Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens Review

Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM Handling and features

The lens shares the same design as many of Canon's latest higher-end consumer grade lenses, with the barrel being constructed from high quality plastics, accented with a silver ring and finished with a metal lens mount. Overall the lens has a high quality feel to it and the use of plastics has kept the weight down to a travel friendly 280g. When mounted on the Canon EOS 5D MkII used for testing, it makes a nice compact combination.

An Ultrasonic motor powers the autofocus, and focusing is fast as a result. Manual focus adjustments can be made at any time, whether the lens is set to AF or MF. The focusing ring is smooth and has a well damped feel to it. As a result, fine adjustments are easy to apply at any time.

Focusing is performed internally, which means the 58mm filter ring doesn't rotate. This is ideal for use with graduated and polarising filters. Closest focus is 20cm, which is great for shooting in cramped environments and even for the occasional close up image.

Including image stabilisation on a wide angle lens like this is an interesting approach. Saying that, with care, sharp hand held images are possible around half the time with shutter speeds as low as 1/6sec, which is around three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb would allow. Having this ability to hand hold for long shutter durations opens up all sorts of creative possibilities for long exposures in low light conditions.

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