Canon 24-70 f/2.8 vs Canon 24-105 f/4 IS
Sep 11th
An oft asked question I hear is: if one is deciding on between the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 and the Canon 24-105 f/4 IS, which one is better?
Well, the answer is: it depends. For me personally ( I own both), I like to use the 24-105 when I travel on vacation and/or am shooting outdoors. I want to pack as light as reasonably possible when traveling, which means limiting the number of lenses I bring with me. I’ll always bring an ultra-wide (my 17-40 f/4) and then the remaining lens choice is between the 24-70 f/2.8, 24-105 f/4 IS, or 70-200 f/2.8 IS. The 24-105 is my choice since it’s in between the 24-70 & the 70-200 as well as being the lightest of the 3.
I’ve learned not to lug the 70-200 along with me unless I know I will specifically be shooting in a situtaion where I will need a long zoom. Years back I brought it with me on a trip to Paris as well as to Thailand — I didn’t use it once in either. I brought it with me to Playa del Carmen (near Cancun, Mexico) and Costa Rica, though, since I was planning on shooting wildlife.
When I shoot indoor events, I use the 24-70 f/2.8 since it is faster glass. Coupling Canon’s f/2.8 and faster lenses to a 1-series body (eg. my 1D MK II) activates more cross-type AF sensors which, if you’ve ever shot in low light, means that you’ll get faster focusing and less hunting. Nothing like waiting for your camera to lock focus in low light, especially when shooting fleeting moments of people.
24-105 Pros:
- Image Stabilization
- longer zoom end (105mm vs 70mm) — there are so many tims when I’ve used the 24-70 and said to myself, “if i only had just a little bit more reachâ€
- lighter weight vs. the 24-70
24-105 Cons:
- slower focusing in low light situations due to f/4 (at least on 1-series bodies – not sure if the non-â€pro†bodies are the same way)
- vignettes & barrel distorts at the wider focal lengths more than the 24-70, but you might not notice unless comparing side-by-side, though it can be automatically corrected in post-processing using something like the superb PTLens application
- darker viewfinder image vs. the 24-70
24-70 Pros:
- faster glass, which means better/faster focusing in low light
- brighter viewfinder image
24-70 Cons:
- on a 20d/30d/5d feels a bit lopsided due to it’s extra weight unless you have the optional battery grip.
- heavy
- no Image Stabilization
FTL: Logitech Control Center
Sep 10th
My MacBook Pro kernel panics every once in a while which was mildly annoying (especially when uh I was in the middle of writing some code).
I couldn’t figure it out, but when my coworkers (2 of which have MBPs) said that they’ve never seen that happen, I began to think about what was different with my setup which might be causing the kernel panics & came to the conclusion that the Logitech Control Center control panel I have installed for my VX Revolution mouse was the likely culprit. A quick google seemed to confirm my suspicion; too bad it took me this long to figure out.
Flocking Logitech!
2 Facebook apps
Aug 29th
Like a lot of developers, I jumped on the Facebook platform bandwagon as well. I’ve help author two Facebook apps:
- Gamers
- Gamers basically allows you to create a game library, add gamer tags, rate/review games, and display it all on your profile.
- Describe Me
- Describe Me allows you to tag people, thus building a tag cloud. Think del.icio.us, but for tagging people instead of web pages.
If you’re on Facebook, add those apps and check them out!
VIP Tune Limassol CYP
Jul 27th
i noticed a charge for $29.99 on my Mastercard that i didn’t recognize, from a “VIP Tune Limassol CYP.” I googled and looks like i’m not the only one that got hit. Sigh. I cancelled my card and a new one is on the way.
Not sure how my number got hit, but the perpetrators need to die in a fire.
UPDATE 8/15/2007: Interestingly enough, the comment thread here seems to indicate a connection with purchases @ Smarthome.com. Not sure if it’s just pure speculation or not.
