Canon 16-35mm f4.0 IS L
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Having relied on the excellent Canon 17-40mm f/4.0 L lens for most of my landscape photography since 2006, I recently upgraded to the superb Canon 16-35mm f/4.0 IS L. Until this lens came along, I had no plans to consider another Canon wide-angle zoom, aside from the dream-worthy TS-E 17mm f/4.0 L and TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II tilt-shifts. But the 16-35mm f/4.0 IS L caught my attention as soon as it was announced, hailed as Canon’s finest ultra-wide zoom to date, boasting superior optics to both the 17-40mm f/4.0 L and even the 16-35mm f/2.8 L II.
The first thing I noticed when unboxing it was its increased length compared to the 17-40mm, as shown in my side-by-side comparison image. It’s slightly heavier too, but the build quality feels just as solid, weather-sealed and ready for the elements. One small but appreciated design change is the slimmer lens hood, which makes it easier to store. It also features a push-tab lock, making it more secure and less fiddly to remove.
The 4-stop image stabilization is a welcome addition, especially handy when a tripod isn’t practical or when speed matters and there’s no time to set one up.
Not long after it arrived, I took it to the West Coast, drawn by a promising sunset forecast. The sunset turned out to be more subtle than spectacular, but honestly, I didn’t mind—I was eager to put the lens through its paces and compare it with my 17-40mm. The image below was taken there: a 118-second exposure at f/16, ISO 100, 20mm. Even before doing a side-by-side RAW comparison, I could tell this lens is optically in a different league.
I was especially pleased with the warm white balance I’d set in-camera for this shot; it added a soft glow to the scene that matched the calm I felt standing there.
Click the image for a larger preview
To evaluate the optical quality of the 16-35mm f/4.0 IS L against my long-trusted 17-40mm f/4.0 L, I took a series of controlled test shots (full-res files available below) at various focal lengths and apertures, then compared them side by side.
The test settings included shots at 16mm, 17mm, 35mm, and 40mm, each captured at f/4.0, f/8.0, and f/16. All were tripod-mounted, using mirror lockup to eliminate camera shake.
One observation worth noting: there’s slight chromatic aberration (CA) visible on the far left edge of the 16-35mm f/4.0 IS L images. This wasn’t present in the 17-40mm shots, despite having in-camera lens aberration correction enabled. I suspect this is because Canon hasn’t yet released the 16-35mm f/4.0 IS L profile for Digital Photo Professional (DPP), which might explain the CA slipping through.
All images were processed through Canon’s DPP software, using identical settings for each frame. These samples are purely for assessing sharpness across the frame and not intended for judging vignetting or chromatic aberration, as varying lighting conditions make such comparisons unreliable here.
Click on the links below and “save as”. These images are for personal inspection only and are not to be used on other websites or publications without my permission.
16/17mm f4.0 comparison 35/40mm f4.0 16/17mm f8.0 35/40mm f8.0 16/17mm f16 35/40mm f16
As seen in the full-resolution sample images, the 16-35mm f/4.0 IS L delivers noticeably better detail across the entire frame, with sharper edges and more contrast. That said, when shooting at f/16 and at 16mm or 17mm, the differences become far less pronounced.
So far, I’m incredibly pleased with this lens—it’s undeniably a worthy upgrade from my 17-40mm f/4.0 L. However, at twice the price of the 17-40mm (£1,199.00 in the UK), it’s not exactly twice as good. If you’re thinking of pulling the trigger, it might be worth shopping around or waiting for the price to come down.
Amazon has it in stock for £682
Update: I’ve included 100% crops of the above samples, which you can roll over with your mouse to examine the extreme corners of both the 16-35mm and 17-40mm.
Canon 16-35mm f/4.0 16mm @ f/4 — Mouse over to view the 17-40mm @ f/4 comparison.
