Canon 7-63 vs. 8-64, and 7-63 T-Stop

[Marc Roessler]

Hi everyone,

 

what's your take on the Canon 7-63 vs. the 8-64?

I know that the 8-64 is a tad faster (T2.4) than the 7-63 (T2.6 to T2.9) and that the 7-63 is newer.. but how do they compare image wise?

 

Also I'm wondering, the manual lists the 7-63 as T2.6 at 7 to 50 mm, and T2.9 at 50 to 63 mm. But I can set the aperture ring to 2.6 even above 50mm. Does that mean that the image will just get a tiny bit darker when zooming in, despite the stop being set at 2.6?

 

Thanks,

Marc

[Chris Burke]

I'd like to find that out as well but have never shot with a 7-63, however I have shot a good deal with the 8-64 and can honesty say that it is my favorite zoom. Color and contrast are beautiful. It is also a very sharp lens. It focuses extremely close which is a great feature. If you never get an answer and an 8-64 is available, buy it, you will love how it looks. One would think that with each new model the lenses get better, so maybe a 7-63 us a step up. I do know that the 6.6-66 is one of, if not the sharpest S16 zoom ever.

[Dom Jaeger]

There's not much between them really, both are top notch S16 zooms with barely any breathing and minimum focus of less than 2 feet. On projection the 7-63 looks a smidgeon sharper across the field when wide open. Both have an image circle of at least 16mm diameter through their range, the 7-63 degrades less past the S16 boundary.

 

The 8-64 is about an inch shorter and slender all the way til the very front, whereas the 7-63 carries the same 95mm front diameter halfway down the body. Interesting how much extra girth they needed for just one more mm of focal length at the wide end. When you need to go wide though, there is a surprising difference between 8mm and 7mm, more than you might think.

 

The multi-coatings are similar, 8-64 looks a little more purple. The 8-64 rear element protrudes about 24mm behind the PL mount, compared to nearly 27mm for the 7-63.

 

The 7-63 ramping is barely noticeable, but yes, if you zoom in all the way at T2.6 it will darken a quarter stop or so beyond 50mm.