The infamous 24-105L...

That and f/4 as a maximum aperture will NOT activate the high precision AF sensors on Canons.

Ed, yesterday my zooms didn't even come out of the bag. 35L, 50 f/1.4, and 85L all day ... and it was glorious

TheGreatDivorce wrote in post #3863887
That and f/4 as a maximum aperture will NOT activate the high precision AF sensors on Canons.

Ed, yesterday my zooms didn't even come out of the bag. 35L, 50 f/1.4, and 85L all day ... and it was glorious

But you're so skilled, Ryan. I would expect no less.

Never been a huge fan of f/4 and would much rather have f/2.8 and larger, but this lens will primarily be used under conditions that are more favorable, and as stated earlier, the benefit of the extra reach won me over in the end. Nevertheless, I'm sure that both primes and zooms in my arsenal will get a good work out.

I use it to shoot weddings amongst other things, and love it! I use it with 1ds mkII no vignetting at wedding shoots, f4 no problem. It does/has vignetting on some shots taken out side at the coast last week (these were on the beach in quiet bright conditions ) only on 2 or 3 shots due to the lighting...its easily removed or increased if the shot suits it....all in all I love this lens...

Hi Lord - just saw the thread, thought I'd add my .02 . You know I really enjoy my 24-105.

I've had terrific low light service with mine, and it's rare that I've ever had to teach that dog how to hunt - nails the target 99.999% of the time. And I have no problem with the bokeh. If I want super bokeh affect I shoot with the 70-200 f/2.8.

cprofit wrote in post #3829307
The 24-105 bokeh and lack of speed, which means wandering focus in low light, made me sell my 24-105 and stick with the 24-70. I do hate the size of the 24-70 though... I'm even thinking about selling it and just going tamron 28-75, as I prefer my primes.

Ditto - I've done the exact same thing. When I first transitioned to digital I only had one dSLR body, the 24-105 and MF film for my backup gear. For a time I did EVERYTHING with the 24-105. It encouraged a pretty fast shooting style and as Nicole points out, it minimizes the dust issue by not having to change.

Nicole Faith wrote in post #3830660
I have used the 24-105L for an entire wedding from start (bedroom getting dressed) to the end (reception at night, inside, dim lights) and have any no issues. With proper flash indoors and really nice outdoor lighting - I didn't need to change the lens, which saves me time and dust.

The 24-105L is a good lens, but it does indeed have it's limitations. The short comings were very apparent last night during the reception. I ended up using my 85 and 24 primarily for the reception shots. The 24-105L was hunting like crazy and just could not lock onto target most of the time. The action was moving entirely too fast for MF, so out came the primes. During the day she was fine, and the keeper rate was fair. I might consider trading her for the 24-70L after all.

I know, I know.... "Told ya so!"

I have read several people, who had both lenses, stating that the 24-105 is sharper and more contrasty. http://forums.dpreview​.com …rum=1029&messag​e=24993466

Also if you are shooting handheld you need a shutterspeed of say 1/100 to eliminate blur (speed may vary for some) at 70mm. But with the IS you can shoot at 1/50 at 105mm no problem. So that gives you the same amount of light. Offcourse that is no good for fast movement, but for wedding shots it is often OK. So in many cases the 24-105 is better for low light. Especially if you are shooting 1.6x crop camera. I find that if there is VERY poor lighting than 2.8 is not good enough anyway and you need the primes. I use my 85 1.8 a lot and my next lense will probably be the 35L 1.4.

Actually you can do even BETTER than that. It's quite easy to get excellent captures at 1/15 & 1/20 with the IS turned on using the 24-105. I've gotten some great wedding as well as night time urban landscape shots that way. Others on this forum have gotten superb shots at even lower speeds.

Zangenberg wrote in post #4086397
........Also if you are shooting handheld you need a shutterspeed of say 1/100 to eliminate blur (speed may vary for some) at 70mm. But with the IS you can shoot at 1/50 at 105mm no problem. So that gives you the same amount of light. Offcourse that is no good for fast movement, but for wedding shots it is often OK. So in many cases the 24-105 is better for low light. ...........

Ok, but I would think you would need a flash to freeze movement then?

Very true when they are moving - and typically I will have the camera set on M, 1/40 sec @ f/6.3 with the flash in bounce position for things like the processional and recessional. But for some alter and sanctuary shots during the ceremony when there's little to no movement, or flash is not allowed, then the lower shutter speeds will work fine.

Zangenberg wrote in post #4088791
Ok, but I would think you would need a flash to freeze movement then?