Hi everyone!
I was tempted to write a mini-review of the 24-105.
Not the technical stuff but more on the feeling side.
First, I brought the lens used from a fellow member.
It was a tie between the 24-70L and the 24-105L
The first has 2.8, the second, the zoom range.
I carefully weighted the good and the bad of each lens.
Checked the most used range between my lens.
My workhorse was my 24-85. So somewhat the same range.
Since I have the 28/50/70-200 range covered in the
2.8 area, I choose the IS and 105mm for my next lens.
So, the lens finally arrives. Everything's great and perfect.
The first thing I noticed when I grab the lens was the weight.
The lens was not that heavy. It matches the size of the lens.
Is good in hand and balance well with my camera. Even fully
extended. So a good point here. The hood is BIG. It make my XT
look like a toy behind 
Focus and zoom ring are good. What you expect from a good lens.
Same thing from my 2 EX Sigmas.
The IS system was a first to me. I was surprised by it's sound....
Nothing... just a little micro buzz as the IS start/stop.
Another good thing here.
But the real reason I brought this lens was the constant aperture.
I love that. Since my 70-200, I like the fact that the aperture remain
constant with the zoom range.
Checked the sharpness at each range, perfect for my taste.
Focus seem on track, for my taste.
So, this lens is a keeper for me. Wide open performance is for me
very good. IS can help shutter speed in the 1/15s at full range, or
freezing cold fingers that won't stop shaking
For me, they should have lowered the price, and removed IS from this lens.
It has very good glass, but a little pricey because of the IS.
I find that IS is not the "world". It can salvage some shots, but don't
trust it to have good pictures. "IS" is not effective below 1/5s and I can hand-hold
that speed at 24mm. I was thinking it would have improved 1s shots.
Final words: Good lens, good glass, little pricey because of IS, wide open is very good
Keeper!
