Help with choosing a good copy of the 24-70

Ok, so I decided to pull the trigger on a new 24-70, and I am about an hour away from getting it. I remember reading about some issues with this lense, so I hope to try out a couple of them at the store with my 5d. Can someone tell me what to look for? I won't be able to upload any photos. Thanks in advance.

I would look on the box and make sure it was the lens I ordered. That will almost certainly mean you are getting a good one.

Get the lens, take it out of the box, put it on your camera, shoot pictures, load into computer, evaluate and then, and only then, if you think you have a problem, test the lens under controlled circumstance. People worry far too much about getting a bad copy of a lens rather than improving their photography skills.

Yeah, I agree but it is a lot of money, and I just couldnt remember what issues folks were sometimes having with this lense. So I guess there really is no way to tell untiI I upload some photos?

Shoot with it for a couple of weeks. 99% of copies are sharp, if you're really worried about it put it on a tripod and focus on something. it will probably be sharp.

Make sure it's black with a red ring.

Sorry for the sarcasm but if it's new and your buying from a reputable dealer, they will all be fine. Fine enough that you would never be able to tell the difference in the store. There would always be some lens to lens variability but you would only be able to tell by pixel peeping. They would all be within manufactured specifications.

You may find your level of satisfaction with the lens increase if your camera body had auto focus calibration but unfortunately your 5D does not.

The 24-70 is one of canon's finest built lenses.

Perfect! You have alleviated my worries, can't wait to shoot with it!

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have yet to find a lens thats not spot on or real damn close on my rebel, and I have some notoriously "bad" lenses. Yes, I have done the focus charts.