Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM evaluate

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM evaluate – Introduction

You might forgive most photographers for pondering {that a} 16-35mm lens can be meant for less-than-full-frame cameras. In spite of everything, a focal vary resembling this would supply a wise, if barely odd, 25-56mm on an EOS EF-S APS-C physique. The lens on take a look at right here, although, just isn’t designed for APS-C our bodies, however is what Canon calls an ultra-wide zoom for full-frame cameras. ‘Extremely’ is one thing of an overused phrase. I feel it’s extra correct to say that is an ‘extraordinarily wideangled’ lens. With lenses resembling these, we’ve got come to count on a fisheye design, with related closely barrelled photos, however on this case, Canon assures us that it has offered rectilinear drawing throughout the body – so buildings will seem as rectangles, somewhat than bulging within the center.

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM ($1,299/£1,389) was introduced in Could 2014. In February 2015, Canon introduced the even wider and costlier EF 11-24mm f4L USM ($2,899/£3,099). These lenses had been adopted by the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM ($1,999/£2,199) in August 2016. Whereas the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM presents a bigger most aperture, it doesn’t have the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM’s stabilisation system. For extra choices take a look on the greatest Canon EF lenses

As an EF-mount lens, the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is designed to be used on Canon DSLRs, however it may be used on Canon R-series mirrorless cameras by way of an adapter. Canon doesn’t at present provide a 16-35mm lens with the RF mount, so the closest options for mirrorless digicam customers are the RF 15-35mm F2.8L IS USM and RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM evaluate – Options

This wasn’t the primary Canon EF full-frame lens to supply viewing angles of 108°-63°, because the EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM had been since 2007, and as was talked about earlier, it was joined by the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM in 2016. The EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is, nevertheless, the primary to characteristic Canon’s IS system. Picture stabilisation is taken into account to be much less of a precedence for wideangles than telephoto lenses, however digicam shake is simply much less noticeable in a wideangle – not non-existent, as the identical legal guidelines of physics and focal size stay. Canon claims this model of IS provides us the flexibility to handhold a lens whereas utilizing a shutter pace 4 stops longer than we should always count on. In concept, it ought to be attainable to acquire sharp photos with this mannequin at speeds so long as 1sec with out the usage of a tripod. Extra realistically, if we assume that the ‘protected’ shutter pace is 1/60sec, this lens’s 4-stop benefit would permit us to shoot handheld at 1⁄2sec.

This mannequin consists of Canon’s Extremely Sonic Motor (USM), with the intention of offering near-silent and very quick autofocus. This ought to be of nice profit when capturing shifting topics as they method the digicam, as relative distance modifications are dramatic and tougher to trace.

The lens is constructed of 16 parts in 12 teams, with UD (ultra-low dispersion) glasses utilized in two parts to deal with chromatic fringing and the blur that happens when wavelengths focus at completely different depths. Components are handled on each faces with Tremendous Spectra coating to scale back inside reflections – a specific drawback in wideangles – and Canon has used fluorine coating on the outside faces of the entrance and rear parts to discourage water and dirt.

Canon is happy with its nine-bladed aperture, which, it claims, produces the roundness of iris required for enticing out-of-focus highlights, or bokeh. Nonetheless, one wonders simply how a lot of a scene it will likely be attainable to render out of focus with an f/4 lens of such focal lengths as these.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM evaluate – Construct and dealing with

Being an L skilled lens, this 16-35mm f/4 is designed to resist the rigours of fixed use in all situations. Remarkably mild and slender, the outside provides the looks of being coated with protecting rubber, and Canon claims it’s sealed towards moisture and dirt in any respect seams and joins. The zoom management ring is the nearer of the 2 ribbed rings, separated by a distance scale beneath a window. The zoom ring requires solely a one-fifth rotation to regulate from one excessive of the focal vary to the opposite, whereas solely 45° takes the focusing ring from infinity to the closest focusing distance of 28cm.

I used the lens with the Canon EOS-1D X for this take a look at, and the 2 labored properly collectively, with the lens including hardly any noticeable mass to the mixture. If the AF efficiency of the digicam was hindered by means of this lens I didn’t discover, as focus appeared to zip as shortly as all the time from one excessive to a different.

Picture: These photos present the extent of the zoom vary, with the longer finish displaying slightly pincushion distortion

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM evaluate – Picture high quality

Picture: Whereas the vignetting of the 35mm finish of the zoom is perhaps average, a polariser filter has added to the impact right here

When optics go to extremes, we’re often handled to an array of aberrations to examine, and with wideangles resembling this we ought to be looking out for the bending of straight strains, darkish corners and the separation of colors, and a lack of sharpness on the body edges.

Vignetting is a characteristic of photos taken with this lens, it doesn’t matter what the focal size or aperture. Vast apertures mixed with the broader focal lengths produce the extra dramatic results, however even with the aperture closed to f/16 on the 35mm setting you may count on the corners of the body to be about 0.2EV darker than the center. Thankfully, in most scenes, darkening of as much as 0.3EV won’t be apparent, however in important purposes it will likely be noticeable, but in addition simply correctable for the small value of a little bit of amplified noise within the corners.

The distinction in edge and nook decision is a attribute that’s tougher to treatment, and in flat topics the coma aberration is extra noticeable. The onset of the lack of sharpness is sort of sudden, although, and performs extra of an element proper within the corners of the body on the widest focal lengths than it does alongside the diagonal path from the centre of the body. As such, it impacts a comparatively small space of the body.

Sharpness within the centre of the body is superb in any respect apertures and focal lengths, and it took some looking to seek out the chromatic fringing I had anticipated to see within the extremities of the body.

Decision

There may be all the time a ways between edge and nook sharpness on this lens; the broader the focal size and aperture, the larger that distance can be. Edge sharpness stays largely fixed, however the centre is greatest at f/8 and 16mm.

Shading

Corners darken by a noticeable 0.4EV on the widest setting of the lens, when used at f/4. Issues enhance with smaller apertures and longer focal lengths, however solely to 0.2EV.

Curvilinear distortion

Good drawing is difficult sufficient in a set wideangle lens, however in a zoom the issue is multiplied. Fairly heavy barrelling turns to pincushion at about 24mm, which offers a comparatively undistorted haven.

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Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM evaluate – Our verdict

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is an excellent lens. It has a helpful IS system that permits handholding for lengthy exposures, and fewer vignetting and high quality fall-off on the edges than anticipated. If the flexibility to handhold your digicam is extra necessary than attaining a shallow depth of area, this mannequin is perhaps a greater choice than the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM. This actually isn’t an inexpensive lens, however a 16-35mm vary like that is exhausting to come back by, and for the architectural or panorama photographer, it offers a really helpful focal vary, and is inexpensive, much less cumbersome and lighter than proudly owning the six separate fastened lenses that it encompasses.

Wideangle zooms will be disappointing, however I’d be glad to make use of this mannequin realizing that the aberrations it shows are average, non-destructive and simple to work with.