Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (67mm filters, 1.64'/0.5m close-focus, 12.7 oz./361g, about $190 used.) enlarge. This free website's biggest source of support is when you use , especially this link directly to them at eBay (see How to Win at eBay) when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. It helps me keep reviewing these oldies when you get yours through these links, thanks! Ken. April 2012 Canon Reviews Canon Lenses All Reviews NEW: 20 April 2012  Harmony, 14 April 2012. original file. Set to 32mm, f/10 at 1/250, 5D Mark III at ISO 100. (right-hand fence post not in focus, see the grass behind it.) Introduction The Canon EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM is a very lightweight full-frame do-everything zoom for all Canon EOS digital and 35mm autofocus cameras. It performs especially well on the Canon 5D Mark III, which when a , corrects for falloff and lateral color, right in the camera. Because of the new lateral color fringe correction in the Canon 5D Mark III, this lens is becoming more popular because it is much smaller, lighter and easier to zoom than the big expensive 24-105mm f/4 L IS. This 24-85mm has great ergonomics; just slide the small but grippy focus ring for instant manual-focus override at any time. This Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 is also marvelous for use with ultralight 35mm EOS cameras. Canon also made a silver paint version for use with the nastiest silver cameras. It works fine on Canon's 1.6x DSLRs, but its focal length range makes little sense except on full-frame. I'd use a kit lens like the 18-55mm IS instead for a much more practical range on small format DSLRs. This 24-85mm is sharp, but has a lot of distortion. This 24-85mm is especially prized for its 24mm ability, build quality and low price and weight. Consider also the very similar Canon EF 28-105mm USM II, which is the same thing but with a slightly longer focal length range with somewhat less distortion, and often sells for less money. Compatibility and Formats This lens is optimized for 35mm film and full-frame digital, and of course works on all 1.3x and 1.6x Canon cameras. This Canon EF EOS 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 works perfectly with every Canon EOS camera ever made, meaning every Canon DSLR and every Canon autofocus 35mm camera made since 1987. This means of course it works great on today's 5D Mark III and Canon 7D, but it works just as well on my original Canon EOS 620 from 1987! As a full-frame lens, this works on all Canon SLRs, regardless of format. As a full-frame lens, I will be reviewing this lens on full-frame. Canon 24-85 3.5-4.5. enlarge. Specifications Name Canon calls this the CANON ZOOM LENS EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 ULTRASONIC. EF means "electronic focus," meaning that there is an autofocus motor in the lens itself. All Canon lenses since 1987 have been EF. ULTRASONIC means USM, which means you may grab the focus ring at any time for instant, silent manual focus override. Optics Internal diagram; green is the aspherical element. 15 elements in 12 groups. One aspherical element. Internal focus; nothing moves externally as focused. The front group moves in and out as zoomed. Multi-group zooming. Focal Length 24-85mm. On 1.3x Canon cameras it will see angles-of-view similar to what a 31~110mm lens would see on a 35mm camera. On 1.6x Canon cameras it will see angles-of-view similar to what a 38~135mm lens would see on a 35mm camera. Angle of View (on 35mm and full-frame cameras) 84º ~ 28.5º diagonal. 53º ~ 16º vertical. 74º ~ 24 º horizontal. Close Focus 1.64 feet (0.5m) from the image plane, specified. Maximum Reproduction Ratio 1:6.25. Minimum Field 6.2 x 9.2 inches. 157 x 234 millimeters. Diaphragm Front, Canon 24-85mm at 50mm (EF diaphragm not visible). enlarge. 6 blades. Stops down to f/22-32. Focus Scale Yes. The ring turns from infinity to the closest focus distance in about 90.º Depth-of-Field Scale No. Infra-Red Focus Indices Focus Scale, Canon 24-85/3.5-4.5. Yes, marks for 24, 28, 35, 50, 70 and 85mm focal lengths. These marks are probably for the 800 nm wavelength. Filter Thread 67mm. Plastic. Doesn't rotate, but does pump in and out with zooming. Size Canon specifies 2.9" (73mm) diameter by 2.7" (69.5mm) long. It gets longer as zoomed to longer focal lengths. Weight 12.725 oz. (360.1g), measured. Canon specifies 13.1 oz. (380g). Hood Reversible plastic petal-type bayonet EW-73II ($25), not included. Case LP1014 sack, ($27), not included. Caps 67mm E-67U front, included. (ultrasonic cap with gold "ULTRASONIC" and silver "Canon" logos.) Standard EOS cap rear. Quality Made in Japan. Price, USA 2012 April: about $190 used. 2005 December: $300 gray, $310 USA (equivalent to $350/365 with inflation in 2012). Performance Overall The Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 is a well-made, great-handling, plastic-barreled lens with optics that work great with the Canon 5D Mark III's automatic corrections. Autofocus Autofocus is fast and almost silent. Auto/Manual Switching Just grab the focus ring for instant manual-focus override. You never need to touch the AF-MF switch unless you want to lock-out autofocus. AF Speed AF is fast!, as Canons always are. AF Accuracy and Consistency AF accuracy is fine on my Canon 5D Mark III. Manual Focus Manual focus is easy; just move the ring. Focus Breathing Focus breathing (the image changing size as focused) is mostly of interest to cinematographers who don't want the image changing size ("breathing") as the lens is focused among different subjects. The image from the Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 gets smaller as focused more closely. Color Rendition The color balance of this 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 matches my other Canon EF lenses. Distortion This Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 has barrel distortion at 24mm, neutral around 35mm, strong pincushion distortion in the middle of the range, and pincushion at 85mm. If you want less distortion, use fixed lenses or the 24-70mm f/2.8 L. The distortion is complex on the wide end; even with correction with Photoshop's Lens Distortion tool there is residual waviness. Use these values in Photoshop's Lens Distortion tool to remove most of it: On full-frame at 10' (3m) at infinity 24mm +4.0** +5.5** 28mm 0.0** +1.5** 35mm -2.5* -1.5* 50mm -3.7 -3.0 70mm -4.0 -3.2 85mm -4.0 -3.5 © 2012 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved. ** Plenty of waviness remains. * Some waviness remains. If shot on the Canon 5D Mark III as a raw file with the appropriate , the 5D Mark III can process raw files in-camera to eliminate all of this distortion. I have not figured out how to get the camera to eliminate this distortion as-shot, or how to use Canon software to invoke the lens profile to correct it later. Ergonomics Canon 24-85/3.5-4.5. enlarge. Ergonomics are just about perfect. Everything just works without any silly lock-outs or levers to move. Everything feels and works great. The zoom ring moves fast. It's only a little closely spaced at the wide end, still much better than the very cramped . Focus is via a very well placed and grippy ring. There is no "macro" range; it focuses to 0.5m at all settings. Falloff (darkened corners) With Peripheral Illumination Correction, an option in the Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 5D Mark III, it's not a problem, so long as you into your camera. Filters, Use with The plastic filter threads don't rotate. There's no problem with vignetting even with thick or rotating filters on full-frame. With my Tiffen 0.6 ND grad in rotating mount (6mm thick excluding rear threads), there's no problem. If you push your luck and stack filters, you'll get vignetting on full-frame from 24-35mm, but it's fine even with two stacked filters from 35mm on. Lateral Color Fringes Window Screen, Harmony, 14 April 2012. original file. Set to 48mm, f/9 at 1/160, 5D Mark III at ISO 100. There are probably color fringes if shot on older cameras, but none if shot on the Canon 5D Mark III with the appropriate . Maximum and Minimum Apertures Maximum Minimum 24mm f/4 f/22 28mm f/3.5 f/22 35mm f/4 f/25 50mm f/4 f/29 70mm f/4.5 f/32 85mm f/4.5 f/32 Mechanics Rear, Canon 24-85 f/3.5-4.5. enlarge. The Canon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 is a very well made lens. It has a metal mount, and well-made plastic elsewhere. Filter Threads Plastic. Hood Mount Plastic. Fore Barrel Plastic. Focus Ring Grippy plastic. Mid-barrel Plastic. Internals Seem like plastic. Zoom Ring Plastic, rubber-covered. Zoom Cams Feel like plastic. Rear barrel Plastic. Moisture seal at mount No. Mount Chromed metal. Markings Paint. Serial Number Laser-melted into rear light baffle on back of lens, only visible when not mounted on a camera. Date Code None found. Noises When Shaken Very mild clicking. Made in Japan. Sharpness Lens sharpness doesn't matter much, but it sure distracts amateurs who confuse lens sharpness with picture sharpness. With this warning, it's always sharp and contrasty in the center where it matters, and lower contrast in the sides and corners wide-open. Stop down a couple of stops, and the sides clean right up. It's best shot on the 5D Mark III, whose lateral color-fringe correction greatly improves the sides and corners. Sunstars There are very few, if any, sunstars. With its 6-bladed diaphragm there are very muted 6-pointed sunstars on only the most brilliant points of light. Compared NEW: All 24-70mm Lenses Compared. This 24-85/3.5-4.5 is a lightweight, inexpensive, mostly plastic, very well built, handy and well-performing lens on the 5D Mark III. For the small increase in sharpness that the 24-70mm f/2.8 L or 24-105mm f/4 L IS might offer in the corners at large apertures on my 5D Mark III, I won't bother carrying them; I prefer this lightweight lens for use in the field — and this 24-85mm zooms much better, without the cramped wide-angle range of the 24-105mm. This 24-85mm has a boatload of distortion, but if it bothers you, it's become much easier to correct today. With the 5D Mark III's marvelous ultra-high ISO performance, the extra stop of the 24-70mm f/2.8 L isn't needed, and I love not having to carry all that weight. 20-35 24-85 28-105 28-135 IS 24-70/2.8 24-105 IS Anni 1993-2007 1996-2007 1992-2010 1998- 2002- 2005- Maximum Aperture f/3.5-4.5 f/3.5-4.5 f/3.5-4.5 f/3.5-5.6 f/2.8 f/4 Filter Size 77mm 67mm 58mm 72mm 77mm 77mm Filter Threads plastic plastic plastic plastic metal plastic Length 69mm 69.5mm 75mm 97mm 123mm 107mm Distortion (W~T) Ease of Zooming excellent very good very good very good good poor Diaphragm Blades 5 6 7 6 8 8 Sunstars 10 points 6 points 14 points 6 points 8 points 8 points Focus USM USM USM USM USM USM Instant manual-focus override? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes AF/MF switch slide switch slide switch slide switch slide switch slide switch slide switch Weight 331g 361g 362g 540g 910g 664g Made in Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Japan Price, 4/2012 $200 used $190 used $150 used $450 $1,400 $1,100 Usage AF - MF Switch Leave this in AF. Set it to MF only to deactivate autofocus. Recommendations Want a super-lightweight, low-cost, high-performance all-purpose zoom for your full-frame Canon? Only have $200 for a Canon zoom? Shooting a 5D Mark III or 35mm EOS Rebel? Heading out for an around-the-world budget trip, or backpacking? I wouldn't use it on the old 5D Mark II which lacks lateral color fringe correction, but for just about everything else, this could be your lens. Very similar in performance and weight is the 28-105mm USM II, which sells for even less. Get this 24-85mm if you need the 24mm end, but if you're bringing an ultrawide like the 20-35mm USM or want the longer range of the 28-105mm, check it out as well. They are almost identical lenses. The 28-135mm IS is also a great lens, with the added feature of image stabilization, that weighs and costs much less and with a longer zoom ranger than the big, fat L-pigs. If you've found the time I've spent sharing this professional review helpful, this free website's biggest source of support is when you use , especially this link directly to them at eBay (see How to Win at eBay) when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. It helps me keep reviewing these oldies when you get yours through these links. Thanks! Ken More Information Canon's Museum. Help me help you I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem. The biggest help is when you use any of to Adorama, Amazon, eBay, Ritz, Calumet, J&R and ScanCafe when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. 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