Build, Color, Clarity, AF Speed

I use this lens on both my film and digital canons. I have one word for it: "Sweet". Build is strong and can handle some rough stuff. Zoom is smooth as silk and accurate. AF is fast and silent. Great for Street or Photojournalist type photos because of its fast operation. The wide angle is great for landscapes or architecture. Really wide on film. Sharpe end to end from 3.5 down. Images and photos are clear, crisp, and colorful with nice contrast and bokah. Highly recommended for long term use. Worth the money.

Customer Service

na

Similar Products Used:

Sigma, Tokina

Excellent build, should do well...after all its an 'L' lens

QA issue with my sample...I feel that Canon fails us from time to time.

I purchased this lens due to my need for a wide angle solution for my D60. One of the first tests I did was to shoot a brick wall. Findings were less then good for 2.8, but got better results (not surprising) at 4.0 and above up to f16. F22 resolution was about the same quality as 2.8, mostly due to diffraction. Problem - at 2.8 the lower part of the D60 image was fuzzy, top part was fine. I would hate to see what this would like like on a full frame image! However I might add that this lens does show some promise...f5.6-f11 images are very good for a zoom wide angle, but at this price all f-stops should be very good, not perfect but at least be respectable, this simply is not the case with this sample. Its going back...I'll exchange it for another one.

Customer Service

generally good...but slow in turn around.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 24mm 2.8 EF USM Canon 50mm 1.4 EF USM Canon 100mm Macro EF USM Canon 300mm 4.0L EF USM Canon 70-200 4.0L

Solid and well made Great color output Super fast focus, Sharper than any other wide zoom I've played with

N/A

I was able to pick one of these up soon after their release. The first one was returned for a lens coating defect but the second one has quickly become my 2nd most used lens of 6 L's. It is a wide angle dream come true on a 1D. Colors are rich and central portions of a picture even at F2.8 are nice and crisp. I prefer to use this lens at F5.6-F8 anyway as I tend to shoot for depth of field. In this case it's as sharp as can be

Customer Service

N/Z

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 15-30EX DG Canon 17-35 2.8L

Very well built. Legendary "L" quality. Much sharper than the original 17-35L

None now!

This is a follow up on a review I did on this lens back on Febuary 18th, 2002. After using the first canon 16-35mm lens I purchased earlier this year, It was discovered to have an alignment problem with the autofocusing mechanics. And thats why in my first review I was not impressed with the performance of this lens compared to the canon 17-35mm. After recieving it back under warranty. I retested and found that this lens now performs much better than it did when I first recieved it. And WOW what a difference. The images now are razor sharp and color is excellent, ever at f2.8!

Customer Service

In twenty years this was the first time, warranty was very fast and proffessional.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 17-35L Canon 20-35L Canon TS-E 24L Tokina 20-35 atx pro

High quality build, sealing ring on back of lens, close focusing, USM, can use regular B+W circular polarizer with no vignetting at 16mm. Very aesthetically pleasing design.

High price

I decided to purchase this lens when it first became available. I previously owned the Canon EF20-35 f2.8L, and wanted a replacement for it. I am very happy with the new EF16-35L because of the sharpness and clear colours I get on film. Also the ultrasonic focusing and the much closer focusing distance are a really great bonus. I have seen negative reviews about this lens, but I can't really give much credence to them.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

EF20-35L, EF20f2.8, EF70-200f2.8L, EF100-4004.5-5.6L

Sharp at wide open and even sharper at f4 and above. Very solid build. Very good flare control. Fast focusing, less than 1 ft min focusing distance.

Need ultra low profile Cir-pol twice the price of normal filters but any wide angle lens below 22 would need this.

I bought this lens as my Tamron 20-40 was not wide enuff for my D60, I was nervous at first as I've read so many bad comments about this lens on the web, but after my first roll of film, I know they're talking crap, this lens is sharp on film and even better with the D60. But you have to use the ultra low profile CIR-POL or you cannot go wide.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

70-200 L IS USM 16-35 L USM 28-135 IS USM 50 1.4 USM 50 1.8 20-40 Tamron 90SP Tamron macro

16-35mm range f2.8 although acceptibility of the images well constructed fast to AF

pricey lack of sharpness at f2.8 lack of sharpness at 30-35mm range

I was excited when i read about this lens. However, my excitement was tempered when I obtained one and compared it to the sigma 15-30 which is 1/3 the price. In my comparisons, the sigma faired better with better sharpness and warmer colors at the 15/16mm end. However, at 24mm and above the canon won out. Both have the expected barrell distortion at the 15/16mm range and there was some CA with both. The canon is much better constructed and will go to f2.8. However, there is a substantial difference in sharpness between f2.8 and f8-somewhat disappointing for me. The weakest part of the range is between 30-35mm where there was some lack in sharpness. Color reproduction is accurate throughout. Overall, i was alittle disappointed but I guess a wide angle cannot be as sharp as a mid tele zoom.

Customer Service

NA

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 15-30 canon 14mm L

build 77mm sharper

flare-hidious red arch when sun is in frame. 17-35 has nothing. Are they all like this?

This is comparing my 16-35 vs my 17-35. Yours may be different. 3 stars because its a better northern lights lens but thats about all.

Similar Products Used:

sigma 15-30 canon 17-35

Solid build Lens hood fits perfectly(not too big) Nice even weight to it.

A little soft wide open Cost

This is a must have for any one of Canon's D-SLR's. I have it on my D60 all most all the time. It's a little soft wide open but I would expect that with a super-wide. Being an "L" lens, it's a little heavy but is nicely balanced.

Customer Service

Never needed it

Similar Products Used:

70-200l 2.8, 50 1.4, 28-70l 2.8

Beautiful MECHANICAL quality. Weatherproofing. Reasonable control of flare.

Awful OPTICAL quality wide open. Severe(but understandable) barrel disortion at 16mm.

I had been waiting for several years for an improved version of the 17-35L. Of course it never arrived! Instead of concentrating on improving the mediocre wide open performance of the old lens Canon pushed the angle wider. This was obviously done to give extra wide angle with the 1.3 or 1.6x magnification of their digital SLRs. For digital users this is fine. Unfortunately if you are using film the image absolutely falls apart outside the the image circle used by a digital. The end result is very poor performance at 16-20mm (easily visible on the light box with the naked-eye). Obviously performance improves when stopped down a bit. I bought this lens to use by available light but I find it totally useless wide open. I think I''ll go back to the modest little 20-35USM. What a shame Canon never made a USM version of the 20-35mm 2.8L.

Similar Products Used:

17-35L, 20-35USM, Tamron 20-40mm