Canon EF 24-70 f/4L IS Coming [CR3]

[Canon 14-24]

So for the remainder of 2012 Q4 possible product announcements, we have possibly 1 more D-slr and this 24-70 f/4 is lens? I hope this is another lost in translation and it was actually meant to be a new/updated ultra wide angle zoom L lens! 16-35 f/4 IS or 17-40 f/4 IS?   

[Jesse]

Canon needs to announce a 14-24mm already so everyone can breathe and stop complaining for a bit.

[robbymack]

This does seem silly, can't see why anyone would want this over the tamron f2.8 vc. I assume it will become the new kits lens and the 24-105 will fade into obscurity. Which i guess may make some sense especially if canons marketing shows a lot of folks don't buy a 70-200, 70-300, or 100-400 if they already have the 24-105 and are happy.  Could be a plan to sell a few more 70-200's etc.

[ahsanford]

Maybe?

24-70 f4
24-70 IS f4
24-70 f2.8
24-70 IS f2.8

I was saying the same thing in my post (we must have been writing simultaneously) -- this is worth sizing up.  Looking at B&H (incl. rebates):

70-200 F/4             $629  (<-- an absolute bargain like the 17-40L is)
70-200 F/4 IS         $1,099
70-200 F/2.8           $1,299
70-200 F/28 IS II    $2,099

Extrapolating this to the 24-70, this might look like:

24-70 F/4               $1,099?
24-70 F/4 IS           $1,999?
24-70 F/2.8 (II)      $2,299  (<--- this one exists for sale today)
24-70 F/2.8 IS        $3k+?  Rare stamps?  Left testicle? 

And if such estimates are even close, who would buy the first two on that list when the 24-105 F/4 IS is widely available in the $950 range? (actually less, given all the kit+body lens resellers).  I'm not buying it.

So I'm going to dismiss the four price points and think that this must be either a value or size/weight sell.  This new F/4L IS needs to be very small/light or value priced like the 17-40 or 70-200 F/4 NON-IS to make sense.

...or Canon really is nuts.

[Daniel Flather]

Canon needs to announce a 14-24mm already so everyone can breathe and stop complaining for a bit.

Yes, and price it above the 14L so I can then justify buying the 14L.

[stewy]

An f4 version huh! I'm curious as to how it will compare to my 24-105L. If its noticeably better then I'll switch, if not, what's the point. Ideally I'd want the 24-70L with IS.

[Jesse]

Only reason I don't own the 24-105 is because it's too slow....

[neuroanatomist]

24-70mm f/4L IS?

WTF?  Just.....WTF?!?

 

[Orangutan]

Pure speculation here, but this could be a video-oriented lens.  It will likely be parfocal, possibly with an internal zoom mechanism.  To do this out to 105mm would make it a lot more expensive, heavy, and not necessarily more marketable to the video crowd.

Again, this is just a guess.

[IWLP]

Once again, Canon delivers a lens that nobody asked for. Unless this thing is so sharp it gives me paper cuts just by looking at it, my 24-105 f/4L shall stay in my bag.

[jhanken]

Perhaps it's an STM lens?  We assume is USM, but perhaps this is targeted primarily at video?

Sorry, those two reasons don't undo how nuts this looks at first glance.

Agreed. My 24-105 f/4 L sits on my 5D by default, I find that about 65% of my shots are at 105mm, about 30% are in between 24-30mm, and the rest around 50mm. 

Chopping off the extra reach with compensating larger aperture for a normal kit lens probably only makes sense if they are trying to reduce breathing and make a more cine-ish lens.

[x-vision]

24-70mm f/4L IS?

WTF?  Just.....WTF?!?

Two words: compact size.

The 24-105L is smaller than the 24-70L but it's still not a compact lens.

Canon needs a smaller (and cheaper?) kit lens for the smallish 6D. 
A compact, high quality 24-70mm f/4L IS would be a very good fit.

Depending on price, I'd be very interested in such a lens - and potentially the 6D too.

[stewy]

My current lens strategy is to go with the cheaper f4 lens. They aren't very fast, but they are still very good. If I need faster I usually need really fast or really shallow DOF. For this I resort to a prime lens that gets me 1.4 or faster. However, these days I've been thinking of dropping going even faster as a base, from f4 to 2.8, I like my 100mm L.

[Stevo2008]

My guess is this will go as a kit lens with Canon 6D. Priced similar to recently announced Nikkor 24-85mm F3.5-4.5G ED VR lens.

[bbasiaga]

Hm...hard to price this.  I'd say $1k ish maybe, like the 24-105, but trading reach for sharpness. 

Or I could see it at the $1600 mark where the old MK1 was at.  You get IS and sharpness but lose speed compared to the ultra sharp V2 F2.8....

What if its a non-L?  At the $900 mark to be popular with the new entry level FF crowd? 

People say 'no one asked for this' but what they really mean is 'no one on the internet forums asked for this'.  Canon seems to have a lens for every niche (ultra wide zoom excepted)...I'm sure they've got a target crowd for this lens.  Video may well be it, as suggested above.  It will also have the more accurrate focus system/feedback/position sensor....a plus for users of the new bodies compared to the 24-105.

-Brian