Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM L - Review / Lab Test Report
Lens Reviews - Canon EOS (APS-C)
Article Index
Introduction
Analysis

Review by Klaus Schroiff, published December 2007

Special thanks to Rainer Zentner and Hans Link for providing samples (2) of this lens!

Introduction

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM L is one of two ultra-wide zoom lenses in the current Canon line-up with the other one being the younger, more affordable but also slower EF 17-40mm f/4 USM L. As usual we'll have a look how this full frame lens performs in the APS-C DSLR scope (using an EOS 350D/Digital RebelXT). Here the field of view is equivalent to 26-56mm on full-frame cameras so it behaves more like a standard zoom rather than an ultra-wide lens.

The optical design is made of 14 elements in 10 groups with three aspherical elements (ground & polished, replica and glass-molded) plus two UD element. The lens features 7 circular aperture blades. At 84x103mm and 600g it almost feels compact regarding the large max. aperture. A floating system is meant to provide a constant performance throughout the focus range. The minimal focus distance is 0.28m resulting in a max. object magnification of ~1:5 at 35mm. The filter size is 77mm which is a shared entity by many all f/2.8 Canon L zooms.

The build quality of this lens is exceptional - a true Canon L lens with no shaky parts whatsoever and smooth controls. The lens is also designed to survive in harsh conditions with a sealing against dust and moisture. The outer length of the lens remains constant though the inner lens tube moves a little when zooming (typical for L grade Canon ultra-wide zooms).
The petal-shaped hood is designed for full-frame (D)SLRs. On the downside this means it is a little small for being fully effective on APS-C DSLRs but using a polarizer with attached hood remains easily possible.

The lens has a ring-type USM drive based on a front-focusing system resulting in an extremely fast AF speed. Typical for ring-type USM lenses full-time manual focusing is always possible in one-shot AF mode.



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