I have a Canon 20D and dreaming of upgrading to the new 5D. Is the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM the ultimate underwater lens? It focuses down to 1.5' and seems to be perfect for almost everything, except 1:1 macro.

I currently use a Canon 10-22 and 60 F2.8 macro with my Aquatica housing, and I find myself going nuts trying to anticipate before the dive which lens I'm going to need. I blow a gasket when I take the plunge with my 60 macro (which becomes a 96 mm on a Canon 20D), and suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge Jewfish shows up!

The range of this new Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens is extraordinary. What do you think?

Tov

Hi Tov, welcome to wetpixel!

I think the greater problem for a lens with such a long zoom is going to be finding an appropriate port/extension ring in order to use the full range. Also, its optical performance will certainly be inferior to a 24, 50 or 60 macro and 100 macro (not to mention the ability to do 1:1).

Nikon has similar offerings, but I am never tempted by long zooms. I think I always get better photos when I concentrate on one task, either macro or wide.

Luiz

I agree with Luiz and wouldn’t see the 24-105 as an all in one replacement for macro and wide primes / zooms. But I think the 24-105 has a very useful range for underwater. I would use this lens for stuff like sharks, turtles and fish photography too. There are plenty of subjects which won’t require 1:1 or 100° field of view but the flexibility from medium wideangle to medium tele. A lot of standard zooms are used behind a flat port. But I would definitely prefer the 24-105’s range to be untouched and use it behind a dome glass.

Julian

The problem is that this lens grows quite a bit when you zoom. After you add enough extention so that the lens fits in the port at 105mm, when you zoom out to 24mm it will almost certainly vignette.

The 24-70 is a much better choice. Through engeneering magic, it actually shrinks when it zooms out which is ideal.

I went to B & H today to check out the new Canon EF 24-105 F4L and discovered it is a very powerful lens. It has an amazing range.

Moreover, I found that with Canon's 77mm close up lens on it (Canon 500D), you can do serious macro photography while still maintaining the ability to focus quite a few feet away. In essences, this lens has the potential for extraordinary versatility.

There are, however, two noticeable problems with it.

First, and most important, the lens nearly doubles in size when you zoom it out to 105 mm. Thus, if you use a macro port with an extension ring long enough to accommodate the extended length of this lens at 105 mm, it will clearly vignette at 24 mm. The only way to solve this problem is to use a dome port. Bottom line, this new zoom cannot be used with a macro port.

My question is, what will my dome port's curved glass do to the images produced by this lens?

Canon’s 24-70 F2.8L, on the other hand, is brilliantly designed so that it doesn’t expand at 70 mm. I’ve been told it is a breathtaking lens. Yet, I’d hate to give up the extra focal length and image stabilizer, although the extra F stop is clearly a bonus. Both lenses are about the same price.

Second issue, Canon EF 24-105 F4L is quite fat. It will require a housing manufacturer to make a very wide zoom ring for it. The zoom ring from my Canon 10-22 didn't even come close.

An exciting component of diving is you never know what surprises are waiting for you beneath the surface. Anything can show up, and you want to be ready with the perfect focal length. Ahh, what is a diver to do?

Tov

Dome port is optically superior on every lens. Both Wide angel and telephoto/macro. The problem is that the vignetting will be a problem with most domes too.

I use my EF28-105 on my Subal C10 and prior to that with my Subal CE5 for the A2e, With a DSLR, the cropped sensor lets me use the lens with a flat port with no problems, going through the full zoom range without vignetting and the lens doesn't touch port element. On the film cam (and this would likely apply to a 5D...hope to get one early next year!) Using the Subal SWC dome port, I had 2 options, get full 28mm with just the port but have the lens hit the inside of the dome when racked out to 105., or add a 15mm extension ring and have the lens vignette a 28, but zoom out to 105mm.

So, the 24-105 would cause even more problems....

Stu