Comments on: The “Other” Canon Primes — Why Did They Do That?

By: sdsr

sdsr — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:46:18 +0000

I certainly get the appeal of having 2.8 IS at these focal lengths, but since you can get the Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC for less than the price of two of Canon’s new IS primes (let’s toss in the 35mm f2 too) these, I would have a hard time choosing the former instead of the latter.

By: AD54

AD54 — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:11:23 +0000

Roger, Mamy thanks for your testing of stuff everyone wants to see in a timely manner. The newest and greatest never gets reviews and technical tests until it is too late for early adopters.

I was intrigued that the 28 mm dosent improve much beyond wide open for resolution, as compared to the 24 IS but found this by another reviewer, Gil DeSousa which seems to indicate that the 28 is just a little better than the 24 at all apertures, resolution, distortion, bokeh, light fall-off and CA.

http://lenstests.com/reviews/canon-ef-28mm-f2.8-is-usm-page-2

Love to hear what you think. I needed a 28 so I made up my mind based on your tests and the above link. There are not a lot of other tests or sample images.All other Canon 28 primes ware sub par compared to the competition. Canon dosen’t even have a L prime at 28 and this is the closest. I got mine for $549 so I think it made sense at that price point. The IS is a bonus for indoors or sunsets if you leave your flash or tripod behind.

By: abi74

abi74 — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:02:51 +0000

Update, I just purchased the 24mm 2.8 I.S and I love the lens, used it for indoor event for group shots of 6 to 8 people and able to get close and do 2 to 3 people, I use it alternatively with my 5dmk2 and my 7D with 100mm IS. I just carry these two lenses now and it covers everything. I got the lens for 680 U.S dollars here in my country with full Canon warranty. I love the I.S, allows me to use slow shutter speed with low ISO, why use high ISO when you don’t have to? I also will use this lens for landscape, cityscape and as other reviewer said, for lowlight during the magic hour and you do not need to stop down so much for the DOF is sufficient even at f5.6. Love this else and those who hasn’t use it maybe the lens does not meet their needs or they haven’t even touch or use it.

By: abi74

abi74 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:07:21 +0000

I am looking at the 24mm I.S for I have the bad case of jitters, I think this is where the I.S will come in handy, low light landscape, available light indoor shots for events when I don’t want to carry fast I.S zoom like the 17mmEFS f2.8 and there is no fast I.S zoom at f2.8 at FL 24mm for canon is there?

By: kresearch

kresearch — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:19:18 +0000

Both lenses seem grossly overpriced for what they offer. It seems Canon has been trying very hard to push its customer’s boundaries and see how much dough it can squeeze them to cough out, not just with these lenses. 5DMk3 is another attempt. The camera does not offer much new as compared to 5DMk2, besides a new focus chip which should have come out with the Mk2 to begin with. Yet, the price is $500 over the competition’s D800, which uses a ground breaking sensor, and $800 over 5DMk2′s initial price tag. All in all, it seems Canon has become too hungry for our money.

By: K D Sandmann

K D Sandmann — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:30:12 +0000

I agree for the price canon is asking they should be faster and have weather sealing. I bought a sigma 17-50mm is 2.8 three months ago because it seemed a better overall value.

I love love love my little 40mm pancake lens though! At least Canon got that right.

Thanks for these articles Rodger!

By: valerie

valerie — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:13:44 +0000

anyone uses one of those to film?
i can’t see the difference between the 24 and 28.. it’s only 4mm between both..
which one to get?

By: Ralf C. Kohlrausch

Ralf C. Kohlrausch — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:29:43 +0000

Does anybody remember the time when a 2.8/28 was an unspectacular bread and butter lens and could be had for like 90 Euros (don’t know ’bout Dollars)?

Greets Ralf C.

By: antti

antti — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 18:49:31 +0000

I have some specific uses for the 28 mm IS. One is dim lit church weddings, especially when the couple stands still at the altar. I need to step down to f/5.6 to get enough DOF, and shutter speed can go really down.

By: Roger Cicala

Roger Cicala — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 12:11:27 +0000

Hi Max,

We actually had only one of the 24 TS-E we tested that failed optical testing. What you’re describing, though, sounds like what I’ve seen with other lenses sometimes: a bad batch or SN group that seem to have a high incidence of problems. I wonder if perhaps they were all in similar SN range? I believe there are 5 cemented groups in the 24 TS-E. It seems like a likely explanation would be during manufacture one of those groups had a number that were mis-cemented causing all of the lenses that had them to be decentered.