• Home
  • Blog
  • Gallery
  • Music
  • STORE
  • About
  • Contact
Posted by Egor 
· January 2, 2009 
· No Comments

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

Rating: 9 out of 10

Exceptional images are definitely not the exception with this lightweight, affordable, L–class ultra-wide zoom.

I must admit that, when I first purchased this lens, I expected it to see limited use. I had only occasional need for an ultra-wide so, exercising great fiscal responsibility, I chose this model over Canon’s 1-stop faster, 3-times pricier 16-35mm f/2.8L. Since I would mostly use the lens for the occasional landscape or architecture shot—two disciplines requiring good depth-of-field—I wasn’t too concerned about the f/4 aperture. I would, in most cases, be using it at f/8- f/11 and, as I already mentioned, it wasn’t like I was going to use this lens all that much, anyway…

Yeah, right. In 2008, I took more photos with the lens I “wasn’t going to use much” than with all my other lenses combined.

What I didn’t know, when I purchased this glass, was that the bulk of my 2008 photographic income would come from landscape and architecture work — two areas that, until 6 months ago, were only hobbies for me. Instantly, this lens rose from “novelty” to “bread and butter” status, and not once did I ever think, “I wish I had purchased the 16-35.”  In fact, it was quite the opposite — spending a summer climbing mountains and hiking many rugged and steep trails made me appreciate every ounce I didn’t have in my backpack, and the 17-40 is one of the lightest lenses in my kit. Stopped down and mounted on a tripod, this lens is both an architecture and landscape-capturing machine. Handheld at f/4, it’s still surprisingly terrific, though a little softer in the corners than I would like. On the new breed of 21+ megapixel bodies, cropping away unwanted width (or softness) actually becomes a feasible alternative to swapping lenses. Never before has “thriftiness” actually worked out so well for me.

Sample Images

The following are just a few photos shot with this lens:


DONATION to this site’s continuing evolution. As you’ve likely realized, ULTRAsomething is not an aggregator site — serious time and effort go into developing the original content contained within these virtual walls.
No Comments
Categories : Photo Gear
Tags : Canon, Lens, Photography, Review, SLR
← Next Post
Previous Post →

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

CATEGORIES

SEARCH SITE

SUBSCRIBE

Receive new post announcements via Email

LATEST POSTS

Birth Music

Koudelka

EXORCISM 03

Hamlet

Intent

Favourites

© 2023 ULTRAsomething
Articles | About | Privacy Policy | Donate | Contact
Manage Cookie Consent
ULTRAsomething uses plugins (which use cookies) to organize and optimize the site. It's kinda how blogs work.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Preferences
{title} {title} {title}