Canon 24-105 or 24-70L for portraits?

Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Autofocus Lens

Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens

Out of those two above which would you choose for portrait work and WHY? Is the lower f stop better or the IS? What other reasons to choose one over the other? Thank you.

24-105... Its simply a shaper more advanced lens. IS doesn't really matter.

Mark H

both are good for portraits. But I use the 24-105 more as it is lighter.
Bokeh at f2.8 at 70mm is comparable to f4 at 100mm.

Both lenses will work from head shot to full body. Portrait shoots have more to do with lighting control than minor differences from lenses, IMHO.

I can't wait to see how people respond. . .

Finally, a new topic to discuss!

Ive owned both lenses...if you're shooting slightly stopped down with lights, you wont notice a difference.

To the person who said the 24-105 was sharper....between my two copies there was no real winner. I did extensive testing and at f/4 the 24-70 was very slightly sharper than the 24-105, but stopped down any more than that the difference was negligible. Also, the 24-105 had slightly better color and contrast than the 24-70.

Keep in mind, I was testing on bar codes and really small print, etc. You wouldn't notice a difference in day to day portrait shots.

ZenFox wrote in post #11263462
Ive owned both lenses...if you're shooting slightly stopped down with lights, you wont notice a difference.

To the person who said the 24-105 was sharper....between my two copies there was no real winner. I did extensive testing and at f/4 the 24-70 was very slightly sharper than the 24-105, but stopped down any more than that the difference was negligible. Also, the 24-105 had slightly better color and contrast than the 24-70.

Keep in mind, I was testing on bar codes and really small print, etc. You wouldn't notice a difference in day to day portrait shots.

I will be shooting outdoor location shoots.

For outdoor locations you might need more reach than what the 24-70 can give you...if you have a crop body you're fine, but with a full-frame body even 105mm may be short for portraits (close-ups)

I use a 40d

Consider 70-200 f/4 IS for the same price range. If you can afford it, 70-200 f/2.8 IS II. Outdoor portrait usually needs a lot of reach.

I bought the 24-105L due to the zoomrange, popularity and IS, it's a good allround lens.
But it had a lot of vignetting on my 5D (I know it's correctable but a lot of work to correct so much pictures) + the bokeh af f4 was harder than a usual dreamy f2.8.
The 24-70 was a bit heavy, more expensive and I read some copies were not so sharp.

Then I found the ideal solution : a professor sold his 10yo Canon EF 28-70 2.8L for only $600.
I'm from the "mid-generation" and didn't know about the existence of the lens before, but when reading this http://www.fredmiranda​.com …=151&sort=7&cat​=27&page=2

and comparing the scores and reading the user reviews in detail, I knew I got a real gem for this price!!!!
I tested it and wow! It were 4 supersharp primes together 28 35 50 70 in one zoomlens! They don't make them like this anymore.

A lot of topics open choose between the 24-105 or 24-70 but the new generation forgets this supersharp almost perfect zoomlens!
I would recommend the 24-105L IS to anyone that is looking for an allround (travel) lens, better than wasting money on a 'superzoom' lens.

But for portraits purists go for the 28-70 2.8L or a good copy of the 24-70 2.8L

the 24-105 has heavy vignetting wide open at 24mm but only on full-frame...the OP has a 40D, and on APS-C, vignetting and distortion are both very mild...

And lens correction capabilities in Lightroom 3 fix it without any user intervention. Save turning on the auto feature.

I have both lens and like the 24-105 for portraits.

When I was young the Nikon 105 was considered the perfect portrait lens. Well I did anyway.

The 70mm is just a bit short for my taste.

check out this link, what you really want is a cheaper $300 prime for portrait stuff
http://neilvn.com …/10/26/bokeh-a-few-notes/

In my opinion if you have a good copy of a 24-70 its sharper. Every wedding photog i see has one.