It's a bit on the pricey side (as are many recent Canon lenses) and maybe not exactly the best value ever, that said it delivers amazing quality for landscapes edge to edge on a 5D2 (when stopped down) and you also have f/1.4-2 for when you need a bit of subject isolation or more speed for indoor shooting without flash and when low DOF is OK.

The image quality is remarkably better than with the 24-105L I had which made a mess at the edges at 24mm even stopped way down (it also had much worse distortion). I like the 24 1.4 II much better.

None of the various zooms deliver as crisp an image edge to edge on FF at this focal length at ANY f-stop.

Only the 24 T&S II or Zeiss 21mm offer any better landscape quality than this lens on a 5D2/1Ds3 (and not by much really). For pure, slow tripod taken landscape work the 24 T&S II is the best bet, but the 24 1.4 II does very, very well (unless you need tilt) and has AF and 1.4 so it's easier to use and more flexible in general.

A relatively nice compact lens that doesn't weigh too much.

One of my more used lenses. I would say this and the 70-200 f/4 IS get the most usage of all. With the 300 2.8 IS third.
(Posted on 12/1/10)

This is hands down my favorite lens. It's very fast and the focus is accurate. Well designed, made...very sturdy and well worth the money. Thanks Unique Photo for sending this out so fast and making my weekend. (Posted on 6/25/10)

This lens is very fast and a good size. It's a little bit heavy, but the sharpness and high quality images make up for it. I mainly use it with low light/indoors but it's great outdoors as well. (Posted on 3/1/10)