Following on from the comparison of the Canon 70-200L IS f2.8 with the cheap Canon 35-80 f4-5.6 lens while I was at the studio today with model Amy I thought it would be interesting to compare the optical quality of the Canon 85 f1.8, Canon 24-105 f4 L and Canon 70-200L IS f2.8 using the Canon 5D Mark2 as it has a large sensor and is far more unforgiving of poor lenses.
All photos were shot at f8, 1/160 sec at ISO 100 at 85mm or approximate focal length.
First up was the Canon 85 f1.8 lens. Although this is not an L series lens it is a prime that is very well regarded for portrait shoots on the Canon full frame cameras such as the 5D, 5DII or Canon 1Ds.
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| Canon 85 f1.8 lens review |
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| Canon 85 f1.8 lens review -crop |
The next was Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS. A classic lens from Canon that is one of the sharpest and most versatile lenses in their range of zooms, but how will it compare against the Canon 85mm f1.8 prime?
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| Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS |
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| Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS - crop |
Finally the the Canon 24-105 L f4 lens that is packaged with the Canon 5D2 camera. It is a versatile lens with a useful focal range but the image quality isn't always as good as some other lenses.
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Canon 24-105 L f4 lens - crop
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| Canon 24-105 L f4 lens review |
The biggest surprise to me when comparing the images from the three lenses is that there is a lot more difference in image tone and contrast than I was expecting - all other parameters were identical so the lens was the only factor that changed. The Canon 24-105 L f4 lens appears to give a much more red tone than the other lenses and the Canon 70-200 IS and Canon 85 f1.8 are very similar to each other.
