Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 IS II USM Lens Review

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 IS II USM Performance

Central sharpness at 24mm is excellent from f/4 to f/11 and remains very good at f/16. It is softening at f/22, but still, reaches a good standard. The edges are very good from f/4 through to f/11, still good at f/16 and f/22.

Central performance at 50mm is of the same standard as 24mm, being excellent from f/4 to f/11, very good at f/16 and good at f/22. The edges are good at f/4, sharpening to very good at f/5.6 and f/8, still remaining good at f/11 and f/16 but becoming soft by f/22.

The sharpness is maintained well centrally at 85mm. It is excellent from f/4 to f/11, very good at f/16 and good at f/22. The edges again fare less well, being soft at f/4 and f/5.6, sharpening to very good at f/8 and f/11, dropping a little but remaining good at f/16. Results at f/22 are soft.

Most zoom lenses are less sharp at the longest focal length, and this is no exception. At 105mm, the centre is very very good at f/4, excellent between f/5.6 and f/11, very good at f/16 and good at f/22. The edges are good at f/4 and f/5.6 but quite soft from f/8 onwards, down to f/22. It must be said that although technically this means soft edges at 105mm, as a portrait setting that just might be something that creatively could be made use of.

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is highly corrected in the centre of the field at all focal lengths. In fact, it measures virtually zero at some settings. The edges are not so well corrected, but are at their lowest at the centre of the focal length range, slipping to fairly obvious fringing at the edges at wider and longer settings. This can, of course, be corrected in software.

Flare is not an issue. Resistance is very good indeed and the worst that we can expect is a slight lowering of contrast in the worst case scenarios of very harsh light shining directly across the front element.

Distortion is visible, but modestly so for a zoom lens of this type. At 24mm we have barrel distortion measuring -2.87%. This moves to pincushion as we zoom in, measuring +2.21% at 50mm, +2.08% at 85mm and +1.97% at 105mm. In any event, this can be tackled in software.

The 10 bladed diaphragm does its work and bokeh is very pleasant throughout the range. This is ideal for creating a pleasing, smooth look to the out of focus areas.

The IS system is very effective. 4 stops is claimed and 4 stops is easily achieved.  

Value For Money

The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens is priced at £1065. There is also a low-cost Canon EF 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM available at £379.

Exact alternatives are few, but Sigma's Art range includes the Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM at £599.

Other marques do not have an exact alternative, but there is the HD Pentax D-FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 ED DC WR at £549 that helps us to see where the benchmark cost lies.

As the Mk I version of the lens does not seem to be readily available, it had a price tag of £599, then the choice for Canon users seems limited but the price seems reasonably fair, maybe a tad on the high side initially. For more options, have a look at our Top 10 Best Canon EOS lenses round-up. 

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