As much as I love my Canon photography equipment, and would never change to anything other photography brand (even if I had to start all over again) the one thing that annoys me is the fact the professional spec L series lenses are designed for Canon’s full frame line up and not crop sensor cameras.
I appreciate you can use the L series lenses on crop sensor cameras but because of the crop factor the effective focal length changes, resulting in some pretty crazy (and a lot of the time useless) focal lengths – especially when it comes to zoom lenses. Let me explain……….. 16mm – 35mm zoom lens
A 16mm – 35mm is a fantastic focal length for landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes, and the 16mm – 35mm f4L IS lens is an amazing lens (check out this review) but if you put it on a crop sensor camera the effective focal length becomes 25.6mm – 56mm. At 25.6mm the short end is still considered wide, and can be used for landscapes/seascapes/cityscapes but the rest of the focal range is a little too long and effectively wasted for wide angle photography.
Another issues is that whilst 25.6mm is wide, it is not 16mm ultra-wide – and there are times when I want a wide field of view to get as much in the frame possible, and this focal length won’t cut it. There is an EF-S lens with an effective focal length of 16mm – 35mm, the Canon 10mm – 22mm f3.5 and whilst it too is a very good lens (check out this review) it is not an L series lens. This lens isn’t as tough, durable and robust as an L series lens and the image quality isn’t as good either. Okay, this lens is significantly less than the Canon 16mm – 35mm f4L IS lens but it should be as the two lenses are miles apart. I have read reviews about the Canon 10mm – 22mm lens stating is “an L series lens without the red ring” but this simply isn’t true. I own both lenses and I can assure you the 16mm – 35mm f4L IS lens blows this out the water. As much as I love my Canon 10mm – 22mm and use it on my travels when I want to travel light with my crop sensor camera, the build quality and the image quality isn’t up there with the L series lenses. If you are going to buy a Canon 10mm – 22mm on the basis it is an “L series lens without the red ring designed for crop sensor cameras” I would suggest you get down your local camera shop and directly compare it to the Canon 16mm – 35mm lenses before parting with your hard earned money.
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AuthorKeen photographer addicted to cameras, lenses and everything photography related. Feel free to follow me in my photography ramblings, and if you have any thoughts, comments, queries or anything else to add I would love to hear from you. |