What's your opinion of the canon 17-40 f/4 l lens. I know its on the cheaper end of the L series lenses. Is it cheaper for a reason? I've read mixed reviews about (such as lack of sharpness). Does it work well with the canon 5D?

jessica claire says that lense is her work horse. she clearly has no issues with sharpness. hope that helps

Well if jessica claire says its good, that's pretty much a good review for me. thanks

I've honestly never shoot much about 2.8--I wouldn't think that Jess would either--being such a prime lens user. I'm really interested in this lens now, I've never thought about buying a lens thats smaller aperture was f/4!

You sure she uses an f/4? Hmmm. Sure looks to me like she shoots wider than that on a lot of stuff.

yah, it was on dane's what's in your bag and that was her workhorse lens. i was shocked to hear that too.

I've never seen her shoot shallow DOF @ 17mm. That stuff is all her 50&85mm's


I'm prety sure she is talking about candids at the reception etc.


I love my 17-40 on the 5d, but it isnt a portrait lens

Receptions w/flash. Outdoor ceremonies (recessional). Group shots/formals w/flash. But it will be replaced with something faster soon. Not my favorite lens. But it is a good workhorse.

I have one and like it better than the 16-35.

I use it to get wide shots at the church and for large group formals.

Like Kawter says, it's good for recpetion stuff too.

Sean

The 17-40 is a great lens with a color, contrast and AF speed that is every bit as good as the 16-35. You just need to decide for yourself whether you need 2.8 and the extra 1mm.

Group portraits are good with these wide zooms as long as you stay above 24mm or so (on a FF body). Any lower and the distortion at the edges can be distracting. I'll use my 16-35 mostly for reception candids and environmental portraits.

Good luck!

I think that it is one of the bst valued L series lenses available. It rocks!!!

With a super-wide lens, handholding at very low shutter speeds is much easier, especially at the 17mm end, since it's more forgiving of camera shake.

The DOF difference between f/2.8 and f/4 on wide angles is also less of an issue. At 17mm in a small room, pretty much everything will be in focus even at f/2.8.

1D IIN - Focus @ 10ft

DOF @ 17mm
f/2.8 6-31 ft
f/4 5-285 ft

DOF @ 35mm
f/2.8 8.62-11.9 ft
f/4 8.15-12.9 ft

These makes f/4 much less of an issue than with longer focal lengths.

this lens has not giving me no trouble at all. one of my favorite for reception and wide angle details. good in low light. durable and lite-weight. colors are good too!

who shoots shallow DOF at 17mm ;-)

I use this lens but only at receptions, and only for big group dancing. The rest of the time my "wide" lens of choice is the 28 1.8 (wide enough for me on the 5d). I don't have any issues with softness with the 17-40 with the correct flash & off camera flash at receptions but don't have great luck with it at anything other than 17mm.

jess

i honestly think this lens is better suited for a 20D/30D as it would make it comparable to around a 24-70. we don't use it much with the high distortion at under 20mm on the 5D's. kinda makes faces stretched and "gummby-fied." we do love the 28 1.8 and 24 1.4 for wide angles.