Customer Ratings & Reviews

The images were good, but I truthfully didn't see any difference between the images I shot with this lens and a lens that was half the price so I returned it. Maybe I'm missing something.

This is a handsdown highly recommended lens if you guys are looking for upgrade. I am using Canon 60D cropped lens, I was deciding in either getting the 15-85mm standard lens or the Canon L 14-70mm "L" Lens. I read tons of reviews and comparison between the two lens and overwhelmingly this was highly recommended specially if you have the crop sensor just like mine. The 15-85mm lens will not give you sharpness. Using a crop sensor you are still getting 27-64mm 35mm shot which is just perfect. Pictures are so sharp and you get excellent wide view for landscape and outdoor pictures. This lens is also weather sealed so no worries for you. I made a great decision in chosing this lens and remember "L" for LUXURY and that is what you get in choosing this lens.

I didn’t see any difference from an angular regular lens

i returned this lens. It does not have image stabilization which I thought was no big deal... WRONG. I returned it for a much much much sharper lens. Don't buy.

My first top of the line Canon Lens, hoping to add many more like this one! I shoot a lot of landscape photos and this has great wide range and quality capture. I have used it more than any other lens in my bag since I got it. So I would say its versatility has made it my favorite lens that I own.

I bought this lens specifically for my Canon 5DII and it works exceptionally well. The images are tack sharp, the colors are natural and focusing is fast and accurate. The focus ring is easy to manipulate in manual mode and everything works smoothly including turning the zoom ring. This lens compliments my other 'L' lens, the 24-105L. I wished the 17-40mm had IS but the cost would have been prohibitive. Since this is a 17-40mm on FF cameras it's equivalent to a 27-64mm on an APS-C camera. BestBuy had this lens for $20 less a week after I bought it and credited the difference due to their price match guarantee, way to go BestBuy!

This is a great lense for getting into the l-class lenses from Canon. It has a great wide angle lense on a full frame camera (Canon 1 DS). The lense also works well on a 1.6 crop Canon (Canon 40D, Canon Rebels, and ect.) and 1.3 crop Canon (Canon 1D). The lense works well outside, it can take some wonderful shots, as this is what it was designed for. For using indoors a flash and, or tripod is a must. This lense was not intended for lowlight photos. Well worh the money...

I love this lense, use it all the time when I want sharper images

This lens is of superb quality. I was blown away at how silent the AF is, not to mention the excellent width of angle (even for the cropped-sensor camera I use). It comes with a great lens hood and case and costs around the same amount for a comparable EF-S lens (which I would emphasize does NOT work on higher-end, full-frame cameras). If you're like me and you plan on upgrading to a more expensive, likely full frame camera, I would go ahead and invest the extra money in this reasonably affordable Luxury class lens. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

The 17-40mm f/4L is a great wide angle solution for full-frame sensor cameras. If you have a cropped sensor in your camera (XTi, XSi, T1i, 40D, 50D, 7D) then you might rather pick up the excellent EF-S 10-22mm (sku 7170116) which will appear much wider for the same money. Great for landscapes, portraits, fine art, etc. Wide angle lenses can be some of the most fun. I would recommend that keeping heads away from the corners in your portraits (especially at 17mm) or you'll see some pretty strange distortion. You can use Photoshop to correct the lines in wide images if need be. The minimum focusing distance on this lens is great for doing interesting foreground (i.e. a flower) with mountains or hills in the background, however; at f/4 it does blur the background somewhat, so for better focused backgrounds you'll want to work with smaller aperatures (f/11-f22). The build quality is what you would expect from an L ("Luxury") Canon lens, supurb. Autofocus is quick, and images are extremely sharp.

I love my 17-40. I basically live off this lens on my camera as of late. It’s fast on the focus, solid canon build, and did I mention L glass? Its my go to wide, whether shooting sports, weddings, even strobbing snowboarding events. Pick it up. You’ll love it! Side note, it’s pretty water resistant, or shall I say champagne resistant, as I had some champagne from a sports event spilled all over the lens & 1D Mark III body it was on during a celebration – both of which perform flawlessly together!

Great lens. It's meant for full frame cameras (1Ds, 35mm film SLRs, 5D, etc.). Mounting this on a 1.6x crop factor camera like the Digital Rebels or 20D, 30D, or 40D would be pointless. You will get relatively the same effective focal lengths with the stock EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, which is MUCH cheaper (and probably came with your camera). But in general, this is great on full-frame cameras. I have tried it on a 5D and it is super sharp when stopped down, and the super-wide-ness really makes photos fun.

Kept on thinking of getting the F2.8 but the cost, size, weight was way out there. LOVE this F4 version. It balances very nicely and is VERY, VERY sharp. This lens is quiet, powerful and looks hot with that giant sunshade. Definitely made the right choice in picking this versus the 2.8.

This is a great wide angle lens for a full frame camera. If you don't need the speed and extra stop of light, save yourself money and buy this lens instead of the 16-35L. Colors are nice and rich and very little distortion during landscape photography. But keep people closer to the center of the frame because faces tend to distort near the edges.

Absolutely beautiful lens. Feels sturdy without being bulky. Perfect for any kind of shooting...my only regret is not buying this lens first. If you can afford it, go for the L series...no regrets! They are spectacular!

This is my first "L" series lens purchases. I bought this lens based on advice from a friend. (He and I both have the 40D.) My sense is that I have not fully tested its capability out. It has been great for event photography and I enjoy using it. While I am not disappointed at all, I still wish that I purchased the 28-200mm L series lens before this one. But that is not materially important to this discussion. I did use it for a 50th Anniversary wedding celebration and took about 1,500 images. It worked great. (I also have the 10-22mm, so the ultra wide angle is covered there.)

This is wonderful lens, and complements my other two lenses, 24-105L IS, and 100-400L IS. Also, they share all 77mm filters/attachments (ND filters, circular polarizers, close-up lenses).

Good quality, solid construction. A bigger aperture would be perfect but no complaint. Used for landscape and other general photographing.

My first Canon L lens. I love it! It is very smooth. The photos are superb. It is a super wide. If you are used to a crop sensor and moving to a full frame this lens is going to give you a very wide shot.

Used for high-rise architecture in Chicago and New York. Enhanced skyline photos.