Random Orbits said:
Marsu42 said:
Would someone please enlighten me: Why are there so contradicting opinions on the 17-40L vs 16-35L? For all other lenses folks usually seem to be able to agree on what's "better", though "is it worth it" usually is more controversial.
* Is it because the qc allows for a large spread of "bad" and "good" copies of these uwa lenses?
* Is it because Canon has silently updated a lens or optimized the production so it got "better"?
* Is it because shots at open aperture are compared to "landscape aperture"?
* Is it because landscape shooters want to have edge sharpness, while event shooters don't care that much?
Here's the link to the iso crops if you want to play around:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=412&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=1&API=2&LensComp=100&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=1&APIComp=0
Value and price play a large role in it. If you were to take a poll asking which lens people would rather have gifted to them, I would suspect that the 16-35L II would win handily. Most hobbyists can't afford thousands of dollars for a lens. The 17-40 is one of the least expensive Ls and has good value if you work to its strengths.
Value factors certainly apply. Is a used copy of the 17-40L worth the money? Yes, IF you don't want to operate with prime lenses and can accept many of the limitations that come with trying to make a zoom (jack-of-all-trades, master of none issues). There certainly are sample variation factors, but all copies will be pretty terrible in the corners at 17mm, regardless of aperture settings. It could be argued that most people buy UWA lenses primarily to shoot at the widest focal length available, so I recommend picking whatever lens performs best at that focal length.
Perception and the L bug come into play. If a lens has the red ring, many will emotionally decide it is better than it really is and loose objectivity. Third party options are seldom considered by most...to cite a specific example, I was recently on a particularly (in)famous bridge in Zion National Park, at sunset. Approximately 70% of the photographers (30+ people crammed on the bridge) shot Canon, 25% Nikon, and 5% other. Of the Canon shooters, 9/10 were shooting with the 17-40L, 16-35L, 24-70L, or 24-105L. There were only a couple people not shooting L glass, and to the best of my knowledge, I was the only one using a Canon body with third party lenses (Zeiss, Samyang). Peer pressure comes into play and the "popular" lenses will be perceived as best, especially by the token shooter with a Rebel (most people were walking around with 5K worth of gear on this bridge). That bridge was probably the only time I've ever seen 20 grand or more in tripods...
Doing a bit of research, one will find that Zeiss lenses consistantly beat out Canikon options, due to drawing/rendering styles. Microcontrast and subjective sharpness make a huge impact. Canikon options typically go all mushy and detailless in the corners, which is terribly annoying for landscape work.
So when considering the peer pressure of L glass and objectivity, most people cannot imagine that L glass can often be lousy compared to other options. Canon has a very poor history of wide angle image quality (sharpness being the primary metric), particularily in the corners (Canon's design strengths are more in the moderate and telephoto ranges). Nikon is a better in this regard, as evidenced by the stellar 14-24. To compare UWA options for a moment, the 14L, Samyang 14mm, and the Nikon 14-24 are three options that come to mind. The 14L has a particularly remarkable attribute and that is distortion control...after that, everything rapidly goes downhill, which is dissapointing for a $2000 lens. The Nikon 14-24 is super sharp and has minor distortion issues at 14mm, but at wider focal lengths that is well controlled...I'm not surprised that quite a few Canon shooters have adapted this lens. Most people have never heard of the Samyang 14mm and considering it only costs $380, most would just assume it is terrible and move on. Well, it is terrible, at distortion that is. For sharpness, it easily beats every wide angle Canon makes, except perhaps the tilt/shift lenses. If your shooting is not hampered by the complex mustache distortion (sunset shooters with a straight horizon), this is the best value UWA you will ever find.
Here are 2 shots I took recently with the Samyang 14mm. Both were shot at f/2.8 and are sharp corner-to-corner. When one gets this wide, the DOF is pretty extreme even wide open, which keeps the lens surprisingly handholdable.
Horseshoe under the stars by
posthumus_cake ([url=http://www.pinnaclephotography.net]www.pinnaclephotography.net)[/url], on Flickr
The Cliffs of Insanity by
posthumus_cake ([url=http://www.pinnaclephotography.net]www.pinnaclephotography.net)[/url], on Flickr