Ruthlessrider wrote:
...I purchased a Canon EF 24-70mm 1:4L IS USM L USM lens... EF 24-105 1:4 L II USM...is there any reason I should keep both lenses?
Both are excellent zooms.
- EF 24-105mm f/4 II has the advantage of 35mm more telephoto "reach".
- There isn't a lot of difference in image quality... sharpness, chromatic aberration and vignetting are very similar at the focal lengths they share. The 24-70mm appears to have a little less distortion... less barrel at 24mm, less pincushion at 70mm. The 24-70mm is a bit more prone to flare at the 24mm setting, while the 24-105mm II appears to be a bit more prone to it at the 70mm focal length. (Note: In-camera or post-processing lens profiles can correct distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration to a large extent.)
- Both are Canon L-series quality build and focus performance. Both have IS rated for 4 stops.
- EF 24-70mm f/4 has far closer focusing capability, with exceptionally high 0.70X magnification possible. The 24-105mm is a much more typical 0.24X. If you do much close-up photography, the 24-70mm would be the better choice.
- EF 24-105mm f/4 has a 10-blade aperture, while 24-70mm f/4 uses a 9-blade aperture. The odd numbered blade count of the 24-70mm will make 18 point "sun stars", while the even numbered blade count in the 24-105mm will mean 10 point sun stars (would see the same results with any other strong specular lights in images, such as lighting in a night time cityscape).
- EF 24-70mm f/4 is nearly half a lb. lighter (7 oz.) and is a bit more compact.
In part it depends upon what other lenses you have in your kit. For example, if you have a 70-200mm you might find the 24-70mm just fine, although there's nothing wrong with having overlap of zoom focal lengths either.
If you were shooting professionally you might want both lenses to have a backup. For example I have two 70-200mm and three 300mm lenses... lenses I use a lot and really can't afford to be without.
The 24-105mm f/4 II is about six years newer lens. It was introduced in 2018, while 24-70mm f/4L was introduced in 2012. I believe the 24-70mm f/4L was discontinued when the 24-104mm f/4 II was launched. Or maybe the 24-70mm f/4 was discontinued more recently (Canon discontinued a number of EF lenses this year and last year). It doesn't matter so much when it happened, the fact that it's been discontinued, while the 24-105mm II remains in production,
might mean that Canon will no longer service or repair the 24-70mm at some point in the future... sooner than they stop servicing the 24-105mm II.
It also can come down to personal preference between them. As well as which is more valuable to you... having both lenses or having the money from selling one of them, perhaps to use to buy something else you've been wanting?
Detailed review of EF 24-105mm f/4L II:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-24-105mm-f-4L-IS-II-USM-Lens.aspxThorough review of EF 24-70mm f/4L:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-24-70mm-f-4-L-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx Image quality compared:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1072&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=3&API=0&LensComp=823&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0Vignetting compared:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Vignetting-Test-Results.aspx?FLI=0&API=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0&Lens=1072&Camera=979&LensComp=823Flare compared:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Flare.aspx?Lens=1072&Camera=979&FLI=3&API=0&LensComp=823&CameraComp=453&FLIComp=3&APIComp=0Distortion compared:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Distortion.aspx?Lens=1072&Camera=979&FLIComp=3&LensComp=823&CameraComp=453&FLI=3Specification comparison:
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Specifications.aspx?Lens=1072&LensComp=823