The Raw Data: The EF 24-70 f/2.8L II is the Sharpest Zoom Canon Has Ever Made

[Cannon Man]

I find it hard to believe these "test results"
Partly because i love primes. And if they can make a zoom lens that good they better update every single prime lens they make to be much better cos' they seem to have better technology than before to design lenses.

If canon made a zoom lens that good it's fine with me but it should not be possible to beat primes.
I'm voting for this one to be a hoax! IT IS POSTED ON A RUMOR WEBSITE. It's not really official info.
I can make my own tests and say the 50mm 1.8 is sharper than the new 400mm 2.8L IS II USM.

[dave]

I don't believe these findings at all...

One... claiming the 24 TS/e is the sharpest lens canon has created....
two... they forget that canon made a 28-70mm 2.8 that consistently beat the 24-70I in all tests...but neglected to track down a copy and compare.

I think this is promo-hype to try and sell an overpriced piece of glass.
$1800 sure...
but 2300 is obscene.

The author claimed the 24mm TS-E ii (in the original blog post) was the sharpest 24mm - which it is.

You can take an awful lot of different types of photos between 24mm and 70mm. We'd all like to pay less, but there'll be plenty of takers at 2300 if it is that good. Canon is a business - it's supply and demand. There are still plenty of people stumping up similar cash for the 70-200mm is ii and this will be the same.

If you don't want to spend that much then the Mark i version, 24-105, and 28-135 fill various price points.

The price makes complete (but painful) sense.

[Aglet]

Y'all hopin' this lens was delayed so much to make the tweaks needed to bring it up enough to match the rumored high MP FF body?..

[Razor2012]

Specs seem to be true, this baby will have great sales...just like the 70-200 2.8II.

[Axilrod]

Picking this thing up in the morning, we'll see if these results are indeed accurate.

[victorwol]

I find it hard to believe these "test results"
Partly because i love primes. And if they can make a zoom lens that good they better update every single prime lens they make to be much better cos' they seem to have better technology than before to design lenses.

If canon made a zoom lens that good it's fine with me but it should not be possible to beat primes.
I'm voting for this one to be a hoax! IT IS POSTED ON A RUMOR WEBSITE. It's not really official info.
I can make my own tests and say the 50mm 1.8 is sharper than the new 400mm 2.8L IS II USM.

The link is on a rumor site, and a very respectful one, the author is from a rental house, which as far as I know, it does not sell lenses and does not need a silly hoax to rent them. You can make your tests of course, but who know you? Which reputations have you built for people to believe you? This guy have a reputation and very good reviews and posts about equipment and knows what is talking about. Yiu might disagree, but for that I believe you should have the lens on your hand to call him a liar.

[Axilrod]

I don't believe these findings at all...

One... claiming the 24 TS/e is the sharpest lens canon has created....
two... they forget that canon made a 28-70mm 2.8 that consistently beat the 24-70I in all tests...but neglected to track down a copy and compare.

I think this is promo-hype to try and sell an overpriced piece of glass.
$1800 sure...
but 2300 is obscene.

One, you didn't read that correctly, they said the TS-E is the sharpest 24mm Canon has ever produced, which it absolutely is.  Two, the EF 28-70mm is long discontinued, why compare it to a lens that no one can easily get and hasn't been in production in 10 years?

And whether or not the price is "obscene" or not is totally subjective, this lens is backordered into oblivion so obviously not everyone feels the same way as you.  And the last of the 24-70mm v1's were being sold at $1599, I don't see how you can expect such massive improvements to a lens to only be worth $200.

[dave]

Picking this thing up in the morning, we'll see if these results are indeed accurate.

Will you be able to sleep? 

[drmikeinpdx]

Did you notice that Roger Cicala did not say if the new lens has the magic magnetic rotation detector?  You know, the little part that allows the 5D3 and 1DX to have a closed loop autofocus system.

In the comments after the article, Roger hints that he's holding out on us.  I'm watching his blog like a hawk until he reveals this critical piece of information! 

Fun. 

[dirtcastle]

It sounds like a perfect rental lens.

[M.ST]

I can fully agree to Rogers test. Thank you very much for testing.

If you are a professional photographer get the lens.

In my opinion it´s not to expensive. If you have only to work a day or less as a professional photographers to buy the lens, the price is not a big problem.

[Aglet]

Enjoy your onion rind bokeh with the Tamron.

really only a problem with large OOF highlights from what I've seen so far.
The IS is a major selling feature.
-

[pwp]

If multiple reviewers come up with similar results and conclusions, Canon has a very welcome winner on it's hands. A single, gushing review generally makes me inclined to wait on verification from other reputable independent reviewers, plus real world photographers feedback.

When the 24-70 f/2.8 replaced the admittedly awful 28-70 f/2.8, the first reviews gushed in a similar tone. But it sure looks like a very strong first impression.

-PW

[pj1974]

That is sure one impressive lens from the data that Lensrentals has produced. I didn't expect it to be THAT sharp!!

Canon has in recent years really raised the bar with zoom lenses, some of those with great sharpness include:
EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6
EF 24-105mm f/4 L
EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8
EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L 

Then it appears this lens which came out with an even more exceptional standard in terms of sharpness:
EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L mk II
and this new
EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L mk II continues (or even exceeds?!) that standard.   
I had a decent copy of the 28-135mm, but at the long end it needed to be stopped down 1 EV to increase sharpness, saturation and contrast.

Well done Canon with these new lenses. It's definitely a shame for non-pros about the prices... but often one truly does get one pays for. I have the Canon 15-85mm and Canon 70-300mm L, and a bunch of other lenses. The 15-85mm and 70-300mm L that I have are both great, sharp copies. As I'm not looking to go FF at any stage soon, these 2 will do me for a long time to come! 

If I was a pro with a FF, I can imagine I'd probably get the EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L zoom.... it would be great for many applications... along with a few nice 'big glass' primes!

Paul

[Marsu42]

Enjoy your onion rind bokeh with the Tamron.

Well, the Canon mk2 has it too (but to a lesser extent), ye know? But don't let get facts in the way.

Canon has in recent years really raised the bar with zoom lenses

Canon probably knows that the future brings higher mp sensors, and that on both ff and crop very sharp lenses are needed to outresolve the sensor. So while the 24-70ii should be great on 22mp, it'll show its true potential and the difference to the mk1 on a 40mp sensor.