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Canon EF 11-24mm f/4 USM L - Review / Lens Test Report - Sample Images & Verdict |
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Lens Reviews -
Canon EOS (Full Format)
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Page 3 of 3
Sample Images
I'm sorry to say that I caught the cold during the week of testing so I'm afraid that the quality of the sample shots isn't overly artistic nor good. However, they should be sufficient to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the lens ... tested on the EOS 5Ds R.
Click on a thumbnail to view the original file (opens in a separate window). Please note that the originals are FULL SIZE samples
(=several megabytes) thus requiring a significant amount of bandwidth so please take care of the limited resources here.
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
200 |
| Focal Length |
11.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/4.0 |
| Exposure |
1/1600s |
|
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
200 |
| Focal Length |
11.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/11.0 |
| Exposure |
1/640s |
|
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
200 |
| Focal Length |
24.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/11.0 |
| Exposure |
1/320s |
|
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
200 |
| Focal Length |
11.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/11.0 |
| Exposure |
1/60s |
|
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
100 |
| Focal Length |
24.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/10.0 |
| Exposure |
1/200s |
|
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
100 |
| Focal Length |
11.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/9.0 |
| Exposure |
1/200s |
|
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
100 |
| Focal Length |
18.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/8.0 |
| Exposure |
1/160s |
|
| Make |
Canon |
|
| Model |
Canon EOS 5DS R |
| ISO Speed |
100 |
| Focal Length |
21.0mm |
| Aperture: |
f/10.0 |
| Exposure |
1/250s |
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Verdict
Canon's latest additions to the ultra-wide arena have been impressive. The Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 L is awesome and the EF 16-35mm f/4 USM L IS is best in class. So is Canon's mojo sufficient to deliver greatness with the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4 USM L once more ... even on the EOS 5Ds R ? Well, they succeeded ... only partially. Now that's a bit of a harsh statement for a unique lens, of course.
The center quality is nothing short of outstanding straight from f/4 and throughout the focal length range. However, the outer image region isn't all that hot at 11mm and especially at max. aperture and the high level of lateral CAs (extreme in the corners) doesn't help either here. Moving on the 14mm and 18mm the results are much improved with good results even in the extreme corners. And let's be honest - most will use the middle range more often than the extremes on this specific lens. A decent scene composition is already very difficult at 14mm or 18mm and you will need to get used to having 11mm at hand as a new option really. The 24mm setting is a bit worse again but it remains quite good when stopped down a bit.
The mentioned flaws are, of course, not QUITE as apparent when using the lens on camera with a smaller resolution sensors. Those who are still shooting at 20 megapixel are able to enjoy sharp results (edge-to-edge) at most mainstream settings except at 11mm f/4.
The 11mm setting is also the (expected) weak spot in terms of high vignetting as well as heavy barrel distortion. These characteristics are much better again from 14mm onward. Activated auto-correction in your favorite RAW converter (or in the camera for JPEGs) will solve most of these issues anyway.
Most ultra-wide angle lenses suffer from extreme flare in back-light conditions. Now the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4 USM L isn't perfect here - perfection simply doesn't exist here anyway - but it is a magnitude better than most other lenses that are at least capable of touching a similar focal length range. While we haven't tested the quality of the bokeh formally, we'd say that it is, again, better than most in this class (where most lenses perform dismal in this respect) although you will be able to see a bit of smearing and outlined highlights.
The build quality is exceptionally high and absolutely pro-grade. However, even though the lens body may be tough, the huge front element remains vulnerable. Due to its bulb-like shape protection filters are not possible. The new fluorine coatings will at least help to keep it reasonably clean most of the time. Remember that this is a massive lens both in size (well, diameter) and weight so it isn't exactly aligned to casual shooting really. Unsurprisingly the AF is very fast and near silent thanks to a ring-type USM drive.
That all being said ... what's the conclusion then? Honestly at this stage we'll not provide a further guidance because we just haven't tested a sufficient amount of lenses on the EOS 5Ds R yet. However, while many lenses can rule the common 20mp sensors, we can already say that Canon's new 50mp sensor is here to rule em all - less so in the image center but certainly so in the outer image region.
| Optical Quality (50 megapixels): | No rating at this stage | |
| Optical Quality (21 megapixels): |  to  | |
| Mechanical Quality: |  |
| Price/Performance: | |
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| | What does this mean ? |
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