Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens

by Canon

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000NP46K2
• Item model number: 1910B002
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #66 in Camera & Photo > Lenses > Camera Lenses
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2007

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Broaden your perspective with the Canon EF 16-35mm ultra-wide-angle zoom lens. Specifically designed for improved edge-to-edge image quality that meets the strict requirements of professional and high-end amateur photographers alike, the lens lets you bring more area into focus while providing greater depth of field. The lens features three high-precision aspherical lens elements--ground, replica, and GMo--that produce even better image quality than the original Canon EF 16-35mm USM lens. The circular aperture, meanwhile, produces a beautiful and natural background blur when shooting at wider apertures. Other details include internal focusing, a ring-type ultra-sonic monitor (USM), and new AF algorithms for fast and quiet autofocusing. The lens carries a one-year warranty.

• Focal length: 16-35mm
• Maximum aperture: f/2.8
• Lens construction: 16 elements in 12 groups
• Diagonal angle of view: 108 degrees (at 10 feet) to 63 degrees
• Focus adjustment: AF with full-time manual
• Closest focusing distance: 0.92 feet
• Filter size: 82mm, P=0.75mm/1 filter
• Dimensions: 3.5 inches in diameter, 4.4 inches long
• Weight: 1.41 pounds

Product Description

Broaden your perspective with the Canon EF 16-35mm ultra wide angle zoom lens. Specifically designed for improved edge to edge image quality that meets the strict requirements of professional and high-end amateur photographers alike, the lens lets you bring more area into focus while providing greater depth of field. The lens features three high precision aspherical lens elements ground, replica, and GMo that produce even better image quality than the original Canon EF 16-35mm USM lens. The circular aperture, meanwhile, produces a beautiful and natural background blur when shooting at wider apertures. Other details include internal focusing, a ring type ultra-sonic monitor (USM), and new AF algorithms for fast and quiet autofocusing. The lens carries a one year warranty.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

140 of 145 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modest improvement mostly for full frame users, January 6, 2008

By 

George (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens (Camera)

I have owned both this and the original version. The new lens is better in the corners and flares less but the corners are still a little soft at f2.8 and you can get the lens to flare a little if you try. I haven't seen the loss of clarity above 20mm that others reported. Perhaps you would see a slight difference in eyelashes if you did a lot of portraits but this is probably not the best choice for a portrait lens. It is a somewhat better lens for shooting landscapes and other shots where edge to edge clarity is important.

But the differences between the two versions are minor and in some instances irrelevant. If you don't shoot a full frame camera the soft edges don't appear in the photo. And flare is a minimal issue at most. It rarely appears and is easy to fix in Photoshop if it does. I would opt for the original if I didn't shoot full frame based on the price difference alone.

My only problem with the original was when I had to shoot hand held. Sometimes you can't bring a tripod along which rules out shooting at f16 or 22 so I occasionally ended up with shots that were soft in some of the edges. The new lens will solve that. That is the only reason I decided to upgrade.

I haven't used many other lenses in the same range so I can't compare quality with other makers but I'm not aware of anything reputed to be better. I have Canon primes as well as other Canon zooms and in actual use all are generally close in quality. I use the primes if possible when I plan to crop or enlarge a lot but I could still get by nicely with the zooms.

So, if you shoot less than full frame or if price is an issue, get the original. If you shoot full frame but need maximum clarity in the center (portraits for example), test both versions first. If you shoot full frame and need maximum edge to edge clarity, go with the new lens.

Update: Having shot this lens for a long period I would discount the comments about problems above 20mm. I owned the first version as well and I don't see a difference in the 20mm to 35mm range. On the contrary, I am increasingly impressed with the image quality and sharpness of this lens throughout the range. I recently used it into a very narrow slot canyon where I couldn't take more than the camera and the lens attached to it and took shots from 16mm up to 35mm that all came out very sharp and rich. Granted I wasn't shooting wide open because I needed lots of depth of field but the point is the lens delivered the best shots of that trip. In terms of versatility, this lens is unmatched for wide angle use by Canon owners. I also have the 14mm f2.8 II, 17mm f4. TS/E and 15mm fisheye for comparison. This is the one wide angle lens I always take along.

78 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Going on vacation?, February 10, 2009

By 

Eric Slay (Orange County, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens (Camera)

Many people have stated the facts about this lens. Instead of restating them, let me add what I use it for:

For nature photography, this is the only lens I need. Just put something pretty in the foreground (flowers, rocks, etc.) and let the lens magically stretch out the horizon to add drama and flair to the shot. Makes beaches MAGICAL... Makes forests imposing. Adds desolation to the desert.

And from a business perspective:

As a wedding shooter, I use it to stretch out small/boring churches and make them more dramatic. It is also great to use from above for dancefloor shots and really makes the shots DYNAMIC and interesting.

And finally:
If you are deciding between this and the 17-40, let me save you some time... there is a huge difference between 16mm and 17mm. Don't waste time buying the 17 and then selling it at a loss to upgrade like I did.

If you're going to go wide.. go wide baby. ;)

269 of 303 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better at 16, but goes soft after 24mm, May 15, 2007

By 

M. Hill (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens (Camera)

UPDATE: Since posting this review, I have done further experimentation and am coming to a conclusion (no new info from Canon thus far) that (in addition to this lens's gaussian factor) this new version is just more difficult for current camera bodies to focus, which is probably 70 percent of the problem that I'm seeing. Since this was released for the new 1DmIII camera body, we can hope that the 19 enhanced cross-type sensors will handle this lens better than current bodies. I am leaving the rest of the review as written, because the tradeoff against the long end is real, as is the gaussian effect beyond 24mm relative to the original version. Also because it accuratley reflects how others will encounter this same phenomenon. Based on this, I would up my star rating to 3.5 if they had decimals.... Also: Would like to clarify my remark below about it cleaning up the corners as advertised. I mean that remark to apply to the 16-20mm range only, because at 24mm I have a test shot showing a better corner from the original version I lens, which is to re-emphasize that 24mm is the point where the older lens takes over... END UPDATE

Canon has hyped this new lens as an improvment over the great original 16-35, but in reality it's not a net improvment at all. Rather, it is just a tradeoff... What they're not telling you is that, compared to the original version, this lens goes soft at focal lengths beyond 24mm, where they are near the same in quality. I acknowledge that the new lens DOES clean up the corners as advertised, but if you shoot people for a living like I do, be prepared for soft eyes and disappearing eye lashes looking back at you. In many common shots this lens cannot resolve eye lashes at near distances, where the old version can and does... If you hate seeing soft eyes in a slew of your professional pictures, you will find some consternation in this lens just as I have... I am not happy with the compromise at all... Everything else about the lens is what you expect from a Canon L, which is to say it has awesome build quality and it's heavy. I have already owned two copies of this lens and have shot and tested a third. They all have the same softness problem. It was apparently a deliberate design compromise, but Canon's support techs have not yet been brought up to speed on how to explain or position this to customers, at least not in my experience. I have frustrated them by asking this question on the phone repeatedly, and they can't answer it. They're starting to get mad when I call back... I did send my first one in for calibration. They found something to adjust, but it did not help.... Moral of the story: If you like your original version, DON'T sell it. You need BOTH. This new one will effectively be your 16-20mm, and the old one will be your 24-35mm... I think it's very sad needing to carry two of the same lens, but that's what this situation has come to. We definitely needed a fix at 16mm, and this one provides it. But it comes at the expense of messing up the 24-35 range where the original version was awesome and where it is still the king.... Others have pointed that you can sub the 24-70/2.8 into this range, and I agree, but at the expense of having to change lenses way more often and having to always have the 24-70 available.... I'm finding this new situation very iconvenient.... Personally, I'm just going to think of this as the super bulky and inconvenient 16mm prime that they should have built instead.... Oh, and final note: Canon continues to make the old version of the 70-200/2.8L despite having added the IS version. I think this 16-35 thing should be that way, too, because many people who do my type of work for a living will choose the sharpness of the original lens over the corner-CA-elimination factor of the newer lens. If I had to choose just one of these lenses, I would choose the OLD one, which I would rate at 4.5 stars versus this turkey. I think discontinuation of the original version at this point in time would be both unwarranted and mildly insane. Can you tell I like sharp pictures?