 The
appeal of the Canon EF
24-105mm f/4L IS USM
is two-fold for me. The
lens
offers the zoom range
that I frequently use
for most
of my photography. The
equivalent of a 38-168mm
lens on my Canon EOS
20D, it provides me with
the
flexibility to shoot
virtually any subject,
from portraits
to street scenes. Additionally,
its Image Stabilizer
feature helps ensure
that I get
sharp results despite
hands that aren’t
as steady as they used
to be.
I had the perfect opportunity
to put the lens to the
test when two friends
from San Francisco came
to Los
Angeles. Pireeni and
Colm are Word & Violin
(www.wordandviolin.com),
a husband-and-wife team
that combines poetry
and music for a moving
and
thought-provoking performance.
They had asked me to
take some portraits of
them
for their Website.
The theater lighting
was minimal. This concerned
me because the maximum
aperture of the lens
is
f/4. Though I knew I
could have had the benefit
of
a wider aperture with
my Canon 50mm f/1.8,
I also
knew that such a slim
depth of field wouldn’t
leave much room for error.
And since I wanted more
depth of field to get both
Colm’s face and portions
of his violin in focus,
I’d need to go with
a smaller aperture. By
increasing the ISO sensitivity
of the camera to ISO 800,
I could shoot at a shutter
speed of 1⁄30 sec.
at f/4.5.
With the lens set at
approximately 80mm, I
knew that a shutter
speed of 1⁄30 sec.
was risking blur from camera
shake. With image stabilization,
however, I expected to
get sharp results at shutter
speed settings three stops
slower than would normally
be possible. Though IS
wouldn’t counter
any subject motion, I was
more concerned with soft
results from my own body’s
movements.
The lens delivered consistently
sharp results, with the
only motion blur produced
by Colm’s hand controlling
the bow, though this added
a dynamic element to the
photographs. While I’m
increasingly using a tripod,
I was satisfied to see
that handholding a telephoto
focal length could still
deliver great results.
I had anticipated having
to manually focus the lens
in the dim light, but the
lens and the camera’s
autofocus system worked
great even without the
aid of the camera’s
AF assist light.
The resulting images were
sharp, and I saw little
evidence of color fringing,
even in the high-contrast
areas of the image. The
solid construction and
heft of the Canon EF 24-105mm
felt per-fectly balanced
in my hand, and I was pleased
to see that the results
matched or exceeded my
expectations.
Contact: Canon, (800) OK-CANON,
www.usa.canon.com.
SPECIFICATIONS
Focal
Length: 24-105mm
35mm
Equiv.: 38-168mm
Maximum ƒ-Stop: ƒ/4
Minimum
Focus: 1.48 feet
Filter
Size: 77mm
Size: 3.3x4.2 inches
Weight: 23.6 ounces
List
Price: $1,249 |
