Canon EF 24-70 MkI vs Canon EF 24-70 MkII

I set up some items with bright colors and other items with textures. Some of the textures were obvious, others subtle. Made sure camera settings and where I was standing was the same for both series of test shots. I also took a photo of a grevillea shrub with both of the lenses, which to me was the decider.

EF 24-70 MkI


EF 24-70 MkII



The new lens, being 82mm vs 77mm means more light gathering is possible. Because of this, I did notice that the photos taken with the MkII were brighter, colors truer the subject and because of that sharper in detail, I also noticed that there was more differentiation in the shades of green on the images taken with the MkII. What struck me most was not only was the MkII visibly sharper, was the amount of chromatic aberration on the Original 24-70 vs the MkII

As you can see, the MkI 24-70.. this image selection is blurry, and has red/green chromatic aberrations.




MkII Not only is the image selection sharp and has zero aberrations.




Range of colors: Both of the original photographs had their levels adjusted the same amounts. What I noticed was the different shades of pink and the details in the MKii that was missing in the MkI.


MKl 24-70 - by comparison, the colors are flat. There is no shortage of chromatic aberrations.



MKii - More shades of pink, and the green grass isn't speckled with chromatic aberrations




The MkII is one helluva jump in Canon glass. It outperformed it's predecessor, hands down. Now, the only question is this: Is is significantly better than the new Tamron 82mm 24-70 to justify the higher cost?

Stay tuned! I will be hiring the Tamron to find out!