An essential tool of the trade

Being my first L class pro lens purchase, I spent the last nine months using it extensively. The two deciding factors for me on this lens were the aperture and focal length. I needed something that was fast, sharp and reliable regardless of the lighting conditions. I also needed enough room in my frame that I could fit a small crowd of people together comfortably without feeling that everyone was too cramped in order to be seen.

The 1.4 aperture enables you to shoot photos in rapid succession whether you are in adequate or low lighting situations. This is particularly handy when shooting in a place you have never been before. If you are looking to achieve tack sharp images all the time, be prepared to carry a tripod around with you and some sort of external lighting unit for those instances where you stumble upon a particularly dark area. Though you will be able snap away with relative ease, if you do not add extra light to the scene these photographs tend to turn out soft.

I was worried about the distortion I had heard shows up in lenses wider than 35mm. My worries were put to ease after just a week of using the 24mm. I do not notice any distortion in photos taken with this lens. There is more than enough room in the frame for me to comfortably pose a group of people, or take some landscape shots if I so desired. I even use it for single person portraits.

The build on this lens is far superior to anything else I own. To me it seems a bit bulky, but I justify that by the high quality images it can produce.

There is barely any noise when it is in Auto Focus mode. However, Auto Focus does not always grab the area I want it to. That being said, I prefer to manually focus. Using the Manual Focus mode is smooth and easy, and results in more of your images turning out in sharp focus.

It is the only lens I have purchased that has come with a lens hood and storage pouch. It was a nice bonus for having spent so much money on a single piece of equipment. Also included was a manual that has been a good reference guide for when something stumps me during use.

Here is a sample portrait taken with this lens.
http://www.onyxrain.com/sample_portrait.jpg