Are Canon's Premium 'L' Lens's really worth the money?

[joescrivens]

No, I read it as they are less important to use as a criteria compared to sharpness as you can't really correct soft images in post. I.e. if you had the choice of a lens that exhibited CA and barrel distortion as well as some colour rendition issues, but was perfectly sharp vs a lens that was perfect in all distortions, but wasn't very sharp (yes, I know this is a contradiction ), which would you choose?

Of course, one that is perfect in all respects would be preferable but...

ok fair point

 

[odd jim]

I think its like all things in life, do you value the "extra" qualities that the premium price brings?

I wear a £20 Casio digital watch but have a colleauge at work who has a predeliction for Breitling watches, both tell the time, but I do not value the extra "qualities" in his watch enough to want one.

Same with cars, why spend £80k on a S calss Mercedes when a Ford Mondeo will probably do most of the same things for a quarter of the price?

Discuss

David

PS if I win the lottery next week a S Class will be coming my way

The differences in good non L EF and EFS lenses and L lenses isn't quite as extreme as the differences in your example!

 

[ZoneV]

There's no doubt non-"L" lenses can capture fantastic images but they tend not to be as good across the entire aperture and zoom range as "L" glass, especially at the wide/long end. "L" lenses also cope better in tricky conditions, often suffering less CA, yielding better contrast etc and with better AF performance, especially in low light conditions.

The limitations of non-"L" lenses may not be a problem for most of us hobbyists and can often be worked around, but for a pro who needs a lens that will perform at a moment's notice, no matter what, and give them the best results every time, it can make all the difference.

 

[The23rdman]

Surely you just use the lens correction in Lightroom. You can apply it whenever you import so the adder is just waiting for the pic to be auto processed.

If you're that worried, you can create a lens profile that is specific to your lens quite easily (although it does take a little time).

Exactly.

 

[HoppyUK]

ok fair point

Joe, I'm not sure from the posts above if you have tried lens corrections or not, or what you've got available in Photoshop, but if it's the same as Lightroom then they're brilliant - and only a mouse click.

Even the best L lenses benefit, albeit less than others. All low f/number primes suffer from vignetting at lowest f/numbers for example, and bokeh CA is common.

The lens correction suite in Canon's own DPP software is probably the best of the lot - vigneting, CA and distortion.

 

[whiteflyer]

deleted

 

[ziggy©]

take the 50mm 1.8 for the money it's got to be the best value in the canon range but what are it's downsides 1 no USM motor 2 Plastic build and mount 3 no depth of field window.

To be honest for me those are the least important aspects i check on a lens. Maybe the USM motor but the other 2 are just not necessary for me.

 

[lost]

To be honest for me those are the least important aspects i check on a lens. Maybe the USM motor but the other 2 are just not necessary for me.

They are if you earn a living from your photography a good bump and it's out of commision that said i have one as a spare and they are a good little lens Most L specs are also dust proof another plus point.
Regards
Richard

P.s

It's a bit like camera bodies they all get the job done but the Pro bodies give you more keepers better buffer and AF

Taken with a 350D

Taken with a 1D mk 4

Horses for Courses and what you can afford