Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras by Canon
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Digital camera reviews of Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: 17-40mm F4/L USM
Summary: 5 Stars
This company does good work when selling fixed lenses. I think this lens is absolutely awesome. I got this lens to use temporarily on my Rebel Xti. Next year I shall purchase the 5D markII and this lens will go right on it.
When I bought the lens, I must say that I was skeptical. I looked around and the price increased from $400 on average to $407. Then, just before I was ready to buy the lens, it jumped up to $450...imagine my shock. So I looked at a rebuilt because of the lower cost but again, the seller had an impeccable rating which you should be comfortable with. they are good. the lens isn't too heavy either and when zooming, you don't get the the typical lens extending out past the lens body as with most lenses, the lens stays the same length at all times. This is truly a lens designed just for landscape photography in mind but can be used for professional shots of people and other uses. If you move from EF-S lenses, YOU WILL NOTICE A HUGE DIFFERENCE in your picture quality.
Pro: excellent picture quality, great picture contrast, smooth focusing motors, excellent glass quality. there is an included hood with the lens, it has black velvet inside which helps greatly to absorb light in my opinion. use it to protect your lens.
Cons: on my current APS-C digital rebel Xti, in some cases I get some vignetting which isn't soo bad. one can use the canon software included with the camera and use the peripheral illumination feature to correct that(Not a killing problem to this product, just bcz of the image sensor).
other: not a con but, if you, like myself have used EF-S lenses before this, you'll need to get used to the zoom and focus rings being set differently on EF lenses to include this one. But I'm getting used to that over time.
My final analysis is that this company is well worth the money they ask for this lens. The delivery was fast and perfect!
10 out of 10 stars!
Digital camera Review: 17-40mm vs. 16-35mm, both Super, but what's the difference?
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, besides a whole bucket full of money, one of them lets you take photos in lower light, okay, that's obvious. The 16-35mm is a bit heavier, but not so you'd notice, unless maybe you were carrying it around all day, without eating and you're a bit over the hill. So why pay the extra money, unless, of course, you do a lot of shooting in the early morning and late evening?
Maybe you shouldn't, because I've been doing a lot of photo taking with both, film and digital, and as one would expect from the "L" lenses, the photos are crisp and sharp. In fact I keep I the 17-40 on the camera I carry around all day, you know, the one I might leave on the table in a restaurant when I got to the restroom. It's a lot less money to lose to someone looking for a five finger discount. However, my gal pal Sara and I take a lot of early morning photos. She shoots old houses, and she never, ever goes out without the 16-35mm. She swears by it, loves it, sometimes I think better than me.
So there is a difference, I'm the kind of person that could happily live with less expensive lense, Sara is not. However they both deliver gorgeous photos. You can't go wrong if the lense has that red circle around it.
Digital camera Review: A Fantastic All Purpose Lens on Crop Cameras
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this lens before my trip to Europe - test drove it for a couple of weeks before my vacation and I have to say I am in love with this lens! :) I use it on a crop camera, on an ancient Canon 400D but the colors, contrast, speed of focusing, clarity and overall IQ are absolutely amazing! It's the PERFECT all purpose lens on my crop camera. Bokeh is sweet when wide open, the focus spot on - and I do mostly dog photography - action primarily, so I know what I'm taking about!
It's a lot lighter than my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L and very comfortable carrying and using it for an entire day.
I highly recommend this lens for anyone with a crop camera. Yes, it won't be an ultra wide angle lens, the way it would be on a full frame camera, but the range is so useful that I find it very hard to take it off my camera and replace it with any other lens I have.
Digital camera Review: A True Luxury Lens
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this lens as a replacement for my EFS 18-50 kit lens.
For APS-C SLRs there are plenty of options in this focal range (EFS 18-50, EFS 18-50IS, EFS 17-85IS, EFS 17-55IS, EFS 15-85IS, Tamron 17-50, Tamron 17-50 VC, Tokina 16-50, Sigma 18-50 ....... ). I was not originally considering this lens and was leaning towards the EFS 17-85IS or Tamron 17-50 (the EFS 15-85IS and Tamron 17-50 VC did not exist at the time). However after trying it at a store, I just had to have one!
It has a certain feel to it that is indescribable. Its a pleasure to use. Mounted on my Rebel Xti, it is well balanced. It feels substantial but not overly heavy (less than my EF 70-300IS). It balances the camera well when a flash is mounted in the hotshoe (which can be an issue with lighter lenses). Its very solid. Resting on my hand its very easy to manually focus with my thumb and forefinger; and zoom with my pinky (or thumb), without shaking the camera. Both zoom and focus rings are very smooth. Auto-focusing is so fast and silent, that I often wonder if it actually focused!
It focuses quite close. Its a good close up lens for objects that are as small as a child's hand.
Image quality seems fine to me. I can't say its any better or worse than my EF 70-300IS which I have no complaints about. I do think the colors are better on the EF 17-40 (but that could be my imagination).
I do not find the focal range limiting, but this is not an all-in one zoom! Its a wide to normal. If you need more telephoto you will need to carry another lens (like the excellent 70-300IS or 70-200 F4). If you want an all in one lens go with something else. You have lots of choices!
The constant F4 aperture is great for general purpose outdoor/daytime use. Indoors or at night you will typically need a flash, to keep the shutter speed up high enough.
For its focal range I do not find a lack of image stabilization an issue. Daytime outdoors I can hold the camera steady enough, and indoors I use a flash.
I would recommend this lens to anyone looking for a general purpose wide to normal zoom on an APS-C DSLR.
Digital camera Review: A good wide angle
Summary: 4 Stars
This is about 10-25mm for 40D and others. It's well build, very light, definitely L quality in color, contrast, and consistency.Corner to corner sharpness is not great. But Canon isn't known for wide angle lenses anyway. This is quite decent comparing to the rest of what's available for Canon mount. My Sigma 20/1.8 is fantastic. The next up is the Canon 14mmL which cost an arm and a leg. But this 17-40 is better made and has a little zoom hence more flexibility. In both ends of shooting (ultra wide and extreme long), you don't always get room to make up for the lack of zoom.