Canon EF 16-35mm F/2.8 USM L III

Specifications01

MountCANON EF

Focal length16-35mm

Max aperturef/2.8

TypeCinema · Wide · Zoom

Weight790 g

Filter size82 mm

Physical length127.5 mm

Min focus distance0.28 m

Max magnification0.25

Aperture blades9

Optical elements16

Groups11

Lens hoodpetal-shaped (bayonet mount, supplied)

Sensor coverage43.3 mm

Additional Info02

SpecialL III USM

Category["Canon EF"]

Review AuthorKlaus

Other Featuresweather-sealed

Review VerdictThe Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM L III is, of course, an improvement over its predecessors. If you stop down a bit you can achieve edge-to-edge sharp images at all focal lengths even on a 50 megapixel camera. That's quite an achievement! The image corners are a bit soft at f2/8 and the extreme ends of the zoom range though. However, in real life that's rarely a showstopper. If you are using a camera with a more moderate pixel count, you don't really need to worry because the lens is plenty sharp enough in this case. Lateral CAs are generally very well controlled. A substantial weakness is the amount of vignetting at the wide end though. When designing a lens you have to balance the different optical aberrations and Canon obviously decided to favor sharpness over vignetting this time. The vignetting at 16mm f/2.8 isn't pretty to say the least. Of course, you can argue that this can be used in a creative way but then again - the mk II lens delivered better results in this chapter. Image distortions haven't been improved either thus you have to live with some barrel distortions at 16mm. Strong back-light is managed nicely in terms of flare although room for improvement remains (as always). The build quality is very high and absolutely pro-grade. The lens is weather-sealed although for perfect protection Canon recommends to use a front filter to stop dust/water from entering via the gap between the moving inner and static outer lens tubes. A few years ago we saw a trend towards smaller equipment but it seems as if the high quality requirements have reversed this. The Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM L III is not only heavier, it's also bigger than its predecessor. Whether this is helpful in the battle against smaller mirrorless systems remains to be seen. While you may not really need it most of the time, it's worth mentioning that the AF is extremely fast. A more surprising aspect is the lack of image stabilization though. Which brings us to the question of whether to prefer the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM L III over the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4 USM L IS. If you require that extra f-stop for shallow depth-of-field images, the answer is simple of course. Go for it. However, beyond this aspect things aren't quite so simple. Unless you have to deal with moving objects, the EF 16-35mm f/4 USM L IS has actually more potential for low-light photography due to its image stabilizer. Given the results at 21 megapixels (we didn't test the f/4 lens at 50 megapixels), it is also viable to state that there's probably little to gain in terms of resolution with the EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM L III. The f/4 lens is also more compact and way more affordable. The choice is yours.

Review Published2016-11-12T02:30:00+00:00

Optical Construction16 elements in 11 groups (3x asph. & 2xUD elements)

Field Notes02

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM is a standard zoom lens for APS-C? (EF mount full-frame intended) used for wide-angle to short-telephoto landscapes, interiors, and general low-light photography. Constant f/2.8 aperture with USM autofocus.

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Catalog note · source: opticallimits