My 24-105L has problems? 70-200 & 50 mm comparison

Hi All,

I bought finally a 24-105L.
Since the beginning I was a bit disappointed with the performances: not enough sharpness in my opinion.

So I performed some tests.

<br />
Tripod, aritificial light, remote shutter, 1/13 sec, F4, RAW, no sharpening. <br />
<br />
70-200 @ 70 mm<br />

http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/70-200.jpg

24-105 @ 70 mm
http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/24-105.jpg
<br />
Same parameters but 50 mm:
50 1st zone
http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/50.jpg

24-105 1st zone

http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/24-105-50.jpg

50 second zone

http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/50II.jpg

24-105 second zone

http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/24-105II.jpg

As you can see is seams that the 70-200 is a lot better then the 24-105 @ 70mm. The same does not apply to the 50 mm. These results are in line with the MFT figures that I downloaded from Photozone.

http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/mft.jpg"

Now the question: is it my lens a bad sample or is this a normal performance?

Massimo

PS=I don't know ho to embed images in the post, sorry about that.

I haven't done any real side by side testing but I also noticed both my 70-200 and 17-40 are sharper than my 24-105.

Guy

Hi Guy,
Thank you for the response. I read a lot of thread on 24-105 softness... Can you perhaps send me a 100% crop of one of your images, possibly unprocessed (mc@massimocristaldi.com)? I really don't know if I have to send back my lens for making a checkup. What do you think about my tests?

Please find here the complese shots (ca. 2MB each):

http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/fullimages/24-105.jpg

http://www.massimocristaldi.com/images/24105tests/fullimages/50.jpg

Massimo

The first thing which I noticed is the shutter speed is 1/13 sec. If you are going to have a problem with sharpness, this is right where I would expect to see it. If you still can, you may want to repeat the test at a faster shutter speed, say 1/30 or even 1/60 sec. The reason is that if there is going to be vibration in the camera from the mirror or shutter actuation, the 1/15 sec range, +-, is about where the problems are going to be most extreme.

A heavier lens will dampen the vibrations as well (more mass to move), which might explain part of the differences, although I have to admit I am not personally familar with the lenses you are testing.

Of course, this still doesn't rule out the possibility that the lens simply isn't sharp enough for your standards, but that at least rules out the camera mirror and shutter.

Dan,
Thank you. I will do some other tests, of course. But why, under the same conditions, the 70-200 (btw is is the F4L, not really a LOT heavvier than the 24-105) works so well?

It may well be due to lens sharpness. Retesting at the higher shutter speed will just remove one more variable to nail things down.

And I was thinking of the 2.8 version of the lens, which I have. That is one massive beast of a lens...

I have similar softness issues with my 24-105L, and at no particular focal length as such. I always shoot MLU (2 sec lag), tripod and no IS. Then I switched to handheld with IS turned on, and I shot exposures faster than 1/200 or even 1/400 and it was still soft. I guess I am gonna have to send it to the operation theatre.

Massimo, I'm about to leave for a trip and will not have much time to play with images for a while. If you still need it in a couple of weeks I should be able to send you something.
It's hard for me to evaluate your test results since I don't normally photograph this type of subject but I'll try to do some side by side tests while on the road if I get a chance.

Guy

One of the big camera stores here who sell Canon say they have a return rate on these lenses quite often, usually clients find they are not sharp enough and come back and get the 24-70 2.8L, much much sharper. I don't know if you could return it and get the other lens but from what I know I would,

Keith,
maybe there is some sample variation...my 24-105 is razor sharp...two full size examples: Canon 24-105 test photo 1, Canon 24-105 test photo 2.

I also find the 24-105mm very sharp and certainly on par with the Canon 24-70mm f2.8.

If I read this correctly, you are shooting the 24-105 wide open? Generally, if good sharpness is needed you are going to need to stop it down. For nature photography, it seems the issue is if it is sharp enough stopped down. Mine is close enough to primes stopped down to be acceptable, except perhaps at the wide end.

I performed some new tests. All the results here

In brief: stopping down to f5 greatly improve lens sharpness. The 70-200 is better wide open.