Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens

There are some lenses that you just HAVE to have in your lens kit ... this is one of them. Wide angle lenses are increasingly popular, particular with the 1.6x crop factor in the consumer-line of Canon SLRs (10D, 20D, Rebel, Rebel XT), and that has driven both the supply and demand for high-quality wide-angle lenses that are also affordable.

At about $700 USD, this is a terrific starter lens for moving into L glass. The lens is fast and sharp, with little vignetting and chromatic aberration. It can be a little bit soft at f/4, but it's fantastic outdoors. The build quality is classic L.

A natural comparison is to the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L, and the faster spec is nice. But it's widely accepted that this lens is the faster of the two, and considerably cheaper. Don't even bother comparing it against the Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 USM. If you like wide angles, this one is a terrific choice -- I leave it on my camera all the time. I would only consider replacing this with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L, but only if I move up to a full-frame sensor.

Consider complementing this lens with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L (also a good deal) and the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4.

Its good if you are sure you only want wide angle, but I would recommend that if you get this, you also get another with wide angle-telephoto zoom. This 40mm is a bit low for you to zoom in on many things.

I am mostly a landscape photographer. Though sometime I use Sigma 100-300, I almost never remove 17-40 from my camera. This lens plus polarizing filter is practicaly everything you need to make a great shots with your camera.

If you use it with 1.6x cameras, you'll be surprised to see almost no Chromatic Aberrations. Again, there is a minimal Vignetting on crop cameras like Canon 30D. Stop down to f/8, and you'll get most contrast and sharpness out of EF 17-40mm f/4L lens. I was comparing this lens to a prime ones (20mm, and 50mm) on the same subject, and 17-40 was always as good as the prime ones, and in some cases it was even better!

Overall, I am a completely satisfied owner. Of course, I'd be better satisfied with something like f/2.0 and 16-200mm, but this is a science finction :)

This is an affordable L-series ultra-wide-angle zoom lens. Love the contrast, the color, the detial. The lens is a great buy, excellent value, although it lacks 2.8.

This takes great pictures. crisp, clear, wonderful. I have a 24-70 f2.8 and it is a good addition. With the f4 it is excellent for outside landscapes

If you're doing portraits, this is the best lens you can buy for your money.

It is compact, light weight, and very crisp. The photos are always amazing and the lens couldn't be better.

The only upgrade is the f2.8 model, which is only nicer if you have the money to plunk down on it.

Canon's 17-40mm f4 is an excellent value at around $800 new. The images that this piece of glass yields are superb! With an aperture of f4 you can achieve a very smooth out-of-focus background while still retaining excellent sharpness at the point of focus, and at nearly half the price of the
16-35mm f2.8! In my opinion, this lens is actually sharper than the more expensive f2.8 lens. If you are someone looking for a superior lens at a good price to use on either youir 35mm film camera or a digital body, this is definitely a lens you should consider.

I can not tell you how much i like this lens! I have it attached to a my Canon 40D, this lens allows me to capture more landscape in my picture! Even with an F/4 I can still capture pretty good low lighting shots. Images are crisp and clear. The construction is rigid and tough. If you are debating on whether you should upgrade your lens kit to Canon's L series... this is a good one to start off with.

bought the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens,three weeks ago and was immediately impressed.
Here are some lenses that you just HAVE to have in your lens kit !

I bought this lens after doing much research. I wanted a lens that was affordable as well as having top quality of the L series lenses. This lens has been by far the best lens I've used. I have used other Canon and Nikon lenses, this one is far better.

Thanks!

I am very disappointed. The lens that I was sold came with a scratch. The scratch was not made privy in the description of the item when it was sold. Its terrible that somebody would sell something and not provide a complete description of the item.

Excellent image output. Not heavy, easy to carry. Good focal coverage especially on scenary.
Canon's L zoom lenses mostly use 77mm filter, so the filter on this lens is exchangable with other L zoom.
It's F4, so it struggles in low light. But, there is 16-35mm/2.8 L for low light, of course, with a high price tag.

Wonderful piece of technology. Superb image quality and great for landscape shots. This is the one lense that my set cannot do without.

Sharp Focus, Easily Interchangeable, Durable, Consistent Output, Strong Construction.
Highly recommended.

The build quality is excellent and the photos take with this lens are superb. Much better value than the 16-35 f/2.8 L and better quality build and images than the lenses from Sigma, Tamron, etc.

Just to start off I am a amateur photgrapher and this lense is superb in my opinion. I would highly reccomend it for people that are doing wide angle shots for landscapes and such things of that nature. I personally use it as a walk around lense. I use it for portrait shots, and landscapes too. It's great to have a wide angle lense like this. Plus being an L series lense I highly recommend it!

I've used this lens for a year. I mainly used this lens for landscape and family's events such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Graduation. This lens produces great photos.

Nice overall zoom coverage for APS-C DSLR. Sharp and high build quality you can expect from a L lens. Reasonably priced.It would be nice with Image Stabalized feature.

If f/4 is enough and you need wide open shots, this is a great lens for the price. It is one of the most economical lens from Canon's L line. I loved this lens, but it was not what I needed overall. If you shoot outdoors and don't need a faster aperture, then you should get this. I give it an Excellent rating on the quality and beauty of the shots that I got. I loved it.

The lens were not scratched and lens were in decent shape. The exterior printing was worn more than I expected. The lens preform as they are suppose too but overall I feel that product has more wear than advertised. I had received a discount of 10% through e-bay and that more than equaled out the problem.

Fast service, excellent communication, highly recommended. Lens I bought is as described, came well packaged, and works very well. Thank you.

Fast quiet focusing. Image quality is great. Lightweight. Nice contrast. Perfect for use both on my Canon 40D and my Canon 5D. On the 40D with the smaller sensor, it is about 27-64mm - and image quality shines!

I decided to buy because its was an "L" lens. Also I wanted wide angle with more versatility than lets say the EF-S 10-22mm which can distort perspective. I am very happy with build quality, which is excellent.