I work in a camera store selling photo equipment. Long story short, someone came in who is a member of CPS, and he said that the employees at CPS view the 24-70L classic as "the worst L lens ever made" which I found hard to believe. He said the sharpness between copies was very inconsistent and it had poor autofocus.

I find this really hard to believe, but I'm wondering if there's some truth to it. My 24-70L classic has always been really sharp, except for the time when I dropped it and had to have it repaired. But then again, I've only done extensive testing with it on my 40D (which is crop and a relatively low resolution). I've shot with it on a 5D Mk ii, and it seemed fine, but it never did any formal testing with it.

He also said he preferred the 24-105L because it was sharper than the 24-70L at compatible apertures/focal lengths and had less distortion...



~Matt