Are Canon L Lenses Better Than Other EFs?

Published on October 19th,2009 at 8:29 PM
By >Daimaou - G.G-B

Are Canon L Lenses Better Than Other EFs?

Category: Cameras - Tags: Canon, Ef, L, L Lens, L-series, Usm

This afternoon I played with a Canon EOS 7D and its latest Firmware 1.0.9, as well various lenses: the EF-S15-85mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM, the EF50mm F1.4 USM and the EF24-105mm F4L IS USM an L Serie lens. While checking the pictures I saw quite a difference between them in terms of quality… Just to check out with you guys I shot a picture with an L lens and a regular Canon lens at ISO 100 on a tripod, and both at 50mm (more or less)… (Picture below)…

Can you tell me which photo was taken with the L lens, the left or right one?

The Answer !!!!

Well you are all wrong for sure… The Picture on the Left was taken with the 15-85mm at 50mm, while the picture on the right with the 24-105mm.

Setting was :

Tripod
No Flash
Same ISO 100
Focal Length 50mm
F/4.0 On both lens
Exposure 3.2 each time (Low Light)
Manual Focus (Did it several time and check with AF just in case)

Note
I am very surprise and disappointed by some comments, yeah you Al___ who does not leave his email account that I can explain him how we did it… Anyway, No I am sorry to disappoint you but I was not paid by Nikon… unlike “PRO” website owned by Amazon or other major group, we do not publish article and being paid for it by the manufacturer or received gift… (With the exception of our Test with the Canon 40D, this was a Paid Article by Canon, this was even mentioned at the beginning of the article)… We want to keep our freedom to whether or not trash a manufacturer when needed (when their product is bad), this put us in not an easy position here in Japan when EVERY article must been approved first before being publish…(Freedom of the Press and Speech is a Joke in Japan)… Anyway… Why did I post this news today ?

- First and foremost, I am testing the 7D, so I am taking a lot of time with this camera and play with several lenses.
- I am planning to buy this 7D for Akihabara News and I am testing different setting and lenses to make sure I am not going to waist money, since each yen count lately in my company (Nope… Ads does not pay as well as they did)

So as a Future buyer I am making sure that I am going to get the most of what I paid… Now believe me if you want, I don’t really care, if this make you life happier to believe that we are paid by Nikon or we biased this test on purpose so be it! After all I just want you to be happy.

Now for the others, and may not have many lenses with their camera (I have even 2 Tamron to test but the result will be fare worse), I thought it was a good example to and interesting post…

88% The Left one !

12% The Right One !

(232 votes)

10 Comments

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http://www.akihabaranews.com Daimaou

Manual Focus, Tripod, same ISO, Same aperture… This is not the first time I see such difference between this lens and others
PeterR

If you shot the pictures at aperture 4.0 for both lenses, 4.0 would be the worst choice for the L-lens (24-105) and thus seem out of focus ie. unsharp.

Shooting the picture with the EF50mm F1.4 USM at aperture 4 gives the lens a considerable advantage in terms of sharpness. Then again, thats the beauty of having af 50mm fixed lens at F1.4
Lorra

Gosh, learn how to focus first will you?
Turbokuni

Fixed lenses are always sharper than zoom lenses
onlyamateur

agreed with the above comments that you should control focus with manual distance control, lock everything else (that’s aperture for you, not just ISO).

You could use better test subjects too, with many fine lines and color contrast. (PS: It’s okay to copy other camera review site focus tests)

Plus, the lighting was really harsh (taken with built-in flash, how horrible!).

If there’s any point in your post, it’s that an L-lens that cost many more, will allow Beginners to take more proper pictures.

Not that beginners really need L-lenses anyway, with their awesome build quality and optics.
http://www.akihabaranews.com Daimaou

Well you are all wrong for sure… The Picutre on the Left was taken with the 15-85mm at 50mm, while the picture on the right with the 24-105mm.

Setting was :

Tripod
No Flash
Same ISO 100
Focal Length 50mm
F/4.0 On both lens
Exposure 3.2 (each time)
Manual Focus (Did it several time and check with AF just in case)
eh

exposure is 3.2 sec? maybe your floor was shaking…..or maybe an earthquake?? 3.2 sec sounds a long time for exposure, expecially to do a sharpness test….
http://www.akihabaranews.com Daimaou

This was in Low Light condition I did it at night, I did other test yesterday afternoon under the sun and same result, I will do it again today anyway since I need to do more test with this camera
D

Was IS turned on when you shot with the 24-105? Never used a 15-85 before but with my 24-105 the IS gets a little flaky sometimes when doing long exposures on a tripod. I seem to get better results when I turn it off during night shots. Maybe try some test shots again with faster shutter speeds and post the exif data if you can (or raw files if possible).
Dayak

If you use an IS lens with tripod, you must turn of the IS.

When you take the picture, the IS is On or Off ?

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