Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM

I have used my 24-105 extensively as a wildlife lens.

I created a "set" on Flickr, showing some of the wildlife images I have created with this lens. For those interested, here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com …39565564/with/8​387336206/

This lens is pretty much always on my camera...

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one from my school gig...

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Here's the first couple of shots using the 24-105 L on the T2i.

Nice set Tom, where they all captured in Yellowstone.

Great portraits folks..

One bad a$$ custom bike

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/settntrenz/8605​596006/

Hello everyone. Pulled the trigger this afternoon on a Mark III with this lens as a kit. Should be here Friday, I can't wait!!

Denis2k wrote in post #15785382
Hello everyone. Pulled the trigger this afternoon on a Mark III with this lens as a kit. Should be here Friday, I can't wait!!

Congrats! You're going to love that combo.
...and be prepared to see your beloved T3i gather a bit of dust...

GuitarDTO wrote in post #15769458
Not a lot to critique. It's a great pic. Only things I can come up with are maybe just BARELY overexposed on your forehead, and my eye also would probably prefer to see the picture as full ratio instead of cropped to what looks like 4x5/8x10. But I'm just nit picking

thanks for the feed back, I agree about the hotspot on the forehead, I tried to decrease it but when i did in post it made it look a little unnatural. I'm still learning how to shoot with off camera flash, but I love doing it

You know, I was out doing some "Biking Photog" photography over the past couple of days, and yes, there were some scenes where I missed the 16-35 lens that I had to sell a few months ago, but my "go to" 24-105 served me well, even caught some duck shots!!

So I have been debating if it makes any sense for me to up(down)grade from my 17-55 to the 24-105. Anyone on here have experience with making that switch? I find myself always using an external flash if i use my 17-55 indoors, so I don't know how much of a difference f4 would make for me. Either that or just using my sigma 30. Is there a significant difference in the weather sealing on the 24-105? How "weather proof" of a combo would my 7d+24-105 be?

I think the question lies with, if you need to be as wide as the 17-55 gives you ,then the 24-105 wont do that for you. Additionally if you need to be longer than 55 which the 24-105 will do for you.
Have you considered the 15-85

Your point about using a flash on either is a fair assement. Its a wash either way.

Bianchi wrote in post #15790334
I think the question lies with, if you need to be as wide as the 17-55 gives you ,then the 24-105 wont do that for you. Additionally if you need to be longer than 55 which the 24-105 will do for you.
Have you considered the 15-85

Your point about using a flash on either is a fair assement. Its a wash either way.

I really like the idea of having a constant max aperture throughout the zoom range, thats the only reason that I haven't looked at the 15-85

singer.rick wrote in post #15789669
So I have been debating if it makes any sense for me to up(down)grade from my 17-55 to the 24-105. Anyone on here have experience with making that switch? I find myself always using an external flash if i use my 17-55 indoors, so I don't know how much of a difference f4 would make for me. Either that or just using my sigma 30. Is there a significant difference in the weather sealing on the 24-105? How "weather proof" of a combo would my 7d+24-105 be?

Hmm...

Well, first-off, the 24-105 is not promoted as having any "weather sealing". I don't expose my gear to the "elements" (at least not on purpose). I have used a body and lenses that have had more rigorous weather sealing, and so have been a bit more "daring" with those kits, but with my present gear, well, I had one day where I was out with my 5DC, and it started to rain...I tried to "protect" it but didn't have the right clothes for a rainy day. My 5DC top LCD started malfunctioning, and that was it for me. Fortunately, after a day or so out of the rain, it started working properly! I will say that on that day I did have the 24-70, which does provide some weather sealing, but still...!

As to whether the 24-105 would be a good "replacement" for the 17-55, well, gosh, that's a tough call. I briefly used a 17-55 with my 30D, and really enjoyed it because it was a very nice "available light" lens, and I thought the IQ was great! But, the 24-105 came as a "kit lens" with my 5DC, and as such, well, it's my "go to" lens for that body. With a crop body such as your 7D, I don't know what I'd suggest.

With your 17-55, do you ever shoot wide? To me, that's the question to ask yourself -- if you cut off the "wide" from your focal length range, how would that affect your photography? I know that without the wide 24mm on my 5D, there are a lot of times when I wouldn't be so happy! In fact I recently sold my "ultra-wide" 16-35, and there have been times when I've really missed it!

As to the choice between f/2.8 and f/4 for those indoor shoots, yeah, if you are using a good flash, well I for that type of shooting don't even shoot at f/4. Depending on the subject matter, I'll typically be at f/5.6 or so. But, that doesn't mean that there are not valuable uses for an f/2.8 or wider lens. It's all in what you shoot. But since I did have to sell not just my 16-35 f/2.8 but also my 24-70 f/2.8, my 70-200 f/2.8 IS, my 85mm f/1.2, and my 50mm f/1.4, well, obviously limited as to wide aperture shooting!

So, as with so many things, my answer to you would be "it depends"!