Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Lens Review

Handling and Features
Performance
Verdict
Specification


 

Canon’s latest wide-angle tilt-shift optic promises a higher quality over the entire imaging area and a wider range of lens movements over its predecessor.

As is usually the case with tilt-shift lenses, this optic isn’t inexpensive, costing around £1430. In this review, we’ll take a look at how it performs.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Handling and Features

Build quality is typical of Canon’s L series lenses, with a robust textured black finish made from a combination of high-quality plastics and metal and the bayonet is metal. As a result, the lens has quite a bit of weight for its size and feels very solid, tipping the scales at 780g. Even so it balances well with the Canon EOS 6D body used for testing.

Although this lens has electronic contacts for focus confirmation and exposure, focusing needs to be performed manually, as is normal for tilt-shift lenses. Manual focusing is a pleasure, thanks to the well damped, smooth action of the focusing ring. The camera will confirm focus at the selected focusing point with a beep as normal. Closest focus is 21cm, which should be ideal for shooting in cramped environments, or even for close-up images.

The controls for tilt and shift movements are smooth to operate and the amount of force needed to turn the dials can be easily adjusted using another set of smaller dials by each control, which can also lock the lens at the desired setting. An additional switch to lock the tilt setting in place is also present. The lens can be shifted up to 12mm off axis, or tilted by up to 8.5 degrees, which provides plenty of scope for adjustment. A hyperfocal scale is marked onto the lens barrel although these values will only apply is no tilt movements are set. Both tilt and shift movement can be rotated independently, allowing tilt and shift movements to be aligned with each other if required or for shooting in portrait or landscape orientation.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Performance

Using the lens centred, with no shift, sharpness in the centre of the frame is already outstanding at maximum aperture, with excellent clarity towards the edge of the 35mm frame and this is the case until the lens is stopped down beyond f/8. With the lens fully shifted, sharpness hovers around very good levels furthest from the optical centre between f/3.5 and f/16.
 

MTF
 

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 6D using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are extremely well controlled across the entire image area, with fringing remaining below a quarter of a pixel width at all aperture settings.

CA
 

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimise the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 6D using Imatest.

Due to the nature of the lens, it isn't possible to accurately measure the falloff across the whole image circle with Imatest. Across the normal 35mm frame with the lens centred, the corners of the image are 1.6 stops darker than the image centre at maximum aperture and uniform illumination is achieved with the lens stopped down to f/5.6 or beyond. As is the case with other tilt-shift optics, applying a severe tilt or shift will darken the image in the viewfinder.

Only a minute amount of barrel distortion was detected by Imatest, with only 1.04% barrel distortion being present. This extremely low level of distortion should rarely need correction in image editing software.

The lens is very resistant to flare, and contrast holds up well when shooting into the light.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Sample Photos

Value For Money

Tilt-shift lenses are normally quite pricey, and this lens is not an exception to the norm being priced at around £1430.

Those looking for similar functionality on a budget may consider the Samyang T-S 24mm f/3.5 ED AS UMC lens. Although this lens has no electronic coupling with the camera, it does cost under half what the Canon optic does, being priced at around £650.

For more options have a look at the Top 10 Best Canon Lenses of 2015.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Verdict

As you may expect for a top of the range Canon lens, this optic delivers superb clarity and is packaged in a robustly built and well-designed body. The controls for applying lens adjustments are easy to adjust and overall this lens should more than satisfy the needs of anyone after a tilt-shift optic.

However, the price of over £1400 is a bitter pill to swallow, especially when there is an alternative available for under half the price. The high price may make it difficult for many to justify, especially for a lens as specialised as this.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Pros

Excellent optical performance
Very good build quality
Good control over tilt-shift movements
Electronic coupling with  Canon EOS cameras

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Cons

Expensive
 

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
VERDICT

This lens delivers superb clarity and is packaged in a robustly built and well-designed body.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II Specifications

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