Traveling lens - big aperture

I am looking for a zoom lens for travelling. It is either 24-70 mk ii or 24-105. 24-105 is very flexible however 24-70 have bigger aperture for shallow dof. My question is if i use mostly aperture 5.6 or above to get wide dof, is the 24-70 still have better image quality than the 24-105? I notice that at smaller aperture almost all lenses are sharp.

The 24-105 will be pretty comparable at f5.6, plus it has IS and an extra 35mm. It's also 1/3 of the price.

For travel and your style of shoting the 24-105 will be perfect!

I suppose you could settle for the 24-105. It seems like it would be perfect. I however highly recommend the Sigma 120-300 2.8 lens. Once you travel with that everything else feels like toys.

Talley wrote in post #16313747
I suppose you could settle for the 24-105. It seems like it would be perfect. I however highly recommend the Sigma 120-300 2.8 lens. Once you travel with that everything else feels like toys.

And how does your back feel?

IMO such a lens is way too big and heavy to be practical for travel. Of course it depends on the subjects, but I can't think of too many travel scenes needing more than lets' say 135mm

D 550D wrote in post #16313761
And how does your back feel?

IMO such a lens is way too big and heavy to be practical for travel. Of course it depends on the subjects, but I can't think of too many travel scenes needing more than lets' say 135mm

haha, I was sarcstic.

The 24-105 really is a great travel lens. I would own one but somehow ended up with the 2.8 variant.

I think the 24-105L is an excellent travel lens. I throw in a small (in size) fast-ish prime just in case I need the shallow depth of field or a faster shutter speed in lower light.

My idea of fast-ish (and small size) are things like my 28/50/85mm f/1.8 lenses. The one I would take depends on other things like mood/FL preference, location vising, main reason traveling, when/where most of the shots will be taken, etc.... If you don't have one of those, either don't worry about it, or pick up the 50mm f/1.8 they are relatively cheap (cost & build) but IQ is very good.

i travel with a 18-105{yes i take the nikon dont want canon damaged}i like the range of the 105 i wouldnt go any narrower than the 24,for travel i prefer a wide lens,i would like a 18-200 for travel

Get a used 24-105mm and use the rest of the money you would have spent on the 24-70 II as extra money to use while traveling.

I used my 24-105 in Costa Rica, and while I was uneducated about the kens at first, and assumed it would perform ok, it performed magnificently. I gained a lot of respect for wheat it can help me achieve.

ICarumba wrote in post #16313576
I am looking for a zoom lens for travelling. It is either 24-70 mk ii or 24-105. 24-105 is very flexible however 24-70 have bigger aperture for shallow dof. My question is if i use mostly aperture 5.6 or above to get wide dof, is the 24-70 still have better image quality than the 24-105? I notice that at smaller aperture almost all lenses are sharp.

yes. the amount of detail is stunning.

I've had the 24-105 since it was introduced. I find that it the lens that I use the most. I like the focal range and the weight versus my 24-70 Mk I.