5D MKII and a 28-135MM IS lens

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drb5

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Sorry if this is the wrong section, but i thought it might have been worth sticking this up in here.

For a while i've been searching the net for details on the 5D MKII with a 28-135mm lens....there isn't much let me tell you!

It was what i could afford and the more i use these, the more it blows me away. Ok, i'm not used to FF, but tbh the sharpness the 28-135 produces on the MKII is a lot better than i expected.

The following is straight out the camera with NO processing at all.

HTP and ALO are off and NR is on standard.

ISO 1250
28MM
F5.6
1/80
3739085565_75de845fea_b.jpg


Roughly 100% crop(didn't know how to get an exact crop.)
3739880276_7e25cd500f_o.jpg
 
That looks nice, but TBH nothing less than you'd expect from a well focused image and a crop straight from the centre.

If you were to do side by side comparisons with, say, the 24-105L 4 IS, and took a peek around the edges, you would see where the more expensive lens scores, and of course it's f/4 throughout, but I wouldn't expect to see a huge difference. Law of diminishing returns and all that.

The image has got that lovely full frame look to it, too. Shallow DoF and a kind of effortless qaulity that is hard to describe. It comes from big senor gathering lots of light, and squillions of photons to play with. You get the same thing with medium format film, and the effect is called 'plasticity' - very smooth transition of tones.

At the other extreme, I was looking at some pics from my Pano FX500 compact and while they're sharp enough, the images have a smeary look to the colours and the edge sharpness is over processed and artificial.

I guess you can't beat a good big un :)
 
I'm considering getting a 24-105 on hire to compare just as you say Hoppy. :) Because there's such a difference in cost and the lack of comparison on the net, i think it's worth a try....not that a lot of people would consider the way i went...

I'm missing the quickness of my 17-55 tbh, though i'm not sure the 4 is quick enough for me to be satisfied in paying £600+ for the lens. I take a lot of indoor shots and with the AF hunting and slower lens, it bugs me a little.


Full size pic here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drb5/3739085565/sizes/o/
 
If you upgrade to the 24-105L purely on grounds of sharpness alone, you will probably wonder if it's worth it. It will be better, but you'll have to look for it. Your dog image on the link has got a bit of CA going on around the edges, does that bother you? That kind of thing. (And now that I've pointed it out, it probably will! We're like that LOL )

The 24-105L is wider, constant f/4, has very good IS and is ruggedly built to a very high standard. I'm not sure if it's weatherproofed and has a rounded aperture, but that's the other stuff you're paying for. It's just a nice lens to use.

I have to say that for me the 24-105L is one of the best reasons for buying a Canon full frame. Superb partner to a 5D2. Others might say 24-70L 2.8, but whichever way you cut it, feeding a full frame camera with the best lenses is not a cheap affair.
 
:D Had a check there, as soon as you mentioned it.

Tbh, i'm not terribly fussed on the CA...clarity is the main thing for me. Some might knock me for that, but one day i intend on having a 24-105 anyway.

Seems strange there isn't a lens from Canon with the same focal range and faster than consant 4??? I did hear of a MKII 24-105?

Think the 24-70 would be too small a range for me.
 
drb5 said:
:D Had a check there, as soon as you mentioned it.

Tbh, i'm not terribly fussed on the CA...clarity is the main thing for me. Some might knock me for that, but one day i intend on having a 24-105 anyway.

Seems strange there isn't a lens from Canon with the same focal range and faster than consant 4??? I did hear of a MKII 24-105?

Think the 24-70 would be too small a range for me.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention the lens correction suite in DPP, the Canon Raw processing software that came with your camera (latest version with your 5D2). It's very good, and if you run the files through DPP it picks up information from the camera's exif data and automatically corrects for distortion, vignetting and residual CA, according to focal length, f/number and focusing distance. Very clever, give it a try :)

Canon will not make a 24-105 2.8. If they did, it would be huge, cost a fortune and would have poor edge sharpness wide open. Low f/numbers are very demanding in a zoom and the best your can reasonably do is 24-70 2.8 on full frame. Rumour has it that a new 24-70 L 2.8 is around the corner, but the main difference is likely to be IS and not much more.

If you want focal length range, it's zooms; if you want low f/numbers, then go for primes.
 
Thanks Hoppy. :)

Never knew that about DPP, i certainly WILL give it a try. :thumbs:

Don't really have the knowledge behind how lenses work etc, so thanks for that.

Couldn't do without IS and probably the only prime i'll buy is a 50mm and that'll really only be for the odd portrait in doors. :D
 
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