The Canon L series lenses are the top of the range of lenses. This lens is one of the most commonly used Canon L lenses available. The reason for this is quit obvious. It has a very versatile zoom range and it has the built quality of a Canon L lens. Its closest rival in the Canon L range is the 24-70 f/2.8. The 24-70 is a little bit sharper than the 24-105 and it is one stop faster then the 24-105. Apart from this I personally think the 24-105 is the better lens for most photographers. It gives an advantage in zoom range and it has an image stabilizer, which the 24-70 f/2.8 has not. It is just the best all round lens from the L-series, apart from the 28 - 300 from Canon. Of course for the people that need the f/2.8, the 24-70 is the one to buy!
The following pictures show the difference in size between different lenses. On the left the difference between (FLTR) the Canon 100-400 f/4.0-5.6 IS, the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS and the Canon 24-105 f/4.0 IS is show and on the right the difference between (FLTR) the Canon 24-105 f/4.0 IS, the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS and the Canon 17-85 f/4.5-5.6.
The Canon 24-105 f/4.0 has the built quality and the optical quality you expect from a Canon L lens. It has a nice zoom and focus ring. They are big and give a good feel so you can operate them in any condition. They are made from rubber so you don’t have the plastic feel which you get with the cheaper lenses.
The autofocus operates very consistently and accurately. Full time manual focus is possible because the lens has a ring USM autofocus. Another nice aspect of this lens is the weather sealing. Although it extends while zooming I haven’t had any problems with weather sealing. Canon says to use an extra filter like a UV-filter to make the lens even more resistant to the elements.
The Image Stabilizer is an important feature of this lens. It’s a 3 stop stabilizer so it give’s you an advantage of 3 stops on your shutter speed. In some situations it can be a real life saviour.
Like with all Canon L lenses you get the lens hood and a soft case with it.
People who own a Full Frame (FF) camera will notice that 24 mm is already very wide so it will be good for landscape photography. People who own a crop body will miss some wide angle because the actual range will be 38.4-168 mm. This means that if you like landscape photography you are maybe better of with the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS. One thing that you have to keep in mind when you use the lens at 24 mm is that on FF bodies you notice some distortion in the corners. Wide open there is quite a lot of vignetting but stopped down one stop the vignetting becomes really beautiful.
Some people have reported problems with excessive flare when shooting in direct sunlight. Personally I haven't noticed any problems with excessive flare.
| Model | Weight | Dimensions | MFD | MM | Filter |
| Canon EF 16-35 mm f/2.8 L II USM | 635 g | 88.0 x 112.0 mm | 0.28 m | 0.22x | 82 mm |
| Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4 L USM | 500 g | 83.5 x 97.0 mm | 0.28 m | 0.25x | 77 mm |
| Canon EF-S 17-55 mm f/2.8 IS USM | 645 g | 83.5 x 110.6 mm0.35 m | 0.17x | 77 mm | |
| Canon EF-S 17-85 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | 475 g | 78.5 x 92.0 mm0.35 m | 0.20x | 67 mm | |
| Canon EF 24-70 mm f/2.8 L USM | 950 g | 83.2 x 123.5 mm | 0.38 m | 0.29x | 77 mm |
| Canon EF 24-105 mm f/4.0 L IS USM | 670 g | 83.5 x 107.0 mm | 0.45 m | 0.23x | 77 mm |
| Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM | 540 g | 78.4 x 96.8 mm | 0.50 m | 0.19x | 72 mm |
Abbreviations: MFD = Minimal Focussing Distance; MM = Macro Magnification
As you can see in the table above the 24-105 isn’t the lightest or the heaviest lens in the Canon range. The 24-105 is well balanced with smaller bodies like a 50D or a 5D Mark II. With a battery grip attached or with a bigger body like the 1D series you still get a nice balanced feel.
The 24-105 uses a 77 mm filter. This is an advantage because most of the better Canon lenses use a 77 mm filter so you can share for example a polarization filter, which are quit expensive at this size (the good ones come at around € 125).
My personal experience with this lens:
On my holiday to Nepal, I reached altitudes as high as 5000 meters and everything kept working well. It was the only lens I could carry with me on that trip. Some of the time I was mad at myself that I didn’t take my 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 with me, I could have shot some wild monkeys and some nice vultures. Now I had to try and get close but as you can guess that didn’t work out that well :-). Apart from this I made the right choice. It gave me a bit of zoom and, for me, enough wide angle and macro capabilities.
In the snow on a trip to France, I kept my camera gear in the car all the time so it wouldn’t get damped when I switched from cold to warm air. It just performed without any hesitation in this cold (-5 °C) and while it was snowing.
On a trip to Tajikistan it was the main lens I used. It worked properly all trip long in sometimes harsh conditions.
I know this lens isn’t the best for low light conditions, the 24-70 f/2.8 or an even faster lens is but I don’t want to exchange my 24-105 with a 24-70 because in all other circumstances I prefer the 24-105. But I still use it for most concerts I photograph.
Pro:
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Cons:
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With following pictures you can form an idea about the zoom range.
| 24 mm (APSC = 38 mm) | 32 mm (APSC = 51 mm) |
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| 50 mm (APSC = 80 mm) | 70 mm (APSC = 112 mm) |
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| 105 mm (APSC = 168 mm) | |
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