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Review by Klaus Schroiff, published July 2005
Special thanks to Johannes Matzke, Markus Stamm, Jaroslaw Komasinski, Sander Vermeulen & Marcel van Leeuwen for providing four (...) copies of this lens for testing!
Introduction
The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L is one of main stream pro grade lenses in the Canon line up and
very popular among pro photographers (especially press) as well as serious amateurs. On APS-C DSLRs
its field-of-view resembles a classic 39-112mm lens
on full-frame cameras which isn't terribly useful to start with. Here it shows that this lens was
designed for full-frame (D)SLRs.
With a weight of 950g and a size of 83x123mm it is quite a bit heavier and bigger than
many third party alternatives but comparable to similar lenses made by other
genuine brand manufacturers.
The lens has a reverse zooming mechanism so it extends towards the wide end
of the range. It is shortest at 70mm. While this may seem odd at first the system
makes sense when attaching the deep flower-shaped hood which remains highly effective
at all focal lengths. So with attached hood the size of the package remains constant.
Still it would be nice if such a lens would not extend at all during zooming.
The front element does not rotate during focusing there're no issues when using a
polarizer - without hood that is.
The optical construction is made of 16 elements in 13 groups, including one UD elements
and two aspherical elements. The elements are made of lead-free glass.
The min. focus distance is 0.39m resulting is a max. object magnification of ~1:3.3 at
70mm. The lens features 8 circular aperture blades. The filter size is 77mm.
The lens has a ring-type USM drive based on a front-focusing system resulting
in an extremely fast AF speed. As usual for modern ring-type USM lenses full-time
manual focusing is always possible in one-shot AF mode.
The build quality of this lens is exceptional. No significant wobbling and smooth
controls - almost perfect. The lens is also designed to survive in harsh conditions with
a sealing against dust and moisture.
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