Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Customer Review: After my 3rd copy I'm still not happy
Summary: 2 Stars
I borrowed a friends 17-40 and fell in love. Great color and wonderfully sharp. So I bought one for myself. It was no where near as sharp, it went back, the second was even worse, so blurry my landscapes looked like they were taken with a P&S, even on a tripod at f/11. This third lens is about the same as the second but won't focus right. Sadly I don't think I'll ever get a good copy of this lens. Customer Review: Happy that I bought it!
Summary: 5 Stars
For months I had been reading review after review and comparing this lens with other lenses in its class at the store. Had finally boiled it down to between this lens and a Tamron Lens which was about $200 less. Both lens received very good reviews. But a couple of months ago I made my choice to get this lens on what a reviewer had said about canon "L" lenses, this one in particular. (Paraphrasing)"You could get the cheaper lens and most likely be happy with it, but what if?" So not wanting to be wondering what "if", I purchased the Canon EF 17-40 f/4L and haven't had any regrets letting go of $600. Some reviewers had said that with the max of f4, the lens wouldn't get good shots in low to dim light. Yet this lens had no problem focusing or getting good shots in those conditions with my 430EX flash what so ever. And not only will you get some great wide shots (even with a Rebel Xti, as I do) but you can get some good close ups of objects as well. You'll have to be careful with close-ups of people because you can distort their facial features(nose,ears,forehead;the lens was not intended for portraits) but, it's useful for group shots. I've uploaded some pictures of some trees and some geese in a pond along with a close up of a pot holder. Photos with this lens are very good concerning sharpness, color and contrast and there is a minimum of barrel distortion as well. So if you are wondering "what if?", I would go ahead and spring the money for this lens, it would be a great addition to your collection and a very useful one at that.
Update August 8, 2008. I have used this lens a lot since I've gotten it and haven't any regrets. I have been on a trip to Puerto Rico USA visiting my parents and this lens gave me the opportunity to snap some great shots. I have uploaded some shots that will show just how good this lens really is.
Customer Review: Excellent Performance
Summary: 5 Stars
This lens performs very well. It is sharp, has limited distortion, and controls chromatic aberrations well. Color reproduction is also very accurate. The more I use this lens the more I like it. The only slightly negative thing I can say about this lens is the dust sealing could be a little bit better.Customer Review: Light and a pleasure to use
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros:
Very nice lens bag included
Center is sharp even at F/4
Love that high quality L Lens build
Lens hood included and easy to install
Great contrast, beautiful rich color images
Super quiet and super fast USM auto focus
Great landscape lens super sharp at F/8 and 17mm
Good walk around lens for cropped sensor camera, ultra wide lens when used on a full frame sensor camera.
This lens has Auto Lens Vignetting correction using peripheral Illumination control see Auto Vignetting comments below
Buttery smooth zoom and manual focus rings
Fits all Canon EOS cameras including full frame film and 5D
First copy I got was good to go with no quality control issues
Sharper on the wide end 17 to 24mm then Canon EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS and Canon 24-70 F/2.8 L but much softer then them on the narrow end 40mm.
Cons:
Only F4, wish it was F2.8 or even F3.5
Lens Hood is very bulky and hard to store
Rather narrow 17-40 zoom range: 17-55 would have been nicer
Very soft wide open in the corners, sharpens a lot at F/4.5
Could be sharper on the corners on the narrow end 24mm to 40mm and wide open
First impressions:
If you are an older photographer like me you remember the good ole days when all SLR 35mm style lens had a quality feel to them. Built to last forever with smooth zoom and focusing and they came with a lens hood and carrying bag. Details included a built in lens focusing scale in both feet (green lettering) and meters (white lettering) and an infrared scale adjustment in red lettering. The lens mounted to the camera body with a precision feel like the two were actually made by experienced craftsman who actually cared about the product they were creating. It's a great quality feel that you can get used to. With this Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens that's exactly what you are getting, a finally crafted functional work of art.
I never cease to be amazed at USM auto focus, so quiet, so fast, so accurate, so useful with the auto-focus manual focus override without turning off the auto focus. I shoot both wild life and weddings both of which require at times the camera be as quiet as possible up to the moment you shoot. This lens delivers; I can barely hear it focus even with my ear against the lens and can not hear it focus at all only a couple of feet from the lens.
Decisions Decisions:
Like a lot of other people I was looking to upgrade my basic Kit 18-55 lens (very soft muddy lens) I got with my Canon Rebel XTi camera. And like a lot of people I wanted a lens that I would never outgrow or tire of or wear out. I take a lot of photos and frequently upgrade camera bodies and wanted a lens that will also work on a full frame camera like the 5D.
I had borrowed a friends 17-70 Sigma and it was really sharp and for the money (less then half the price of the Canon 17-40) I thought I would try one even though it wouldn't work on a full frame camera. I went through three copies and all were bad before deciding to go back to the 17-40. Man what a great decision going with the Canon 17-40. Thanks to 47th Street photo for being so nice about the whole return twice then later upgrade from Sigma to Canon situation. I only had to pay return shipping.
Testing:
When I received my new Canon 17-40 I took it out, mounted it on my Canon Rebel XTi and mounted the camera on a tripod, put on a remote release, set the camera to mirror lockup mode, Aperture Propriety at F8, 28mm zoom and tested it both against my friends Sigma 17-70 and my own basic Canon 18-55 kit lens. The 17-40 absolutely blew the kit lens out of the water: in sharpness, contrast and richness of color. Then I tried it against the Sigma which I thought was a sharp lens and the Canon 17-40 was sharper and had more contrast then the Sigma. Then I set it to 40mm and shot against my Canon 50mm F1.8 II lens which I thought was pretty sharp and it was better then it as well. I then tried the lens in various conditions and settings and all extremes both indoors and out with and without flash. I also own a Canon 70-200 F2.8 L and it's sharper then it as well at some settings.
I was very pleased to find out that the very first copy of this lens right out of the box was sharp enough and auto focus was right on the money!
Auto Vignetting peripheral illumination control:
Canon has this super sweet Auto Lens Vignetting correction that works with this lens both in camera with JPEG's and in RAW using peripheral Illumination control in Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) when using newer Canon digital EOS cameras (Canon Rebel XSi, 40D, 5D Mark II etc.) . No more vignetting when shooting wide open!!! When shooting Raw open the file(s) in DPP and click on NR/Lens Lens Aberration Correction / Tune and click on Peripheral illumination. The cameras listed above have already picked up the amount of vignetting based on focusing distance, zoom setting and F stop from the lens and the camera has saved the information with the Raw file. You can then adjust the amount under Peripheral Illumination if you don't like the amount automatically suggested. If you shot JPEG then you get the auto amount. SWEET!!!
Conclusion:
If you want THE best wide angle L lens to use on both cropped and ultra wide for full sized sensor Canon EOS camera bodies this is it. It's dual purpose capabilities both as a normal walk around zoom (27mm to 64mm) on cropped sensor cameras and ultra wide zoom (17mm to 40mm) on full sized sensors make it a very versatile lens you won't out grow.
I am very pleased and heartily recommend the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens.
12-4-2007 Update
I love this lens more then ever and I use it here at work a lot. Since I take photos usually tripod mounted with a small depth of field F-8 to F-11 and shoot a lot in the 17 - 28mm zoom range this lens really fits the bill when mounted on my Canon Rebel XTi. I continue to be impressed with the sharp high contrast photos and the super fast auto focus.
One note of warning, this lens sticks out especially without the lens hood on. I have since taken to having a lens filter mounted on it (B & W 77mm UV (Ultra Violet) Haze Multi Coated (2C) Glass Filter #010) to protect it although it seems to really degrade the sharpness and to some extent the contrast colors of the image. I'm hoping to find a filter that does not degrade the image at all and am doing tests at all the local camera stores to try and find one. Will post here when I find a great filter as I would like to buy one for my Canon 70- 200 to protect it as well and since it's the same filter size I could even switch back and forth. For now when I have the lens tripod mounted and want the best image quality I remove the filter and when I am just walking around I leave the filter in place.
Filter Update 1-3-2008
After much searching I found the perfect filter. The Hoya Multi Coat HMC Pro1 Protection filter is not supposed to filter the shot just protect the front lens element. I was very worried that it would affect the shot after having tried some other premium filters like the B+W UV which caused the photos to be softer and duller. However, after some tests I found that in some weird way the Hoya Multi Coat HMC Pro1 actually makes the photos seem to have just a little more contrast and be a little sharper then without. I thought I had gotten the test shots backwards and had to retest with a little sign in the photo saying with and without filter in place just to make sure. Really amazing!!! I'm sold!
3-28-2008
Well, it was one of the sharpest lens I own. Now I have a different standard as it's been surpassed by the Canon EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS lens which is sharper at the narrow end 24-40mm at every equal setting and by my Canon 135mm F/2 L and Canon 85mm F/1.2 L II. But I still love this lens and I am going to keep it and it is very sharp on the wide end 17mm even at F4.5. I plan to use it for ultra wide angle when Canon finally releases their Canon 5D replacement whenever that is. I also still use it on my Canon 40D and Rebel XTi when I am in dusty areas because of the weather sealing. And the zoom action is so smooth I wish the 17-55 F/2.8 had this zoom action. Still the colors are bright and it's pretty sharp and its small and light!
4-17-2008 Update
I still love this lens and use it for motorcycle rides and hiking where it's light weight and weather tight seal come in handy. Plus I found that you can get an image very sharp if you process it using the Canon Digital Photo Professional that came with you camera. I also use as a backup at weddings and for out door wide angle wedding shots and landscapes.
9-22-2008 Update:
I'm getting ready to purchase or lease the new Canon 5D Mark II and boy oh boy is this 17-40 L lens going to come in handy. One of the first places I want to take the happy couple is to the Grand Canyon. 17mm at F/10 tripod mounted oh YEAH!!! True wide angle bliss!!!
10-07-2008 Update:
I recently had a question as to why I bought the Canon 17-40 F/4 L lens instead of the Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens. All EF-S lenses only work on cropped sensor cameras (Rebels, 40D, 50D etc). I have ordered a new 5D Mark II full frame sensor which can not use the EF-S 10-22mm lens. A full frame sensor camera makes the 17-40 lens at 17mm as wide as the 10-22 zoom is when the 10-22 is set at 11mm. So there is only a 1 mm advantage with the EF-S 10-22 on a cropped sensor camera vs the 17-40 on a full frame sensor camera. And the 17-40 has a much wider zoom range about double in fact.
So bottom line on the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 vs the EF 17-40mm F/4 L if you only plan on using a cropped sensor camera then the EF-S 10-22mm lens could be the right lens for you. However, if you are planning on moving up to a full frame sensor camera like the 5D or 5D Mark II then you can use the 17-40 L lens now with your cropped sensor camera as a walk around lens (it just won't be as wide) and then when you get a full frame sensor camera you will have all the wide angle glory and still be able to use the lens on both cameras. If you never plan on buying full frame and want super wide angle you should go with the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5.
10-17-2008 Update:
I've noticed this lens is very SOFT in the corners wide open at F/4.0. Which is OK if you are looking for that say when shooting a wedding but not good when shooting landscapes. But sharpens up a lot in the corners by going to F/4.5 and is as sharp as it's going to get by around F/8 where it seems about as sharp as any zoom I have and is approaching the sharpness of a prime lens at 17mm.
Lenses I currently own:
Canon EF-S 17-55 F/2.8 IS Ultra sharp, great colors, great low light, poor zoom action
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Rebel XTi Kit lens Muddy, slow, pile of junk
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Fantastic colors, sharp zoomed 17 to 24mm, ultra smooth zoom action, light weight
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L Fantastic colors and contrast, sharp zoomed 40 to 70mm, zoom a little stiff at first, heavy, repair prone!
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Good budget portrait lens, light weight, disposable, sharp from F/2.5
Canon EF 85mm F/1.2 L II The best portrait lens for female and children clients, buttery smooth Bokeh, heavy and expensive it shares sharpness with 135mm
Canon EF 135mm F/2.0 L The best portrait lens for males and tied with Canon 85mm F 1/.2 for sharpest lens I own, buttery smooth Bokeh
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L fantastic colors, sharp for a zoom, very versatile ego boosting and attention getting and heavy! My favorite zoom lens!!!
Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L great IS, super colors, sharp for a zoom, extremely versatile, variable Bokeh, even more ego boosting and attention getting when extended and 400mm reach!!
My next lens purchase I'm saving for right now: _Canon EF 300mm F/2.8 IS L the finest lens ever
Customer Review: Great IQ, Great Value
Summary: 5 Stars
this was purchased as a replacement for the kit lens that came with my 30D and I could not be happier that I finally did this. With my finances I could not go full bore to the 16-35II but I am completely happy with this purchase. The image quality and colours are spectacular