Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM Ultra Wide Zoom Lens

awesome lens

Strengths: fast, sharpness, build quality

Weakness: expensive

This is one of those loveit/hateit lenses it seems judging from reviews. Personally, I like this lens alot. I use wide primes for landscape work, but for what this lens can do, no other zoom lens in the focal range comes close. Especially on the full frame camera body. On the 5D, It's a cut above the 17-40L in my opinion. It vignettes slightly at f 2.8, and gets better from there on out. If I...
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This is one of those loveit/hateit lenses it seems judging from reviews. Personally, I like this lens alot. I use wide primes for landscape work, but for what this lens can do, no other zoom lens in the focal range comes close. Especially on the full frame camera body. On the 5D, It's a cut above the 17-40L in my opinion. It vignettes slightly at f 2.8, and gets better from there on out. If I were shooting a 30D or 1.6 crop most of the time, I'd probably go for the 17-40L as a cheaper alternative. For low light work on the 5D in confined areas, no other zoom can compete with this.

This lens is built like a tank, it's easy to handle, doesn't weigh too much and I can carry it around on a 5D all day and not bother me at all.

The contrast is good, sharpness is good too. I've seen people report problems with this lens sharpness, but I think it's mostly a case of not knowing how to use the lens properly. You're on the extreme edges of focal performance with a lens of this nature and knowing what it can and can't do is key to enjoying it.

By nelson714 - Jun 4, 2007

Great lens

Strengths: Sharpness, minimal distortion, build quality, color balance, AF speed

Weakness: Price!

This is an absolutely wonderful lens. As far as I could judge it's very sharp from end to end, in both dimensions (aperture and focal length). The distortion at the wide end is minimal. Auto focus is very fast and totally silent, and the manual focus ring is conveniently placed and very easy to use thanks to the all-time-manual feature. Perhaps the only thing I would wish to change in this lens...
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This is an absolutely wonderful lens. As far as I could judge it's very sharp from end to end, in both dimensions (aperture and focal length). The distortion at the wide end is minimal. Auto focus is very fast and totally silent, and the manual focus ring is conveniently placed and very easy to use thanks to the all-time-manual feature.

Perhaps the only thing I would wish to change in this lens is make the zoom ring wider and further away from the mount. But that would have probably been hard without making it bulkier - so all in all I'm very happy with the trade-off. Finally, it's a lens that was built to last - you feel that as soon as you take it in your hand.

At around $1300, this isn't a cheap lens. But you get what you pay for.

By tuvik - Sep 30, 2006

Canon's 16-35mm f/2.8 L EF lens is...

Strengths: Solid lens, super-fast (f/2.8), weatherproof

Weakness: It's expensive but you get what you pay for

Canon's 16-35mm f/2.8 L EF lens is the top of the line wide-angle telephoto lens. It performs superbly: the photos are sharp, the lens focuses clearly, and the color reproduction is solid. Low light performance and sport shots are excellent with this lens. This lens can handle nearly anything you throw at it.

By wgoogle - Jun 19, 2005

wonderful ultra wide angle zoom lens

Strengths: sharp at 16mm end

Weakness: not as excellent imaging at 35mm end

this is one of canon's L lens. It produces L class images, especially at 16mm end. I didn't notice any vignetting on my full frame 5D. But the image taken at 35mm end is not as sharp. Another good option for wide angle lens is EF 35mm F/1.4 lens.

By huipengsc - Dec 2, 2007