Lens Advice

funktheory

funktheory

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Hi, I have a 40d camera and decided to go from a 28-105 zoom (eg about £300) to a 24-105 L lens. After spending nearly a thousand pounds, there doesn't appear to be hardly any difference in the shots, after shooting 2 pics on each of my father. Am I missing something? :(
 
funktheory said:
Am I missing something? :(
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Maybe. It's hard to say, without more information.

Why not show us the two pictures, give us the camera settings, etc. Then we'll be able to tell whether you should expect to see a difference, and if so what.

And welcome to TP.
 
Presumably the F/3.5-4.5 version? That's come up a few times recently. I wonder what it's like on FF (I'm on the lookout for a cheap 'standard' zoom).
 
Perhaps the question is what you felt you were missing with the cheaper lens that prompted the upgrade?
 
pearce_jj said:
Perhaps the question is what you felt you were missing with the cheaper lens that prompted the upgrade?
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I felt the L Lens would make my pictures sharper and clearer than they are e.g. less post processing. I should of looked at other aspects I guess e.g. build quality etc but I did expect some difference visually and I cant hardly see any whatsoever so for a £1000 I'm extremely disappointed. Maybe its more visible on a ff camera
 
The 24-105 is very sharp indeed and excellent IS helps this greatly as well.

If you're not happy now then look at something other than the lens. Sharpness is reduced as ISO is increased due to noise - maybe try shooting at ISO 100.
 
For example,

http://sittingbourneSPAMerver.com/downloads/photos/tp_shared/IMG_1317_edited-2.jpg

100% crop: http://sittingbourneSPAMerver.com/downloads/photos/tp_shared/eyes.jpg
 
Canon 28-105mm is a really fine lens for the money. I owned one for some time as a part of EOS 5 kit, and used it on 30D as well. It wasn't the sharpest lens, particularly at 28mm but not too soft either. Real FTM USM is another bonus. That lens really made me appreciate what 24-105mm IS would offer, however I took a different turn.
The L is indeed sharper, has wonderful colours (28-105mm is quite good), better range, better build quality, and most importantly IS. I don't think it is worth quite that much though as it is only f/4 and IS doesn't cost that much in the inferior 18-55 or 55-250mm lenses.
 
The light is really not the best, on-camera flash is often completely misused. It looks like the focus is on the tip of the nose which is not best. You should really do this shot using single AF point, focus on the eye and recompose without changing the distance even slightly. The light should be from a massive softbox, or a massive window shaded with thin curtains. Bounced speedlite off the ceiling also works well, but NEVER use direct flash as your main light for this.

funktheory said:
Ok, my mum kindly volunteered :lol:this pictures will be gone soon though.

Heres the two pics, both shot on iso 100, with flash as way too dark otherwise:

24-105

_MG_0037a.jpg


28-105 (IS on)

_MG_0038a.jpg
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focal length seems to be different. are u using the same settings for each photo?
 
The lens tests suggest that there maybe little difference between the two at 105mm in the centre (I was really happy with 28-105mm @ 105mm btw), but in the corners and at other F the difference is rather obvious.

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/188-canon-ef-24-105mm-f4-usm-l-is-lab-test-report--review?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/189-canon-ef-28-105mm-f35-45-usm-test-report--review?start=1

Obviously both lenses will be sharpest between f/5.6-8. F4 would really give slightly dreamy look, but for portraits and particularly your mum it is a huge advantage.

Focusing is really critical, and if you use all points and leave all to auto then really you can't expect any better. If you tried 24-70mm f/2.8 L you would find it even harder to nail the focus, and f/1.2 - f/1.8 primes may look really dreadful. Wide apertures unfortunately leave little to no room for error. Shoot at f/8 if you want max sharpness and "easy" focusing. IS will help you along the way.
 
A simple indoor shot with on cam flash is not really the way to test a lens. Try taking both out next time you are shooting and compare in your real shooting situation.

No lens will improve your photography, but there are some noticeable differences in L glass, Maybe tripod set up the same shot and then zoom to 100%, maybe not as much as you wanted but you will see some differences.
 
ding76uk said:
A simple indoor shot with on cam flash is not really the way to test a lens. Try taking both out next time you are shooting and compare in your real shooting situation.

No lens will improve your photography, but there are some noticeable differences in L glass, Maybe tripod set up the same shot and then zoom to 100%, maybe not as much as you wanted but you will see some differences.
Click to expand...

Fair point, I just need to decide now whether to keep it now. I have 4 studio shoots week after next so that would be a true test but I need to decide what factors I should be looking at, something I didnt realise before buying it. Its all learning.
 
funktheory said:
Its all learning.
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:agree:

Then do your best to familiarise with the camera and the lens and play to it strong side. I don't think 24-70mm f/2.8 would make you happier at the moment as it has a huge potential to look far softer than this. Learn to use the flash, studio lights and life will be good. In the studio you will probably use it at f/8-11 at 1/250s ISO 100 so IS it your best friend. Just get the lights and composition right.
 
Canon 24-105L vs 28-105.

Higher build quality
IS
A bit wider
Less distortion
Less CA
Less vignetting
Sharper at the edges at low f/numbers

Apart from the first three, the other benefits will be hard to spot on crop format. The lens is designed primarily as a general purpose workhorse for full frame.

The lens designed for similar use on a crop format camera is the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS (27-88mm equivalent). The main benefit of that lens is f/2.8 throughout and the wide angle end, but of course this is no help if you want the 105mm range.
 
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