Current Canon 28-70 2.8L, 24-70 2.8L, or 24-105 4L IS Owners

Trying to decide which lens, would appreciate your response.

Man now that's what I call a poll! I got half way down, got confused, started again...no use I just gave up! I mean what's the point..really! Just buy the lens that you most think will suit your photographic needs, if you don't like it, return it. Simple

Im lost

I think I got it right - took me 5 minutes to read the options

I think the downside of polls like this is that there's no explanation of why. I personally liked the images of the 24-70 better than my 24-105 (having owned 3 24-70s, and 2 24-105s), but now still own a 24-105. Why? Because I have other lens that do what I would have done with a 24-70, and didn't have a lens that would do things that the 24-105 does. But my vote of having extensively tried both and selected a 24-105 would tend to indicate I think it's better than the 24-70, when that's not necessarily my feeling at all.

No lens will do it all. What ever lens you buy, you will have times when you wish you had the other one.

matsuib wrote in post #2181089
I think the downside of polls like this is that there's no explanation of why. I personally liked the images of the 24-70 better than my 24-105 (having owned 3 24-70s, and 2 24-105s), but now still own a 24-105. Why? Because I have other lens that do what I would have done with a 24-70, and didn't have a lens that would do things that the 24-105 does. But my vote of having extensively tried both and selected a 24-105 would tend to indicate I think it's better than the 24-70, when that's not necessarily my feeling at all.

I agree. Removing the "why?" really does limit the value of a poll like this. When making my decision, I read many different threads discussing various lenses, looked at http://www.fredmiranda​.com/reviews/ to get additional opinions, looked up examples on www.pbase.com and checked out the reviews at http://www.photozone.d​e/8Reviews/index.html. As a result, I was very happy with my choice of the 24-70 2.8L. Hope this helps.

Best of luck to you with your decision.

I prefer the weight of the 24-105

There is no 'best', it's a question of firstly identifying what really counts for you and then assessing each option against those criteria. Personally, I went for the 24-105mm because of convenience, consistency, reputation for reliability, IS, weight, compact size, range, price and excellent IQ. I also have fast primes that will do a good job rather than needing the 2.8 so speed is not a relevant issue.

They really are quite different lenses, one's not "better". I use the 24-105 for my walkaround mostly so it probably gets used a bit more. The 24-70 is still my favorite for close portraits and many product type shots.

Well you can have the 28-70, and its biggest advantage is price. It's downside is wideness. On a 5D, its okay, on a 1.6 crop, its non-existant.

The 24-70 has the 2.8 as well, but is wider by 4mm.
The 24-105 has extra reach and IS, but its a stop slower than the 28-70 or 24-70. It's going to be lighter as well.

There's no better. There's a better fit for you, once you decide which compromises you can take on.

wow, what an elaborate poll!

I love my 24-70L... it has become my primary lens of choice...

Okay, I am a midrange zoom lens junkie. I have the original 28-80 f/2.8-4 L, the 28-105 EF USM, the Tamron 28-75 XR DI, and the 24-105 L. The 24-105 is the only one I use now. I will be selling off the others, with the possible exception of the Tammy which I might keep for a back-up lens. I probably would have stuck with the Tammy except for the IS on the 24-105 which was enough to push me over the fence and buy it.

Methinks that the OP is going to need one helluva scoring system to make sense of the results from this poll... really, a simple "You should buy X / You should buy Y" poll would have been almost as useful, since we're responding based on our own uses, which may or may not be similar to the OPs.