Canon 600D and the Canon EF 24-105mm f4L IS USM?

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staedtler

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Hi, I am thinking about upgrading my kit lens (the 18-55mm) and was considering the Canon 24-105mm lens as I saw a relatively good deal where it is being sold at £550. Would I see an improvement in the quality of the photos, or am I being naive in thinking that this upgrade would do that? Also, as this lens will work on a full-frame camera, does this mean that image quality will again be lower on the 600D? One reason why I think this lens would suit me is the zoom, as the 105mm on a cropped body would almost give a telefocus effect and also the f4 aperture would also be useful.

So what do you think about this upgrade? Is it suitable (in general and for this camera)? If not, what else would you suggest?

Thanks!
 
I have used the combination of a 600D and 24-105 with excellent results. The 24-105 is, in my opinion, an extremely good walk about lens. If I had any criticism on a cropped body then the wide angle end works out about 40mm (24 X 1.6). This was occasionally not wide enough for my needs. However as you say you do get the benefits at the other end where it becomes approx 168mm

In my view and experience ALL lenses get a little softer at the edges. On a cropped body you never use the extreme edges of the lens so you will find that all your photos should be sharp - right to the edge.
 
Yes you'll notice an improvement with your shots, the 24-105 is a very nice lens, be aware though, you will loose the 18-24mm range as Val says. I'd suggest you have a look at your photos and see what focal range you are using most often.

If you are within this 18-24mm range, it maybe better suited for you to look at a different lens - eg the 17-55 F2.8
 
Having owned the 24-105 ( a few times) its a nice lens, but as already mentioned, it may feel a bit long at the wide end on a crop.
If more reach is required, and still keeping the wide end, then i would recommend the 18-135 STM (not the older USM version).
This lens is nice and sharp, and although slightly slower than the 24-105L i find it a better all round lens for crop cameras.
Another good choice IMO would be the 15-85IS. I had a 17-55 f/2.8 IS for almost 5 years but sold it to get the 15-85. IQ is pretty close, and the extra reach at either end really came in handy.
 
I've just fell back in love with my 24-105 f4L. Since I got a Sigma 24-70 f2.8 HSM and Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II it didn't get a lot of use. But after taking it to a recent gig on my 5D3 and getting some excellent photos I'm using it a lot more. I've tried it on my 7D and 1D MkIII as well and it's a great walkabout lens if you're not planning any wide angled shots. On the 5D3 it's just fantastic though and I'm looking forward to a lot more shots with it in the future.
 
dave_bass5 said:
Having owned the 24-105 ( a few times) its a nice lens, but as already mentioned, it may feel a bit long at the wide end on a crop.
If more reach is required, and still keeping the wide end, then i would recommend the 18-135 STM (not the older USM version).
This lens is nice and sharp, and although slightly slower than the 24-105L i find it a better all round lens for crop cameras.
Another good choice IMO would be the 15-85IS. I had a 17-55 f/2.8 IS for almost 5 years but sold it to get the 15-85. IQ is pretty close, and the extra reach at either end really came in handy.
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I'd second what Dave says about the 15-85, it stays on my camera 80% of the time, is "arguably" up to L quality or very close to.
It depends what you want it for, views, landscapes and the like then the 24 end on a crop would not be wide enough, IMO it would become a zoom more than a walk about lens.
24 would still be 24 but you'd see the same as a 38mm view on a full frame.
Try using your existing lens at 38mm and see how you get on then you'd have a good idea of the L lens at the low end.
 
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Martyn D said:
Try using your existing lens at 38mm and see how you get on then you'd have a good idea of the L lens at the low end.
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Sorry? You meant to recommend trying the existing lens at 24mm, surely?
 
StewartR said:
Sorry? You meant to recommend trying the existing lens at 24mm, surely?
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Yeah that's what he means, so you can see if 24mm would be wide enough for your use it'll have the same field of view as the 24-105 if you set the kit lens @ 24.
I would disagree with some of what is said on the posts above as I own a 15-85 and it is the best lens I have bought, however I was going to buy the 24-105 once I'd returned from a 3 day brake in Disney land Paris but while there I was struggling even with my kit lens set at 18mm, needed wider so on my return I opted for the 15-85 and I must admit I love that bit of glass but its not often I use the 15mm end and TBH I would rather have a wider aperture than the long zoom as a walk about I personally would go for the Tamron 24-70 F/2.8 VC USD. But that's just my opinion, you may find that doesn't work for you. I thought I couldn't live without the 15mm but when I checked the exif data I realised that there arent that many images shot at 15mm and when I shoot landscape I shoot 3 or 4 images and merge onto a panoramic image
 
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Yeah, I must admit I didn't use the wide end as much as I thought i did, although I do subscribe to the you can crop in but can't crop out line of thought.
My main walkabout lens is a 24-70 f/2.8, although I don't find f/2.8 to be needed most of the time.
For what it's worth I've just seen that Digital Rev are doing the 24-105 for £529 delivered. Pretty good deal IMO, even I'm tempted to get another.
 
StewartR said:
Sorry? You meant to recommend trying the existing lens at 24mm, surely?
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My way of explaining prob wasn't the best, I was trying to show that a 24mm lens on a FF will be 24mm as it will be on a crop but the photo if printed out from both cameras will not be the same as it won't be as wide a view...can't get the correct wording to show what I mean :LOL:
 
dave_bass5 said:
Yeah, I must admit I didn't use the wide end as much as I thought i did, although I do subscribe to the you can crop in but can't crop out line of thought.
My main walkabout lens is a 24-70 f/2.8, although I don't find f/2.8 to be needed most of the time.
For what it's worth I've just seen that Digital Rev are doing the 24-105 for £529 delivered. Pretty good deal IMO, even I'm tempted to get another.
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I can understand that but for ME the F/2.8 would be a god send as I'd use it all the time having 2 boys that run around like blue ar☆e flies and I wouldn't struggle as much at 2.8 as I do at 5.6 for indoor use
 
Wouldn't using a slightly larger DOF help keep them in focus when they are running around?

Having used a 17-55 f/2.8 for almost 5 years as my main lens, with my crop cameras, I do think f/2.8 does give you more versatility, and when I went to the 15-85 I did feel I lost some creativity by not having f/2.8, so I'm not disagreeing with you, I just found the extra reach, smaller and lighter lens, and the almost silent IS (for video) outweighed the loss of a stop or so of light.
I actually did Disney (Florida) twice with crops. The first time I took my 17-55, the second the 24-105. I felt the 24-105 was the best all round lens, but I think I'd already taken so many shots the first time that I didn't miss the wide end, as I was concentrating more on the family. I guess my point is, as with all the posts here, it all depends on the situation, and there is no perfect lens.
 
I would echo most of the points above too, on a crop camera, the 17-55 f2.8 is the ideal walkabout lens with the ability to take a very wide variety of shots. Great IQ. And the f2.8 option is something id rather have than an f4 with IS. Opinions on that will vary though.
 
Martyn D said:
My way of explaining prob wasn't the best, I was trying to show that a 24mm lens on a FF will be 24mm as it will be on a crop but the photo if printed out from both cameras will not be the same as it won't be as wide a view...can't get the correct wording to show what I mean :LOL:
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24mm on full frame and 24mm on crop would look exactly the same.
 
RichardtheSane said:
24mm on full frame and 24mm on crop would look exactly the same.
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24mm on crop would be the equivalent of 38.4mm of a FF fieald of view but lets not get into that as there already are thousands of threads on that matter.
 
dave_bass5 said:
Wouldn't using a slightly larger DOF help keep them in focus when they are running around?

Having used a 17-55 f/2.8 for almost 5 years as my main lens, with my crop cameras, I do think f/2.8 does give you more versatility, and when I went to the 15-85 I did feel I lost some creativity by not having f/2.8, so I'm not disagreeing with you, I just found the extra reach, smaller and lighter lens, and the almost silent IS (for video) outweighed the loss of a stop or so of light.
I actually did Disney (Florida) twice with crops. The first time I took my 17-55, the second the 24-105. I felt the 24-105 was the best all round lens, but I think I'd already taken so many shots the first time that I didn't miss the wide end, as I was concentrating more on the family. I guess my point is, as with all the posts here, it all depends on the situation, and there is no perfect lens.
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I do agree with you on all of the above points and if or when I do switch to the Tamron 24-70 I'm sure there will be times when I will miss the 15-85 :)
 
24-105, 17-55 IS or Tamron 17-50 would all be a step-up quality-wise. If it was me and I had one lens I'd go 17-55 IS.

Phil
 
Moving from the kit lens on my 450D to the 24-105L was what convinced me that perhaps spending a bit more on glass reaped rewards - the difference in image quality was significant. I now have a 7D and it's rarely off the camera.
 
staedtler said:
If not, what else would you suggest?

Thanks!
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Hi, I have the Canon 600D and the 15-85mm and it's a great improvement on the kit lens, the 17-55 has amazing IQ but is a bit too heavy for me. As others have said the 24-105 on your crop body will not have the width of the aforementioned, depending of course if you need that option.
 
lucky_13 said:
I do agree with you on all of the above points and if or when I do switch to the Tamron 24-70 I'm sure there will be times when I will miss the 15-85 :)
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Yeah, that 15-85 is so small and light, yet produces very sharp images.

I must admit i do sometimes wonder why i switched to FF. The Crop cameras have a much better choice of lenses IMO. A lot of the lenses id like, or can afford, are EF-S lenses.
Then again, i have the 24-70 f/2.8 MII so i really cant complain lol. I wouldn't have this lens if i was still only using crops, although it does work rather nicely on my 650D as well.
 
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