Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Review

Name: Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM
Brand: canon

June 30, 2014 | Mark Goldstein |

Introduction

The EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is Canon's first ultra-wide L-series lens to feature image stabilisation. Featuring two Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) elements, Super Spectra coatings to reduce ghosting and flare, fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements to prevent dust and water drops sticking to each element, water and dust resistantance, an ultrasonic focus motor, nine-blade circular aperture, silent high-speed AF performance, full-time manual focusing, and image stabilisation offering a claimed 4-stop advantage, the new Canon is ideal for landscape or architecture photography. The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is available now for £1,199.99 / $1,199.00 in the UK and the USA respectively.

Ease of Use

For a professional L-series ultra-wide-angle zoom, the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM isn't too big and bulky, and not too heavy either at 615g. While you can use it on a smaller APS-C body for a 24-52mm equivalent angle of view, it won't balance as well - as demonstrated by the images below, it's a much better match for a professional-grade, full-frame camera like the 5D Mark III.

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens alongisde the Canon EOS 5D Mark III

As you would expect from a lens that costs this much, build quality is excellent, certainly up to the "L" moniker that denotes Canon's premium lenses. The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM feels very solid in your hand, even if the outer barrel and the filter thread appear to be made from plastic. The focusing ring is generously wide and has a ridged, rubberised grip band. It has no aperture ring, which is no big deal unless you wanted to use it on a very old film body. The lens also features a distance scale.

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens, extended to 70mm, isometric view

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens alongside the EOS 5D Mark III

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM boasts Image Stabilisation which Canon claims offers an advantage of up to 4 f-stops over lenses without a stabilizer. This is activated via the On/Off switch on the side of the lens. If the camera body supports it, Canon's IS technology is also able to detect intentional panning movement and automatically switch from the Normal IS mode to the Panning IS mode.

Front of the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens, in-hand

Front of the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens

The final control on the lens barrel is a focus mode switch with the usual AF/MF settings. Note that the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM usefully offers full-time manual focusing even when AF is selected.

Side of the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens ships with a slim petal-shaped lens hood (EW-82) and a protective drawstring lens case.

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens in-hand

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens with the supplied EW-82 lens hood fitted

Focal Range

At the 16mm focal length the angle of view is 108°10' degrees.

Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Field of view at 16mm

At the 35mm focal length the angle of view is 63 degrees.

Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Field of view at 35mm

Focusing

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens has a wide focus ring. There are hard stops at both ends of the range, making it easier to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 77mm filter thread doesn't rotate on focus.

When it comes to auto-focusing, the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM zoom is a quick performer, taking about 0.15 seconds to lock onto the subject when mounted on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III that we tested it with.

We didn't experience much "hunting", either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time. It's also a fairly quiet performer, thanks to the built-in USM (Ultra Sonic Motor), which makes this lens quite well-suited to video recording.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are impressively well controlled with this lens - the examples below show the worst-case scenario.

Vignetting and Distortion

With the lens wide open at f/4, you can see some slight light fall-off in the corners. Stopping down helps, although to completely get rid of this phenomenon, you will need to use an f-stop of f/8 or smaller.

Barrel distortion is evident at the 16mm wide-angle focal length, disappearing completely at 24mm.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Vignetting at 16mm

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Vignetting at 35mm

Macro

The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is not a macro lens. When the Macro mode is activated the close-focus point is at 28cm from the film/sensor plane, and Canon quotes a maximum reproduction ratio of 0.23x for the lens. The following example illustrates how close you can get to the subject.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM Close-up performance

Bokeh Examples

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. Canon have employed an iris diaphragm with 9 rounded blades for a pleasing rendering of the out-of-focus highlights. Based on what we have seen, we can say that they largely succeeded. Below you'll find some examples, but you are also encouraged to check out our sample images.