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Author Topic: The new Canon 11-24 is big...  (Read 3717 times)

keithcooper

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The new Canon 11-24 is big...
« on: February 28, 2015, 10:59:16 am »

I just got the new EF11-24 f4L and it is one huge lens... It's actually only a bit lighter than my old 70-200 2.8L

This is it compared to the other Canon wide lenses I use, and also the front elements to give a better feel for its sheer bulk ;-)

It's horrible weather here today so I've only tried a few shots outside, but first results show a superb quality lens right across the zoom range.

I'll be adding more examples and any info I find on the lens at:
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/cameras/lenses/ef_11-24_f4l.html
(see the note about gel filters if you use them)

Now, I'm really looking forward to what it can do with the 5Ds when that turns up...
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keithcooper

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Quick TS-E17 compare
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2015, 11:04:56 am »

Bad weather still, but two shots outside where I live.
EF11-24 at 11mm and left-right stitch of TS-E17 (slightly wider ~10mm?)
Both at f/8 (note the vignetting with the TS-E)
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Rhossydd

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Re: The new Canon 11-24 is big...
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2015, 05:57:10 am »

Those images don't look as good as I was expecting after reading http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/02/canon-11-24-f4-l-mtf-tests
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keithcooper

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Re: The new Canon 11-24 is big...
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2015, 06:38:41 am »

Those images don't look as good as I was expecting after reading http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/02/canon-11-24-f4-l-mtf-tests

I should have made it clearer that these images were taken primarily to show the relative angles of coverage using the two lens options.  If you look at the linked page there is a corner crop that shows the small amount of CA on the 11-24 and how easily it's fixed.  Yesterday was a wet and windy day here...

The jpeg images here don't really do justice to the full quality of the lens - I have no difficulty in matching what I see to the lens rentals testing :-)

I should note however that I'm not a detail perfectionist, so my approach to testing and evaluating any lens is never going to match some people's more, shall we say, 'careful' approaches ;-) That testing will no doubt be along in due course
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Rhossydd

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Re: The new Canon 11-24 is big...
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2015, 07:35:29 am »

I should have made it clearer that these images were taken primarily to show the relative angles of coverage using the two lens options.
It probably makes sense to you as you know what the view from your front door is like, to the rest of us it's not a lot of help.
To be of any value it should be accompanied by some shots with other lens angles with which people are more familiar, eg 24mm, 21mm etc
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keithcooper

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Re: The new Canon 11-24 is big...
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2015, 08:40:52 am »

It probably makes sense to you as you know what the view from your front door is like, to the rest of us it's not a lot of help.
To be of any value it should be accompanied by some shots with other lens angles with which people are more familiar, eg 24mm, 21mm etc

The cars and trees are for scale, for those not familiar with English Victorian terraced houses... ;-)

In an actual review, it would indeed have a whole collection of not so wide views of the street (as used in just about every lens test I've ever done)
These images are for those like me who use wide lenses like the TS-E17 and wanted a feel for just how wide 11mm is.

Here's a shot at 11mm that perhaps gives some feel for the width...  (and a 100% crop of part of it). I was taking some shots for a new venue last night and took the 11-24 along to give it a go. I've a whole stack of these (with all kinds of lighting variations) that I'm looking at to get a feel for just when I might want to use the lens at such width.

I've already got the EF14 2.8L II so my initial enthusiasm is definitely for those extra three mm - fear not, lots more boring shots of the street outside will be taken ;-)

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John Koerner

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Re: The new Canon 11-24 is big...
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2015, 09:45:13 pm »

Those images don't look as good as I was expecting after reading http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/02/canon-11-24-f4-l-mtf-tests

Pretty interesting test results, really, from LensRentals.com whose reviews I tend to like over most others. Of particular interest to me were these:

"No, the new Canon 11-24 f/4 L lens doesn't resolve as well as the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 II at f/4 at 24mm. Nothing does, really. But it's decently close to it, and this is actually a good performance."

He basically says no other zoom lens on the market can touch the 24-70 f/2.8 II ... but this 11-24 comes close ... which is remarkable, considering it spans a more challenging range to try to excel at. It trumps the highly-regarded 16-35 II on all levels.

Even more interesting, where other super-wides are usually sucky at the very super-wide setting you're paying for, only taming down to acceptable as one zooms-in closer, he says the opposite is true with the new Canon lens:

"If you're like me, you had to look twice to see that there are some definite differences. The lens is actually a tiny bit sharper in the center at 11mm. The outer 1/3 of the image has a tiny bit lower resolution at 11mm compared to 24mm. But the differences are pretty minor and I doubt any amount of pixel peeping could show them to you.

"The truth is the two (extreme) ends are so similar that I redid testing just to make absolutely certain we hadn't messed up. You rarely see a wide zoom where both ends have such similar image quality. I was totally shocked that the lens would have this kind of performance at 11mm.
...

"Canon made the widest full-frame rectilinear lens available, and made it with superb image quality throughout the zoom range."


I might add it seems to have miniscule distortion at the ultra-wide end too, compared to other ultra-wides, which is also remarkable. I honestly can't wait for this lens to come out ... this is definitely something worthy of investing in. The truth is, the quality/lifespan of the best lenses FAR outlasts/outweights worrying about camera bodies, which become old news by the time you break them in. It will be a long time before an ultra-wide will touch this lens IMO.

Jack
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kers

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Re: The new Canon 11-24 is big...
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2015, 10:05:58 am »

Tamron 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD   1100 gram     1200 €   
Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED      1000 gram     1680 €
Canon EF 11-24mm f/4.0L USM        1180 gram     3050 €

About 5 years after the 14-24mm Nikkor being exclusive Canon and Tamron are catching up. Both seem to have produced very good lenses.
Now i may consider the 14-24 that i own lightweight :)
I am sure the Canon lens will be very good indeed, but is costs a lot and has f4 - so it should be good.
The Tamron is the cheapest of the bunch but has VR and f2.8. According to dpreview and Lens Rentals it is a very good lens.
All in all enough good lenses to choose from.


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Pieter Kers
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keithcooper

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Looking at the 11-24
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2015, 01:25:35 pm »

After a week's use I've written up a review of what the lens is like to use.

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/lenses/canon_ef11-24f4l.html

I hope it's of some interest - I've deliberately gone for a less measurement based approach, since I trust the guys at Lens rentals for such precise stuff and they have far more patience than me for such work ;-)

Here's a shot taken yesterday, showing the 12th Century towers at Southwell Minster - shot at 11mm

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