YEAAHHH Just rented a 24-105 F4L

I have one too. A beautiful outdoor lens.

Thanks for the replies... I'm very excited indeed... This will be my first ever L glass and speedlite experience... Will get equipment with a week in advance just to practice and get the feeling of it... I know is not a particularly fast zoom, but for the indoor stuff I will use the flash...
for the comments on my body, My 40D is an absolute beautiful machine, I've spent 2yrs with it and I still have not outgrown this thing, and for now it absolutely does everything I need... Will chime in with examples of pics for advice and critique later next week... Thanks!

Great lens. The extra weight of the 24-70 makes it less attractive to me--I have both and use the 24-70 much less frequently. Nice to have, but the 24-105 is awesome as an everyday lens.

Reviewing all the stuff written about this general purpose zooms makes the decision particularly difficult, here is my thinking

24-70 F2.8L:
pros: Fast
Cons: heavy, no IS, Shorter focal range

24-105 F4L:
Pros: IS, light weight, longer range
Cons: slow

this is my situation: gripped 40D, hand and neck strap, speedlite 580EX, 2 more lenses: 50 F1.8, 28-135 F3.5-5.6. No tripod

location: NYC for 4 days to see major landmarks. 50/50% indoor - outdoor pic taking opportunities, will photograph landscape, landmarks and portraits of family in interesting locations... Not much night photography as we go with a toddler...

Which of the 2 lenses would you choose?

So you really need to rent an L lens?

I would go with the Tamron 28 to 75 F2.8 AND wide angle sigma 10 - 20 or Tokina 12 24.

The Tammy will give you F 2.8 and a nice light lens to drag around the city.

I would get the 24-105. But that's just me. It makes a nice, lightweight package. And you are going to NY to have fun with the family AND take pictures. If your only goal was to take pictures, then I'd consider the 24-70, but only then. And for landscapes and images inside that don't involve people, the 24-105 will win due to the IS. Honestly, you'll enjoy either one.

When I bought my 24-105 I debated between that and the 24-70 for weeks. The debate was faster [f2.8] vs longer focal range. It was a tough decision for me. The longer focal range won out and I have no regrets... though I have occasionally wished I had the f2.8, just not often enough to be a big deal.

Long story short, I love my 24-105. It is my everyday lens. Gets probably 80-90% of my use, with my 17-40 getting the bulk of the rest.

scorpio_e wrote in post #9735333
So you really need to rent an L lens?

I would go with the Tamron 28 to 75 F2.8 AND wide angle sigma 10 - 20 or Tokina 12 24.

The Tammy will give you F 2.8 and a nice light lens to drag around the city.

Thank you for your ideas, in all honestly I have not read much about non-canon glass, but this is something that I will for sure consider in the future, perhaps, when Im ready to buy my own glass....

I just picked up a 24-105 a few days ago. I went with it because I know I will never need f/2.8 on it, and because it was cheaper. I plan to use it to cover more focal length for landscapes. I have fast primes for low light if I need.

Bringing back this thread with my impressions on the rented lens... (mostly intended for those who own a consumer/prosumer equipment and have not used high end lenses)

Lens construction is really good, you really can tell the difference between an ordinary lens a the 24-105, the colors and sharpness of the images are outstanding, compared to my current equipment.

In that week I was able to get great shots with bounced flash on the walls and the roof in the apropriate locations, was unlucky/need to perfect my technique with the fill in flash on well lit places.

The worst part of renting quality glass is the moment you take it off your camera and return it. I will post a few pics to show, and overall I was really impressed with the company I rented from. Great service.

Where did you rent from? Did I miss that?

Looking forward to seeing the pics.

Its hard to go wrong with the 24-105L its a fanatic walk around lens especially with a speed lite.

Colors are nice. Only thing it lacks is speed and exceptional bokeh.

Regardless I use mine often.