Home | Reviews | Lenses | 35mm Zoom | Canon

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM 35mm Zoom

4.59/5 (22 Reviews)

Write a review



  • Camera Format35 mm SLR
    Lens TypeZoom Lens
    Focal Length24mm - 105mm
    Lens Max Aperturef/4
    Min Aperturef/22
    Focus TypeAutofocus
    Macro LensWithout Macro Lens
    MountCanon EF
    Closest Focusing Distance17.76 in
    Diaphragm Blades8 Blades
    Picture Angle23.33 - 84 degrees
    Attachment / Filter Size77 mm
    Groups / Elements18 Elements in 13 Groups
    Image StabilizationWith Image Stabilization
    Diameter3.3 in
    Length4.2 in
    Weight23.6 oz
    MPN0344B002
    UPC013803050844
    Product ID27100886
    Release DateSeptember, 2005

Product Description

Easy-to-use standard zoom lens covers a large zoom area and its Image Stabilizer Technology steadies camera shake up to three stops. Constructed with one Super-UD glass element and three aspherical lenses, this lens minimizes chromatic aberration and distortion for excellent picture quality, even at wide apertures. Canon's ring-type USM gives silent but quick AF, along with full-time manual focus. Dust- and moisture-resistant construction for a durable and sophisticated lens suitable for advanced amateur and professional photographers.


Review Options:  Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating

Reviews 1 - 5 (22 Reviews Total) | Next 15

User Reviews

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:4
Submitted by Jon Lloyd a Intermediate

Date Reviewed: March 25, 2013

Strengths:    Well suited to a full frame sensor
Robust construction

Weaknesses:    No real weakness in my view as it does what is is designed to do.
Vignetting is evident but easily corrected

Bottom Line:   
I bought this lens with a 7D body... OK as a "kit lens" but I don't like that term as it cheapens what is in actual fact a solid pro quality lens. It performed well for me on the 7D for over 12 months in a variety of situations and has been a solid walk-around lens.

Then came along my 5D Mk III and it just works like a dream with the full-frame sensor. Maybe a tad more vignetting at the long end but nothing that can't be readily fixed is post.For the 7D - in order to go a little wider I bought a Tokina 11-16mm which is not good for the 5D 3 unless you are at 15-16mm so this sits nicely in its spot wide open at 24mm.

I have just taken to using this lens to shoot Mountain Biking and I am liking it. Results can be see here:

http://jlphotocreative.com/gallery/lancaster-trail-sunday-17-march-2013/

Note ...316 to 342 are with this lens.

Expand full review >>

Price Paid:    $980.00

Purchased At:   www.digitalrev.com

Type of photography:   Sports

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Howard Wu a Expert

Date Reviewed: November 9, 2012

Strengths:    Sharpness
Focal length range
IS

Weaknesses:    Vignetting at 24mm

Bottom Line:   
I've had 2 copies of this lens. The 24-105 is a fantastic range for general purpose photography, and I do not need large aperture often (although for some interior shots I wish it was f/2.8 but I guess you can't have everything), so this is a dream lens on paper.

Unfortunately, the two copies I have had (I still have my second copy) produce severe vignetting at 24mm. Worse, the vignetting seems to be asymmetrical (one corner is much darker than the other corners).

I don't mind the distortions as much as I do vignetting; to me severe vignetting is very distracting. You can sometimes fix it in Photoshop, but not always completely. In those cases I have to crop the image a bit, or zoom in a bit when I take the picture, which effectively reduces the lens to about 28mm-105mm which is a bummer.

The lens is often sold as a kit lens with the 5DII or 5DIII, and I've seen some "white box" ones sold for a lower price, and Canon sometimes have refurbished ones for even less ($700+), this makes it one of the cheaper L lenses out there so it is a good value.

Expand full review >>

Price Paid:    $1000.00

Purchased At:   Amazon (as a kit len

Similar Products Used:   Canon EF 17-40 L USM, Canon 28-135 IS

Type of photography:   Outdoor

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:3
Submitted by Dave Perkes a Professional

Date Reviewed: June 22, 2012

Strengths:    Good build quality with constant aperture and some degree of weather sealing. Its a good general purpose lens with IS which makes it very useful for video.

Weaknesses:    Wide angle distortion and vignetting at 24mm is disappointing.
Bokeh is rather harsh and edge sharpness even at F8 does not match that in the centre of the frame.

Bottom Line:   
It was bought as a a kit with a 5D Mk2. Its a well built prosumer lens and should last for decades; but have not been too impressed overall with this the Image quality of this lens. Distortion at the wide end and excessive vignetting require post processing to remove. The bokeh is not that good; being harsh with back- lit highlights
IS works well and it is excellent for Video. Sharpness can be excellent at the long end with breathtaking clarity. However at 24mm sharpness falls off at the edges.
For stills it does the job; but as a critical user; I don't think it justifies the L series label.

Expand full review >>

Price Paid:    $850.00

Purchased At:   Siem Reap Thmei Siem

Similar Products Used:   Sigma 17-70 DX for Nikon
Sigma 12-24

Type of photography:   Fine Art

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:3
Submitted by rechitansorin a Intermediate

Date Reviewed: January 6, 2011

Strengths:    Excellent quality of the materials (although the inner lens support is made of plastic), tropicalisation (i had never had dust particles inside the lens), constant f 4 aperture but most of all, it s versatility.

Weaknesses:    The optical performance is good but nothing to dream of. Especially towards the long focal length, where even stopping down, the contrast and contrast are weak for it s claims. The distortion is very strong at 24mm (straight lines in the upper or downer side of the photograph will show a disturbing curvature (can be corrected via appropiate softs).

Bottom Line:   
A very good allround package.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   6-10 years

Price Paid:    $800.00

Similar Products Used:   Canon EF 28-105mm f 3,5-4,5
Canon EF 28-135mm f 3,5-5,6 IS
Canon EF 24-70mm f 2,8
Nikon AF- D 24-85mm f 2,8-4

Type of photography:   Outdoor

Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:3
Submitted by Archangel a Expert

Date Reviewed: October 18, 2010

Strengths:    OK, the goods: Its optically excellent. Outside, on a sunny day, the images cannot be beat. Clear, vivid, decent zoom range. Build quality is excellent. Its an "L" after all.

Weaknesses:    Now the bads: The F4 aperture. I wasn't thrilled with this fact when I bought it, but thought I could work through it. With the excellent image stabilization I thought it would be no issue. I was wrong. I have consistently been let down by the poor low light performance of this lens. Add on the fact that I often use a polarizer, and you can imagine the challenges an f/4 gives you. With any moving subject you will have plenty of blur, and indoors the lens is a poor choice. My 70-200 with the f/2.8 is FAR superior in limited light.

The wide angle aspect: the 24 on the 1.6x cameras just doesn't give as much wide angle as I had hoped for (38.5mm). It was not wide enough. Yes, I get it back at the top of the zoom range (the 105mm ends up being a 135mm or so on a 1.6x body), but I have a telephoto zoom for that end, so its not a major asset.

Weight: the downside of the superb build is the fact that this is a solid, heavy lens. No big deal if it was the only lens I needed, but its not. I have a 70-200 for zoom work, and will be getting the 17-55 for real wide angle, and superior low light walkaround purposes. Add them all up (along with the 60mm Macro, tele-extenders, and other stuff) and your bag starts getting heavy.

Bottom Line:   
Was a bit disappointed with this lens. I bought this as the "walkaround" lens for my EOS 7D. As it stands, i am considering getting the Canon EF-S Zoom 17 MM-55 MM Lens as a secondary "walkaround", defeating the purpose of getting this expensive L series lens in the first place.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   21+ years

Price Paid:    $850.00

Purchased At:   Ebay

Similar Products Used:   Overall it is is a good lens for outdoor walkaround, and if you can live with the poor low light performance, and limited wideangle aspect on 1.6x bodies, you will love the images you get, If you are looking at this as an all in one, indoor/outdoor lens, it will disappoint.

Type of photography:   Outdoor


Reviews 1 - 5 (22 Reviews Total) | Next 15

Review Options:  Sorted by Latest Review | Sort by Best Rating

Write a Review >>

  • Camera Format35 mm SLR
    Lens TypeZoom Lens
    Focal Length24mm - 105mm
    Lens Max Aperturef/4
    Min Aperturef/22
    Focus TypeAutofocus
    Macro LensWithout Macro Lens
    MountCanon EF
    Closest Focusing Distance17.76 in
    Diaphragm Blades8 Blades
    Picture Angle23.33 - 84 degrees
    Attachment / Filter Size77 mm
    Groups / Elements18 Elements in 13 Groups
    Image StabilizationWith Image Stabilization
    Diameter3.3 in
    Length4.2 in
    Weight23.6 oz
    MPN0344B002
    UPC013803050844
    Product ID27100886
    Release DateSeptember, 2005


 

PhotographyReview Videos



 

PhotographyReview on Facebook