A last minute addition that has proven to be a great asset

I’ll be honest here…this was not a lens that I had intentionally wanted to purchase. When I was selecting my lenses for a new Canon outfit, I had the ranges from 10-22mm and 24-70mm covered. I wasn’t all that concerned with the gap between the two lenses. I had decided to get one of the kit lenses that came with the 40D that would have filled the gap, albeit with lower quality glass than the others I was using. When it came time to order everything, the 40D/lens combo that I had chosen on was on backorder…NUTS!! I could, however, get the body only, which is what I decided to do. I was saving about $500.00 by not getting the kit lens, so as any good photographer with a budget would do, I went looking for a way to spend that money.

As I was trying to fill my bag with high quality “L” lenses, I started my search there. One of the lenses that I had previously considered popped back up in my search…the Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM. I reviewed the test data and reviews online which revealed that the Subjective Image Quality was on par with what I was looking for. The price was a hair over $600.00, so it was not out of my price range. The only drawback to this lens in comparison to the original choice (17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM) was the lack of image stabilization. This was not a huge deal to me as 98% or so of my photography is done on top of a tripod. The reduction in focal length coverage was not a problem either, as I had the stellar 24-70mm F/2.8L for the longer end. I actually didn’t plan on using this lens that much, but felt the need to have a regular wide angle lens to complete my selection.

In the Field…

What started out as an afterthought of a lens has turned into one of the most versatile lenses in my bag. With a focal length coverage equivalent to 27-64mm in 35mm/full frame format when used on a cropped frame body, this lens covers a great deal of what a human eye is used to seeing. I have used this lens for several different subjects where my extreme wide angle lens is just a bit “too” wide. I have noticed that there have been many locations that I have shot using the entire focal range of this lens. While I have most of that range covered with two other lenses, SLR users will see the advantage here. If I can use one lens for the majority of the day, that means less changing of the lens, which means less dirt and debris inside the camera body…a very good thing. I have found it very nice to be able to fit this lens to the 40D and be set for the entire day. I can get very satisfactory wide angle shots, while being able to twist a zoom ring and isolate different elements.

The auto focus works as on other Canon lenses and allows you to fine tune the focus at any time with the manual focus ring. With a flip of a switch, you can be in full time manual focus mode. Either way yields nice sharp results. The auto focus is driven by Canon’s USM (Ultra Sonic Motor) that will focus quickly and quietly, not to mention accurately. Here is an important quality worth mentioning for those that use filters. This is an internal focusing lens which means that the front element and threads stay in place during focusing. This is extremely important to those that use polarizing filters, or graduate filters.

Build Quality…

The 17-40mm is typical of the “L” series Canon Glass. It is well built, with a solid feel. The finish is textured to give it a bit of extra class, but it is not all cosmetics here. There is a metal lens mount for a solid fit to the camera body. There is a nice weather seal at the mounting flange that keeps out dirt and moisture. An added benefit here is that Canon offers a lifetime warranty on this rubber gasket and will replace the gasket for free if it ever wears out. The zoom and focus rings are well dampened and silky smooth. The length of the lens does not change as you zoom through the focal range. There is no hyperfocal scale on this lens which would be a nice addition, especially as you zoom in. However, on the wide end, it is not as important as the depth of field is pretty wide already.

As with all “L” lenses, Canon includes a lens hood and a cloth lens pouch in the box. The lens hood for the 17-40mm will also work very nicely on the extreme wide angle 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens, which doesn’t include a hood. The lens hood is a nice piece with a felt like surface on the inside to reduce any surface reflections. The hood mounts on a bayonet mounting surface on the exterior of the front element. The lens is threaded for all sorts of filters which can be used along with the hood. The filter diameter is the Canon standard 77mm.

Final Thoughts…

I won’t get into the test data from this lens as that information is readily available on the internet. I will, however, sum up my research. The 17-40mm f/4L USM is a very sharp lens with nice contrast and color rendition. All of this I have verified through my own photography, without having a controlled testing environment. As you zoom past 35mm, you might start to see a bit of edge softness, but this might not be a big deal to you depending on the type of photography you engage in. For me, when I get into this range, I can always switch to the 24-70mm f/2.8 which will provide very sharp results at this focal length. In real world use though, I have not had a problem with edge sharpness with the 17-40mm.

I have been thoroughly impressed with this lens as I have gotten used to it. I have used it to photograph not only natural landscapes, but cityscapes as well. Even at 17mm this lens controls distortion admirably. One of the really nice attributes of this lens is its light weight. Weighing in at under a pound and a half, this powerhouse lens will not weigh your bag down, or make your arms tired when using this lens.

It is also worth mentioning that this lens will focus as close a 0.92ft which makes this a fair choice for macro photography. Keep in mind that a macro lens will be a good deal sharper and will focus closer, but if you only do macro work occasionally, this lens will work.

I built my current camera system around the quality of the Canon “L” lenses, and have yet to be disappointed in my choice. Despite this being a last minute addition to my camera bag, I would have to rate this lens as a “must have”. For those that are on a budget and can only afford one lens for their Canon cropped frame body, this would have to be the one I would suggest for the landscape photographer. If you shoot handheld in low light, however, you would be better off looking for a lens with image stabilization. For those that shoot on a tripod, this is five stars all the way.