Canon ef 24-70mm f/4l Is Usm

Conveniently compact for a full-frame standard zoom with a constant aperture

For walkabout handheld shooting, one problem with 24-70mm f/2.8 zooms is that they’re pretty hefty. Most of them weigh about a kilogram, which is a lot when added to the weight of a full-frame body. At just 83x93mm and 600g, and with a filter thread of 77mm, this lens is something of a downsized delight. It’s almost as small and compact as the Canon 15-85mm lens for APS-C format cameras, despite being full-frame compatible and having a constant f/4 aperture rating. That’s a full f/stop slower than the f/2.8 lenses on test, but it’s not ‘slow’.

A major advantage over the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is that this one features an image stabilizer, and it’s a late-generation four-stop system with a ‘hybrid’ action. This detects and corrects vertical/horizontal shift as well as regular vibration when the lens is in macro mode. A switchable ‘macro’ mode is available at the long end of the zoom, boosting the maximum magnification ratio to a class-leading 0.7x, which far outstrips any other lens on test for extreme close-ups. Build quality is brilliant as well, with weather-seals and fluorine coatings used in the construction of this lens.

performance

A solid performer, the lens has fast, accurate and quiet ring-type ultrasonic autofocus, and the stabilizer lives up to its four-stop billing. Image quality is very pleasing overall, with good contrast and sharpness, although vignetting at wide apertures is a little severe for an f/4 lens and bokeh isn’t quite as smooth as from the f/2.8 lenses.