To anyone with a Canon 17-40 L lens

nomore · 27 Jun 2006 at 19:50

I'd love to see how sharp the 17-40 L is. Could someone please post a full size sample image, or full size crop which hasn't been processed with shapening filters in software.

Cheers!

stu.artd · 27 Jun 2006 at 22:05

This is the first photo I took with my 300D and 17-40L after buying the lens in BH Photo New York.

Straight from camera

http://stuartd.smugmug.com/photos/78155029-O.jpg

Adjusted slightly (uploaded wrong pic originally, sorry)

http://stuartd.smugmug.com/photos/78157332-O.jpg

nomore · 27 Jun 2006 at 22:17

stu.artd said:
This is the first photo I took with my 300D and 17-40L after buying the lens in BH Photo New York.

Straight from camera

http://stuartd.smugmug.com/photos/78155029-O.jpg

Adjusted slightly

http://stuartd.smugmug.com/photos/78155030-O.jpg

That's pretty cool. Is the first image what you would consider average in terms of sharpness and contrast from that lens?

I must admit, after reading lots of rave reviews, I was expecting it to be pin sharp right out of the camera. The trouble is that I can't find any reviews which show samples at full resolution. They're always scaled down, and post sharpened.

Don't get me wrong, that is very sharp, but was expecting more.

Thanks for posting the photos.

stu.artd · 27 Jun 2006 at 22:21

I'd say that the first photo's probably a good indicator of straight from camera shots, however they can sharpen up very nicely in photoshop/post processing afterwards.

nomore · 28 Jun 2006 at 22:05

Any chance of seeing a photo which was taken with a narrow aperture, e.g. f/8?

SDK^ · 28 Jun 2006 at 22:23

The 17-40L is up there with the sharpest of the super wide zooms. If you want something sharper then you need to be looking at prime lenses but they cost mega ££££'s.

nomore · 29 Jun 2006 at 00:13

SDK^ said:
The 17-40L is up there with the sharpest of the super wide zooms. If you want something sharper then you need to be looking at prime lenses but they cost mega ££££'s.

Hi SDK^. I see from your website that you have a lot of lenses. How do you find the 17-40L compares with your other L lenses in terms of sharpness and contrast?

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 29 Jun 2006 at 00:36

The 17 - 40 L is about the sharpness good lens at that price range for what you want. Its never once been a disapointment.

SDK^ · 29 Jun 2006 at 20:20

nomore said:
Hi SDK^. I see from your website that you have a lot of lenses. How do you find the 17-40L compares with your other L lenses in terms of sharpness and contrast?

To be honest I’ve not used it as often as my other lenses but when I do it certainly doesn't disappoint. As like all of the reviews say – Sharpness, colour and contrast are all excellent. Focus speed is very fast and weather sealing completes the package

The only downsize is the lens hood that comes with it – It was designed to it cover 16mm focal length so on a 1.6x crop camera it is useless. I got the lens hood from the new 17-55mm IS lens which works much better

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 29 Jun 2006 at 20:32

SDK^ said:
The only downsize is the lens hood that comes with it – It was designed to it cover 16mm focal length so on a 1.6x crop camera it is useless. I got the lens hood from the new 17-55mm IS lens which works much better

I would be very interested to see that hood. I dont like mine on the 17 - 40 L either.

JET_PILOT · 29 Jun 2006 at 20:45

Did a quick google and this is the hood in question, don't like the hood on the 17-40 either

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 29 Jun 2006 at 20:57

now thats a sexy hood. Thats on order.

Raider · 29 Jun 2006 at 22:33

Just got my 17-40L today.

Took a few quick snaps tonight. These are 100% crops. No sharpening. Just straight into PSP from Rawshooter, then cropped.

17-40L @ 17mm F4
Kit lens 18-55mm @ 18mm F4

17-40L @ 39mm F5.6
Kit lens 18-55mm @ 37mm F5.6

I think the 17-40L shows increased sharpness as well as better colours and contrast. Hoping to give it a proper run out this weekend

SDK^ · 29 Jun 2006 at 23:10

Fstop11 said:
I would be very interested to see that hood. I dont like mine on the 17 - 40 L either.

Here you go

Some other options

EW-83DII hood from Canon 24mm F1.4 L USM
EW-83H hood from Canon 24-105mm F4L IS lens

nomore · 30 Jun 2006 at 00:17

Looks like a good lens. I have one on order. It should compliment my 28-135 IS lens.

Is it a good lens to use at f/4, or does the sharpness get noticeably better at narrower apertures like f/11?

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 30 Jun 2006 at 00:32

You would have thought the EW83J will show at 17mm?
It does look a better option though.

for a joke I put on the ET 83C and it showed a lot of it in frame.

Thank you for sharing SDK

SDK^ · 30 Jun 2006 at 09:38

Fstop11 said:
You would have thought the EW83J will show at 17mm?

The EW-83J lens hood is designed for the new 17-55 F2.8 IS EF-S. Being and EF-S lens means 1.6x crop only so it covers 27mm at the wide angle

It works great

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 30 Jun 2006 at 11:17

SDK^ said:
The EW-83J lens hood is designed for the new 17-55 F2.8 IS EF-S. Being and EF-S lens means 1.6x crop only so it covers 27mm at the wide angle

It works great

Very pleasing

stu.artd · 2 Jul 2006 at 01:04

nomore said:
Any chance of seeing a photo which was taken with a narrow aperture, e.g. f/8?

According to the EXIF info the photo I posted in my original reply is at f/9.

SDK^ · 2 Jul 2006 at 09:11

nomore said:
Looks like a good lens. I have one on order. It should compliment my 28-135 IS lens.

Is it a good lens to use at f/4, or does the sharpness get noticeably better at narrower apertures like f/11?

I used to have a 28-135 IS and when I compared it to the 17-40L wide apertures are where the L lens excells. Sharpness on the 28-135 at F3.5 or F4.5 (wide open) is very poor - F8 is close to F4 on the 17-40.