to add that the test results don't already show: Canon has made dramatic improvements to this lens series, which is sure to become the darling of Canon wedding shooters around the globe.

I admit that, while writing a summary of this test, my feelings are mixed. On the one hand I am pleased that the new lens is much better than its predecessor in almost all categories.

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  solid casing,, excellent image quality in the frame centre,, very good image quality on the edge of the APS-C sensor,, negligent longitudinal chromatic aberration,, great coma correction,, slight astigmatism,, low vignetting on APS-C,, silent, quick and accurate autofocus.

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  lateral chromatic aberration corrected in a worse way than that of the rivals,, huge vignetting on full frame,, weak performance against bright light,, exorbitant price.

It seems Canon may be attempting to distinguish themselves from the competition by pricing their lens at a premium. There is no doubt that this lens delivers excellent optical performance in pretty much every way, but not many photographers, professional, or otherwise will be able to justify paying...

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  Very good build quality, Excellent sharpness, Relatively lightweight, Low CA, Low distortion

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  Reassuringly expensive, Falloff at 24mm is quite pronounced at fast apertures and doesn't even fade out until f/8

Took the EF 24-70mm lens on a trip to Kauai, Hawaii using it to photograph candid images of my 93 year old mother in her tending her orchids. Loved the sharpness and color quality at various focal lengths but its performance wide open blew me away.

I can't say enough good things about this lens. We own two for wedding photography and they replaced a 24L, 35L and 50L after a critical 2.8 shoot-out reveal this zoom was a better performer wide open then the primes were stopped down.

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  Great image quality, wide open, at every focal length. Fast & accurate focus in challenging conditions.

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  Lens hood breaks after modest professional use. I miss the 'perfect' lens hood design of its predecessor.

Wow! Amazing lens! I thought long and hard before deciding to buy this lens due to its high price but I'm glad I finally bought it. It's razor sharp and the AF focus is deadly accurate. I was a little concerned about the weight but it's not as heavy as I thought. I highly recommend this lens!

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  AF is deadly accurate, razor sharp, great bokeh

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  Price

I shoot many fast paced events where timing is key to capture moments as they unfold in a natural way without subjects realizing I'm there. The 24-70 II fits those needs completely with fast, accurate autofocus, sharp rendering, punchy images and a reasonable zoom range that gets me just close...

I had the same lens from a competitor off brand and had such inconsistent results, I decided to go all in on this lens. So happy I did. Worth all the money. I shoot a lot of low light, action events and have been totally happy with it.

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  Consistent Output, Fast / accurate auto-focus, Nice Bokeh, Strong Construction

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  Tough To Attach

Debated over buying this lens for a long time. Wanted as complement to my EF 70-200 f2.8. This is the perfect complement lens. Recently traveled to east coast and brought this lens with, along with my go to travel lens, a Tamron 18-270. Never even took that lens out of the bag.

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  Consistent Output, Durable, Fast / accurate auto-focus, Good walk-around lens, Great Clarity Of Image, Great Range, Nice Bokeh, Rugged, Strong Construction, Superb Portraiture

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  NONE

I owned the 1st 24-70 f/2.8, I believe I had a softer sample as they had quite a range of variation in them, however this version is loads better. It is almost as sharp as my macro, even wide open, which is unheard of for a zoom.

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  Sharp, Fast AF, Excellent General purpose and portrait lens, weather resistant

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  Price, though its worth it in my opinion, filter size makes for expensive filters

I suppose the IS is not needed in a wider lens due to the focal length, but I can see it being useful at 70mm.

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  Typical canon sharpness build quality and reliability. I have all canon glass and this purchase recently is one of the few lenses I didnt have to bridge the gap between the ultra wide and the super long stuff.

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  No IS.

This is a great replacement for my old 24-70mm. I conduct Photographic Tours in Lake Tahoe and use this lens every day! From Portrait to Landscapes this lens is tack sharp and produces beautiful images.

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  Outstanding Lens

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  none