Last Updated: February 14th, 2020
The Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM lens is one of the best prime lenses available.
This 24mm lens was actually the first expensive wide angle lens we had the opportunity to use. Moving from shooting most of our lives with a kit 50mm lens, the change of perspective influenced our photography greatly. More “normal” focal lengths, like the 50mm, are great – but the perspective is far too familiar. At 50mm, the resulting images compare pretty significantly to our normal eyesight and perception of the world.
While we have a number of favorite lenses, such as the Canon 85mm f/1.2 USM lens, this is one of our favorites that we can truly recommend without any caveats.
In our experience, it is one of the best Canon lenses out there. The rest of our review will show you why.
How We Use the Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM Lens
Most photographers looking to purchase a 24mm or wider lens are, more than likely, going to be shooting landscapes. It really is the most obvious application of this lens.
In our little world, our reasons for buying were actually a little different.
Though, we say this and no doubt have put it to use for landscape photos such as many we took while traveling around Iceland.
Used for Portrait Photography?
While maybe a misguided purchasing decision as a result of some naivety, we got this 24mm with portraits in mind. Plus, the perk of being able to take better shots of venues when photographing couple’s wedding days.
We say it was “misguided” of us to buy the Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM Lens for portrait photography because this goes against what is normally accepted as standard advice. Wide angle lenses are not designed for portraits (they say). The contortion created by the lens can lead to unflattering results such as elongating features and so on.
Over time, we have found the 24mm to have enabled us to produce really beautiful portrait shots that would have otherwise been impossible to produce. You certainly do need to be careful of how you use it in this way – some hyper close up shots, for example, will not reflect the subject in a super flattering way. But, portraiture comes in many forms as we have learned.
Now, let us put it out there as a disclaimer, we are not recommending this lens for headshot portraits. This style of portraiture would be much, much better suited to be shot by a lens of 50mm or greater. For this, we’d personally recommend any lenses between 85mm – 200mm depending on how much space you have to work with.
Traveling, Landscapes, and Beyond!
As we mentioned, the 24mm really comes in handy for shooting environmental landscapes. Landscape photographers will absolutely love this lens – no doubt about it. The focal length allows you to capture larger spaces in one frame. It is also not so excessively bowed that images start to look more noticeably unreal and influenced by the lens as you will find with even wider options.
Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM Lens – Breaking it Down
Technical Specifications
We include these tech specs as a quick point of reference for you. When looking at lenses, we generally don’t care for too much of this detail. We are mainly influenced by the resulting images.
- Focal Length: 24mm
- Maximum Aperture: f/1.4
- Lens Construction: 13 elements in 10 groups
- Diagonal Angle of View: 86° (with full-frame cameras)
- Focus Adjustment: Rear focusing system with USM
- Closest Focusing Distance: 3.0 in./77mm
- Filter Size: 77mm
- Max. Diameter x Length, Weight: 3.4 in./86.9mm
- 22.9 oz./650g (lens only)
Build Quality
The Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM Lens is a lightweight but sturdy prime lens. The quality of the construction is well documented to be solid. We can verify this based on years of usage. In particular, we’ve used it in some rough shooting conditions such as in rain, high wind, snow, blowing sand, and so on. While we wouldn’t want to hold it under water, it can put up with shooting situations like this. It’s great to know this given things like the weather can be really unpredictable. This is especially true when shooting on location in a place such as Iceland.
Focus
One of the most common complaints we have we Canon lenses, such as the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Lens and the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens, is that they have focusing issues. While a detracting factor for those lenses (and this is reflected in our review scores), they still end up outputting beautiful images most of the time.
The Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM Lens is actually unique in Canon’s line of pro level prime offerings because it has never struggled with focusing in our experience. It is one of the most responsive lenses that we use, and does exactly what we expect it to. Even when shooting wide open at f/1.4 – focusing has never been a problem.
Image Quality
We have been blown away by the images taken with this lens when paired with our Canon 5D Mark IV camera bodies.
The images are not only crisp and clear, but the colors that are on display are really stunning. We have included a selection of sample images at the end of this post to help showcase this for you.
Who is it for?
The Canon EF Wide-Angle 24mm f/1.4 II USM Lens suits a wide range of shooting situations. Generally, it will be best for use to capture landscapes, architecture, real estate, and other larger things. We have also learned that it can make for great and unique portrait images as well – especially the type that include more of the environment in them.
Canon EF 24mm f/1.4 L II USM Sample Pictures
Having worked with the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4 L II USM Lens for over 2 years now, we’ve had a lot of experience shooting with this lens. We’ve seen it work and create stunning images in a number of contexts. It’s come to be a lens we can really rely on. The below images are some examples of shots we’ve taken using this lens.
