Great All-Purpose Lens For Serious Photographers

If you're in the market for a general-purpose lens (aka "standard lens"), I would strongly recommend that you take a look at the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM (providing you have a Canon digital SLR, of course). You might also want to consider the EF 24-105mm f/4L.

The EF 24-70mm f/2.8L is built like a tank, and offers high dust and moisture protection. As I am aware, the weather sealing has been improved over the older EF 28-70mm f/2.8L it was designed to replace. This lens is truly worthy of the "L-series" label. Note however, you may need to do some working out before you can pick it up ;-) .

The images produced by this lens are just amazing, and you will probably struggle to believe that they were the result of a zoom lens rather than a fixed-length unit.

Some of the main specs are listed below (courtesy Canon Australia):




Focal Length & Max Aperture:
24-70mm 1:2.8

Weight:
950g

Filter Diameter:
77mm

Magnification with Extension Tube EF12:
0.63x - 0.18x

Magnification with Extension Tube EF25:
1.25x - 0.40x

Diagonal Angle of View :
74˚ - 29˚ (43.2mm)

Horizontal Angle of View:
84˚ - 34˚ (36mm)

Lens Construction :
16 elements in 13 groups

Diameter x Length (mm):
83.2 x 123.5 mm

Minimum Aperture:
f/22

No. of Diaphragm blades:
6

Minimum f/stop:
f/22 (at 28mm)

Focus Drive:
Ultrasonic

Closest Focusing Distance:
0.38m


You can read a review on this lens here: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-24-70mm-f-2.8-L-USM-Lens-Review.aspx