Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L Mark ii Review

Check out my website at www.DarrenMiles.com/ - Southwest Florida Family, Wedding and Portrait Photographer Get price on the Canon EF 24-70mm F/2.8 Mark ii L from B&H Photo HERE: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/843008-USA/Canon_51… Great Price on the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 with VC from B&H Photo here; For Canon - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/845339-REG/Tamron_S… For Nikon - www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/845350-REG/Tamron_S… B&H's best deals in photography - updated weekly HERE: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Photography-Deals/ci/18… CONCLUSION: OK, time to close this review and draw some conclusions about the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 Mark ii, so here goes; BUILD QUALITY: It’s a really nice and tightly assembled package of high quality plastics and metal working in perfect Canon L harmony - it’s on par with the majority of other L lenses from Canon, the zoom ring was not that well dampened, but it was fluid, wide and easy to use, conversely, the zoom ring offered the perfect amount of resistance, is well dampened and the ring is rubberized - it just smacks of quality. The Canon is weather sealed and came in at just under 2 lbs. On the inside there are 23 elements in 18 groups - sadly, it doesn’t have image stabilization and the front element is an unusual 82mm in diameter. In the end, there’s a lot to love about the build, we gave it a 9.5/10 AF SPEED AND ACCURACY: It’s not the fastest focussing we’ve ever tested, but it is the most accurate focussing zoom that we’ve tested in real world situations on a full frame camera. Never have I used a lens that just nailed focus in shot after shot after, not only in a variety of poor lighting situations, but also at f/2.8, it’s the most accurate zoom lens I’ve ever used on a full frame camera. So for AF Speed and accuracy the mark ii is a 10/10 OPTICAL QUALITY AND QUALITY OF THE RESULTS: I’m getting prime quality image sharpness at all focal lengths and apertures, combine that with it’s ability to obtain sharp focus in nearly any lighting situation and this could be the wedding and photojournalist lens of choice, optically, it’s a freak of nature. Color, contrast, bokeh, sharpness, subject isolation, it’s an all around optical delight! On the downside, like a lot of wide aperture zooms, there is some vignetting at f/2.8 and the lens does exhibit some distortion, but with the lens profile correction in Lightroom 5, fixing those issues is a snap and in the end, really not much of an issue. We gave it a 10/10 for optical quality and a 10/10 for the quality of the results. VALUE: The only real dilemma with this lens is can you afford to pay for quality like this? If you’re a working professional or an enthusiast who wants or needs nothing but the very best, then I think you should just face the music and do whatever it takes to get the 24-70 mark ii. That said, if you’re not a working professional, just know that there are some very capable competitors out there notably from Tamron, and the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 also has image stabilization, a really big plus if you shoot a lot of video. Sigma also has an even lower priced 24-70 f/2.8 which is also a capable lens, assuming you can get one that focusses accurately. At $2,299 the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 mark ii is at the pinnacle in terms of pricing, in fact it’s $1,000 more than the stabilized Tamron 24-70 referenced in this review. A price difference like that has to raise some eyebrows and call into question the value of the 24-70mm f/2.8 mark ii. Let there be no doubt that the Canon is a better lens, but is it $1,000 better than it’s nearest competitor? I’m not so sure, and ultimately, the decision lies with you - so for value, we gave the 24-70 an 7 out of 10. OVERALL 46.5/50 - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THE FINAL WORD: As bitter of a pill as $2,299 is to swallow, in my opinion, the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8 mark ii is worth the $2,299 premium, I recognize that $1,000 over the Tamron is stiff, but keep in mind that if you’re like me and you shoot almost every day for a living then a lens like this will help you in your business by offering your clients the very best in image quality. Just the lens’s ability to nail focus in the worst lighting conditions over and over and over again was enough to convince me that this lens is something special. B&H Photo sent me this lens to review on loan, but in all honesty I probably won’t be sending it back, I’m going to talk to my rep about buying the lens out right, for what I do, it’s worth the premium. This is Darren Miles with Darren Miles photography based here in beautiful sunny naples, FL, if you like these reviews, please don’t for get to SUBSCRIBE!

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