First day with my first \"L\" the 17-40mm

[CyberDyneSystems]

I really didn't want to be impressed.... :(

But what can I say?

Not having used a lens of this quality before,. I did not know what any of you meant by "Faster autofocus" and "silent"

I thought my Sigma EX lenses were silent,. in fact they are "Silent" but the 17-40mm is more than Silent,. it simply doesn't make a sound. Period. If I didn't see the focus change I would think it was broken :)

The pictures look really good.

I only took a very breif walk with it around town,.. so no hard and fast iron tests,. but every shot was in focus.

Colors are fantastic.

I've never used a wide angle before so I was surprised to see the effect this lens has on parrelels in archetecture etc. Especially given the 1.6 "crop" removing the extreme outer edges of the lens distortion. But I guess it comes witht the territory.

So tell me. In my limited experience,. the wider the lens is, the faster it focuses. All my zooms find the focus faster at the wide end,. etc.

Does this mean that this wide angle "L" focuses faster than say 100-400? Or is this that fast just because it is a Canon "L" ?

I'd love to see 400mm as fast as this.

[CyberDyneSystems]

sorry no examples,. fotopic is down.

[NILOLIGIST]

CyberDyneSystems,

I can't wait to see those photos. I am not confused anymore, I am going with 24-85 for starters, if I don't like it, I will take it back.

Glad you got your lens, I know you are smiling ear to ear. Good luck, have fun and don't forget to post.

NiL,

[Hawkeye12]

same here........i got mine a couple weeks ago and could not believe how sharp it is.
here's a candid shot of the the bride from a wedding i shot last week.
this lens never let me down.......

http://www.pbase.com/image/17883528/original

[CyberDyneSystems]

Thats a great pic Hawkeye :)

I have to say,. I am soooo used to telephoto work,. that this lens is really challenging me. I honestly don't know how to use a lens like this.

Shooting wildlife,. you get used to being something of a voyeur... sneeking around taking pictures from vast distances so as not to alert the subject to your presence. Half the battle becomes using magnification to get up where the naked eye never could.

This was the whole reason I finally got a DSLR,. the long range lenses. Even @10X (380mm equivelent) my Old digicam would never be enough. (of course I find that with a 500mm X 1.6 crop factor as well but thats another story)

Long and short,. as I said when I ordered this lens,. it was a very odd choice and out of character. This lens,. the zoom range ,. to me is the least important lens in my kit. And now it happnes to be the best. ???

So,.. now what?

Is the Canon 100-400 IS heavier or lighter than the Sigma50-500mm ? It HAS to be liter? Doesn't it?

[Patrick 10D]

I am happy to read this thread! I was just looking at this lens 20 minutes ago (1100 EUR!) and asked about trading in the two remaining lenses that I have (24-85 and 20-35 USM). I think that we have a deal ... so I am off to pick up my first L glass.

After that is the hard part: getting me to get the most out of the lens!

Thanks for the thread!

Patrick

[BurningArrow]

niloligist wrote:
CyberDyneSystems,

I can't wait to see those photos. I am not confused anymore, I am going with 24-85 for starters, if I don't like it, I will take it back.

Glad you got your lens, I know you are smiling ear to ear. Good luck, have fun and don't forget to post.

NiL,

Hi Frederique, wait a minute .... you got your 10D yet?? :)
I am waiting for mine to be delivered, any time soon :) I ordered the 28-135 in advance at B&H.

Cheers
Matt

[martcol]

Hawkeye12 wrote:

here's a candid shot of the the bride from a wedding i shot last week.



An absolute beauty, a babe, I bet she's as lovely in the hand as easy on the eye....

I'm gonna have to have one of those L lenses.

The bride's not bad either!

MKC

[NILOLIGIST]

BurningArrow,

NO!! Just saying if i were to get one...SMIRK

What are you doing in here, you ordered a 10D...WOOOHOOO!!!!!

WOW, now you are in the big league!!! So what other lens do you plan on getting.

I plan on 100-400 70-200 and who knows what...That is if I were planning to get one.

LOL

NiL,

[BurningArrow]

niloligist wrote:
BurningArrow,

NO!! Just saying if i were to get one...SMIRK

What are you doing in here, you ordered a 10D...WOOOHOOO!!!!!

WOW, now you are in the big league!!! So what other lens do you plan on getting.

I plan on 100-400 70-200 and who knows what...That is if I were planning to get one.

LOL

NiL,

Frederique
Big Boy needs a Big Toy! Wooohooo!!! lol
My lens choices will be:
++ Canon 17-40L or Sigma 15-30
++ 28-135 IS USM
++ 70-200/f4 L

:-)

[NILOLIGIST]

BurningArrow,

You are the BEST!! I can't wait until you get it!!!!

NiL,

[Longwatcher]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:


So tell me. In my limited experience,. the wider the lens is, the faster it focuses. All my zooms find the focus faster at the wide end,. etc.

Does this mean that this wide angle "L" focuses faster than say 100-400? Or is this that fast just because it is a Canon "L" ?

I'd love to see 400mm as fast as this.

I suspect the focus speed was affected by two things. One was the aperture, the wider available the faster it wil focus. The other factor was the smaller travel distance of the optics as it focused. A final factor could be when it was made, since the 17-40 is a very new lens it would have the latest technology. The 100-400 is one of the older lenses (I think it was the first or second with IS technology).

The fastest to focus lens I have is my 50/1.4. I usually don't wait for the focus on that one, just click the shutter button and it is focused before I finish pressing. Or at least it seems that way :-)

[dpickering]

My first SHOT with the 17-40L! I like this lens! (unsharp mask only in ps6)

[dpickering]

sorry-here's the link:

http://www.pickeringassoc.com/photography/preview.htm

[Ronald S. Jr.]

:lol: CDS as a WA newb, and he got his first L. :lol: I love it! :-D

Ever figure out which one was lighter? ;-)

[BigBlueDodge]

Holy cow, where in Hades did you dredge up this post? Its kinda funny as you look at where he's at today and the lens collection he's amassed. Kinda makes that $600 17-40L look puny.

[CorruptedPhotographer]

:lol: CDS as a WA newb, and he got his first L. :lol: I love it! :-D

Ever figure out which one was lighter? ;-)


Hahaha what an old thread!

noob CDS ;)

[malla1962]

The 17-40 was one of my first lenses as it replaced my kit lens and as SDS says it focuses super fast and is very sharp,to me it is one of the best value L
lenses there is.:D

[Ronald S. Jr.]

Holy cow, where in Hades did you dredge up this post? Its kinda funny as you look at where he's at today and the lens collection he's amassed. Kinda makes that $600 17-40L look puny.


I just thought, out of boredom, that I'd look at page 350 in the lens section. :eek:

[Kinger]

Wow, I guess I sould have looked at the date of the original post, cause as I read through this thread I kept thinking to myself. "How the H**l is this CDS's first L, and he is just getting it nw!"

[roanjohn]

Wow, I guess I sould have looked at the date of the original post, cause as I read through this thread I kept thinking to myself. "How the H**l is this CDS's first L, and he is just getting it nw!"

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I had to do a double take too!!!

Ro1

[Double Negative]

LOL... Busted.