EF 24 2.8 [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

rick barclay

15th of February 2004 (Sun), 04:35

Posted at photographyreview.com:

Reviewed by: canonjin, Casual

Price Paid: $195 at Akihabara, Tokyo

Photography Experience:
2-5 years, Other

Summary:
I bought this lens in Japan and used it mainly for travel shooting. Wide open, corners and edges are slightly soft and less contrasty. Stopped down to f/4.0, edge sharpness and contrast improves considerably.. At f/8.0 you get superb sharpness from corner to corner. Maybe not as sharp as 50mm prime, but *very* close and probably indistinguishable in most photo situations. Centre sharpness is excellent at all apertures.

The viewing perspective of this lens enables excellent landscape shots, as well as some nice close-ups. Very pleased with this lens for 35mm film. And on digital SLRs with 1.6x crop, its effective focal length is a comfortable 38.4mm for general shots. Distortion of straight edges is practically non-existant when shooting parallel to a vertical edge. Only when shooting upwards at a block of skyscrapers,e.g., then slight barrel is noticed.. but this is unavoidable at this focal length and perspective.

Build quality is very good. Front element does not rotate during focusing and is fixed, which is good for filters that require fixed positions, and excellent dust sealing. Fast focusing and very lightweight.

Strengths:
Excellent sharpness overall, especially when stopped down to f/8.0, which produces superb results corner to corner of frame. Lightweight, fast AF, good sealing, nice perspective. Practically no distortion when shooting parallel to vertical edges.

Weaknesses:
Corners not as sharp or contrasty at f/2.8.. but this is suited to landscape/scenic photography which means the lens would often be stopped down, so this isn't a problem.

Similar Products Used:
Canon EF 50mm MK1 and Mk2

Customer Service:
Never used it