Canon EF 16 mm - 35 mm F/2.8 USM II L Lens

In comparison with the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens which it replaced in my collection, the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM is sharper overall with less chromatic aberrations at the edges. But the lens DOES vignette at 16mm wide open. The latest version of Canon's Digital Photo Professional will remove most of the vignetting. The vignetting disappears when stopping down to smaller f/stops. Also, this lens is sharper at the corners than it's Mark 1 predecessor.

I use a multicoated Heliopan UV ES 82 slim filter with female threads and there is no added vignetting with this filter. The Canon E-82mm front snap-on lens cap will fit on this filter. Canon's instruction manual recommends the installation of a filter to complete the weather resistance of the lens. So, the Heliopan has not added any ghosting (yet) to night time images.

At f/2.8, images in the viewfinder are bright, the autofocus is quick, and like the 17-40/4 the lens is mostly flare resistant. At 100% zoom in Canon's DPP, the images are class leading sharp at all focal lengths. The build quality is excellent.

To summarize: With the exception of strong vignetting at f/2.8 at 16mm, you cannot find a better ultra wide angle zoom lens (in this focal range) for Canon than this latest version. If you like a fast, versatile zoom lens covering almost everything within normal peripheral eyesight with improved bokeh, then this is a must have. Shop around for the lowest prices and shipping charges on eBay. I found mine at Theimagingworld.

Purchased for use with a full frame 5D, this is the widest lens I currently own. My prior wide-angle photography was done with a 24mm. Prior to that a 35mm lens. I expected this lens to simply add to my bag of photo tools with an increase of available focal lengths but it has since become a must have.

This lens renders fantastic landscapes especially with clouds in the sky. The 16mm focal length regularly wows me with shots that could not be obtained without it. This lens also excels in tight spaces. You will also find that tight spaces tend to have low light. The f/2.8 aperture you get with this lens is perfect for its many uses. Just try taking decent photos of real estate (e.g. bath rooms) with any other lens. Another amazing use that I found for this lens is underground caves with flash lighting. The list grows for me just about every day.

Another plus is that I can put this lens in a bag with my 35-350mm and have a two lens does just about everything solution. I do this often. There really is NOTHING about this lens that I could complain about.

While full frame users might be tempted to get by with 24mm or 28mm wide angle lenses, APS-C users will greatly appreciate what this lens provides. My spouse regularly uses this lens on a 50D as you need such a lens to combat the wide angle limitations of a 1.6 crop factor.

The lens is reasonably small and light for an "L" lens with such excellent build quality. Image quality is stunning. I have never noticed vignetting even with a full frame camera.

You need a protective filter to achieve weather sealing and because it is such a wide angle, you will need a slim/thin filter to avoid vignetting. This lens is well worth the money if you enjoy wide angle photography.

If you're looking for an ultra-wide zoom for your full-frame canon camera, look no further than the 16-35 2.8L II. Don't worry about the price. Just buy it.

If you understand the inherent limitations of an ultra-wide zoom, you'll be left speechless by the performance of this lens--I am.

With its wide focal lengths and apertures, it makes a great indoor party lens. It's also wonderful for photojournalist work. Other than the extreme corners, the images are flawless wide-open. Because of its wide focal lengths, the lens is not really suitable for traditional portrait work but its perfect for capturing groups and contextual or environmental portraits. The wide aperture is more useful for utilizing available light than blurring backgrounds, though with a close subject, appealing background blur can be achieved.

While the front element is large, the lens is not heavy, and has superb Canon-L build quality. Distortions seem to be relatively well controlled for such a wide lens. Color and contrast rendition are top notch, so from f8 to f16 this makes a very nice urban- / landscape lens.

I was initially hesitant to get this lens considering that it costs about twice as much as the admittedly excellent Canon 17-40 4L. Now that I have it, I have no regrets. It's shockingly sharp wide-open and the extra 1-stop advantage provides a critical difference for indoor available light photography. The image quality at 24mm also appears to be significantly nicer than my 24-105 4L IS. All-in-all, this is a great lens, and well worth its high cost.

I highly recommend it.

With the more demanding resolution of the Canon 1DS Mark III camera, lens sharpness is more critical than ever. The previous version of this wide angle zoom wasn't equal to the task. Even the high quality Canon 24-70L zoom didn't allow me to maximize resolution potential at the wide end of the zoom. The net result is that I sold both lenses and bought the new 16-35L II zoom. I've been very pleasantly surprised. The detail, sharpness and contrast at 16mm to 24mm is first rate from corner to corner. The 28mm to 35mm end of the zoom is quite good as well, although performance at the wide end seems better primarily because we photographers are used to seeing less corner-to-corner sharpness from the ultra-wide focal lengths. This lens is a must for anyone using high resolution Canon cameras including the 1DS Mark II and III, the 1D Mark III, and the 5D!

Pros:
This lens is the replacement for the Canon 16-35mm f2.8L lens. Sharpness and light falloff has improved quite a bit. AF speed is snappy, and the AF focusing is great from about 20-35mm, with the accuracy dropping a touch at 16mm. This lens is a world apart from the 24-70mm or the 24-105mm when it comes to super wide-angle landscape capture.

Cons:
Higher price. This lens costs about $400 - $500 more than the original 16-35mm f2.8L. I would have rated this lens as excellent if it weren't for the fact that the new Canon 16-35mm f2.8L II version of this lens has changed to an 82mm filter size. This means replacing all of your standard pro 77mm filter sizes from the previous version of this lens, or any other pro standard lens thread sized filters you may have. You would not want to use a stepping ring for your 77mm filters with this lens, as vignetting would occur between 16-20mm or so. Stacking filters would cause vignetting as well, unless you are using the thin 'DC' (filters for digital use) size filters with the last filter being a 'thin mount'.