The New EF Canon 24-70 Mark 2 Lens

It seems like the long awaited successor to the Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8 USM lens is on sale!!!

Three new lenses have been launched by Canon this month!!!

Of the three, two are non-L lenses,  the EF 24mm F2.8 IS USM and the EF 28mm F2.8 IS USM. They sound pretty impressive given their wide aperture and new lens elements.

But to me, the main attraction was the L series lens that is supposed to replace the popular and  most expensive standard Zoom lens ( the EF 24-70mm F2.8 USM Mark I). The new L lens is called the EF 24-70mm F2.8L II USM or the EF 24-70 Mark 2.
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Comparison of 24-70 mk1 and mk2 * Image above taken from Canon official website.

Improvements from a Glance

  1. The new EF 24-70mm F2.8 is going to be more than a 100 grams lighter than the back breaking 24-70 Mark 1.
  2. Less chromatic abberation according to Canon tests with its super UD lens elements.
  3. A circular 9 blade aperture compared to the 8 blade diaphram system of the Mk1.
  4. Sharpness all throughout every focal length and aperture. (to be tested!)
  5. The latest CPU for high speed fast focusing.
  6. Wider zoom and focus grips.

Personal Disappointments

  1. Although many say it’s not needed, I wish the new model came with Image stabilization (IS).
  2. It’s not going to have that killer hood anymore. To me, the huge hood  of the 24-70 MK1 was it’s  trademark! A tradition from the classic EF 28-70 USM.
  3. It looks so similar to the EF 24-105 F4.0L lens. Might cause mix ups!!!
  4. High retail price. (Estimate retail of $2,200).
  5. 82mm filter size. Reason I don’t like it: it costs a lot to buy filters in these sizes. However, this makes the wide-angle EF 16-35 no longer the only Canon Lens with an 82mm filter thread.
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