I have been a user of primes for some time now and was then introduced to this beast of a lens. It is true that this lens is not only very large with its 77mm filter size but it is very heavy. This was my only major gripe about this lens because otherwise it is very fast versatile and awesome lens. The 24mm is more than wide enough on the full frame sensor and the 70mm is great for the tighter portraits. The fast f/2.8 aperture through the focal length is great to have in place of switching lenses or bodies while shooting. It is of course not as fast as any of the primes out there but you'll have to be the judge of whether or not this is a sacrifice you'd be willing to live with. The bokeh is rather pleasing for a zoom lens and the autofocus is very fast and accurate. I have used this lens now for a month and now do not want to give it back as it was borrowed from a friend. I still love my primes, but this lens has now opened my eyes to new possibilities.

gbread78

Orange, CA

This lens goes above and beyond anything else I have ever used. Pictures are crystal clear even in really dark reception lighting. The auto focus tracks well and always locks on quickly. I use this lens for both wedding and portrait photography. Built well and is meant to take a beating. I use it on a daily basis. Pairs will with my Canon 50D body and 430exII flash. The contant 2.8 is well worth it. I held off for awhile, thinking I could get by with out this lens. I couldn't. Once I had it on my camera I never wanted to take it off. Amazing quality time and time and time again. If you want a lens to take nice portraits with this is your lens. If you want to do studio work, this is your lens. If you want to do weddings this is your lens. Worth every penny!!!

NickiHufford

Cortland, OH

I was hired to photograph a wedding and at the time I was using two prime lenses, my Canon 50mm F1.8mm lens and my Canon 85mm F1.8 lens.  I also had my kit lens Canon EF-s 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 lens for when I needed to go wider, but I hated using it for a wedding because of the lower quality images it takes and how slow it is in low light situations. I did some research on fast camera lenses, Sigma, Tamron and of course Canon's lineup.  I was tempted to go with sigma or tamrons equivalent of Canons 24-70mm F2.8 but after discovering the focus motor is not very fast, I decided Canon's 24-70mm F2.8L was worth the extra money because one missed shot in a wedding due to trying to focus could be very expensive. And now this lens has become my primary lens that is always on my camera!  I love the range it offers and how fast it is in low light situations. It is a bit heavy, but after a while you do get use to the weight.  One pleasant surprise was how close it can focus to an object; its macro mode is incredible.  But you do need an off camera flash if you are going to use a flash or you will get a shadow from the lens.  

MsfVirginia

Abingdon, VA

Honestly, I must say, these lens are just great although I do not own one myself. I've only borrowed my friend's len and I fell in love with it. The low aperture of 2.8 is especially good for low lighting and paired with my T1i's limited amount of iso, the pictures still turn out great. As for wide angle, these lens will be able to get some good shots but they won't be as good as a regular kit lens as my friend always asked me to borrow my lens for those wide angle shots. These lens are capable of making any ordinary picture look great becasue of the color quality you get in your pictures from this len. The lens hood that comes with this lens is also great becasue it blocks out excess light and becasue most lens hood cost money, it is a good thing that these expensive lenses come with a lens hood. The casing for the lens which is also included is also very nice, although I would prefer something more sturdy to put my lens in. If you are able to afford this, I say go for it. This Lens is just too awesome to not have.

greenishtea

Arcadia, CA

This lens takes excellent pictures and has a nice zoom range.  It's long enough to take good portraits and avoid compression.  That said, I really dislike how heavy it is.  I am not sure of the exact weight, but I think it is 3+ pounds!  This makes it impractical to use as a walkaround lens.  I mean, who wants to go around at a pumpkin patch or a family party or something lugging that on the body of your camera?  Not to mention if you have an external flash attached with more weight. I am torn about keeping it because of that.  I am toying with the idea of selling it and replacing it with a Tamron 28-75 for comparable length and then a couple primes, maybe an 85 and a 30?  But it's an L-series, and for that reason, I am reluctant to part with such a beautiful piece of equipment!  However, you can see that despite its beauty, I am not that attached to it because of its bulk and heft.  Superior pictures, but soooo heavy. 

ladyrussiamoon

Elgin, IL

I would consider myself to be an entry level professional photographer.  I purchase this lens just over two years ago.  It was the first lens I've used other than the kit lenses.  Wow!  I was in love with the quality of pictures I could take with this lens!  I decided to buy this lens after reading several reviews and opinions of photographers that I looked up to.  I have not been disappointed!  The first day I had this lens, I went to the park and took a picture of a spider.  With the zoom lens, I was able to stand a fair distance away from the spider and the picture I took of it was very impressive to me.  It was so much sharper than I was used to because of that wonderful L glass.  I also love the quality of bokeh that the lens produced.  I mainly take pictures of families and portraits of children.  This lens allows me to get a cool wide angle shot and also a beautiful close up without changing the lens! 

hairspraymomma

Arlington, TX