Canon - EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM Wide-Angle Lens - Black

I recently purchased the Canon 14mm f2.8L ii lens on-line from Best Buy and couldn't be more pleased. The 0% financing for 24 months really sealed the deal for me. I've been impressed with the sharpness and low light quality that this prime lens produces. Slight fringing, but overall am really pleased with my purchase.

As soon as i received it, i set my camera up on a tripod and shot the same picture, first with the old canon 14mm, and then with the new. The improvement in the new lens in terms of corner to corner sharpness was really significant. The only thing that was somewhat disappointing, was that the new lens had considerably more fringing around high-contrast edges. I shot an image of an interior with a view out the window and there was a very wide, highly saturated blue fringe even in the center of the image. The old 14mm experienced fringing too, but rarely in the center of the image, and even at the edges, was not as extreme as it is in the center of the new lens. Granted the difference in luminance was quite extreme between the interior and exterior (at least 5 stops) so this is not a problem that would effect every image, but it is something to be aware of. Even with this problem, i would still recommend the new lens again as the increase in sharpness far outweighs the inconvenience of having to retouch the occasional fringing.

This is by far the best wide angle lens I have ever owned. It's not the most versatile, but it does exactly what it's supposed to do. For a 14 mm lens, on a full frame body it has remarkably little distortion. It still does distort quite a bit, but it's a 14mm lens--because of the field of view it will distort; I consider the distortion to be a hallmark of this lens and a large part of the reason I bought it. This lens is not really a point-and-shoot lens. It is a compose-and-process lens. Using the enclosed DPP software to correct aberrations and corner issues is a must for the particular shooter, but once understood this lens is capable of unparalleled quality. This lens' build quality is excellent. It is durable, water resistant, and easy to keep clean. As with all prime lenses of excellent optical quality and resolution, there can be a steep learning curve to use. But learning how to do so is ultimately very rewarding and I will be buried with this lens. Thanks! Happy shooting!

mine worked for about a month and then broke... seemed like a good lense while i had it though