Pros & Cons
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- Ultra-wide field of view.
- Maintains f/4 when zoomed.
- Very sharp.
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- Shows some barrel distortion.
- Corner and edge dimness.
- Omits filter support.
- Big and heavy.
- Expensive.
Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM Specs
| 35mm Equivalent (Telephoto) | 24 mm |
| 35mm Equivalent (Wide) | 11 |
| Dimensions | 5.2 by 4.3 inches |
| Lens Mount | Canon EF |
| Optical Zoom | 2.2 x |
| Stabilization | None |
| Type | Lens |
| Weight | 2.6 |
For many years Canon photographers had a reason to be jealous of those on the Nikon side of the fence. There was no match to Nikon's excellent AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED ($1,596.95 at Amazon) zoom for full-frame SLRs. Unveiled early last year, the EF 11-24mm f/4L USM from Canon ($2,999) doesn't match the Nikon's sexy f/2.8 aperture, but it captures a significantly wider field of view—the widest of any rectilinear zoom lens on the market today. It's not perfect—there's some barrel distortion, and corners are dim at its widest angle and aperture—but given the design, which goes beyond the typical definition of ultra-wide, it's an exceptional performer, and worthy of being called Editors' Choice.
Design
The 11-24mm ($2,699.00 at Amazon) is a big chunk of glass. It measures 5.2 by 4.3 inches (HD) and weighs in at a hefty 2.6 pounds. The bulbous front element precludes the use of screw-in filters, but you can use a filter holder system from Lee if you want to use a graduated neutral density filter. That's also the case for the Nikkor 14-24mm.
Construction is typical for Canon L lenses. The barrel is tough polycarbonate and there's an o-ring seal around the lens mount. The zoom ring sits toward the base of the lens, covered in knurled rubber and marked at 11, 12, 14, 18, 20, and 24mm. The manual focus ring, finished in a similar texture, is located just behind the integrated lens hood. Like most SLR lenses, the manual focus ring is mechanically coupled, so you can adjust focus and see the results immediately in the optical viewfinder, even when the camera is turned off.
The lone control switch is a toggle to shift between manual and autofocus—although you can always override autofocus after it's been locked via a turn of the manual focus ring. A window sits at the top of the barrel, next to the switch, displaying the set focus distance. The lens can lock onto subjects as close as 11 inches (0.28-meter) from the image sensor. The working distance from the front element is a few inches, so you can get close to a subject and frame it with a fast background at 11mm, and get fairly close for a detail shot at 24mm.
The internal focus motor is a USM design. It's quick and quiet, as you'd expect from a Canon lens. It can drive the lens from infinity to its closest focus distance in about half a second when paired with the full-frame, 50-megapixel EOS 5DS R ($3,699.00 at Amazon) .
Image Quality
I used Imatest to see how well the lens performs on a full-frame camera, in this case Canon's high-resolution monster, the EOS 5DS R. At 11mm f/4 it scores 3,317 lines per picture height on a center-weighted test, much sharper than the 2,200 lines we like to see when looking at images from a high-resolution camera. Edges are a bit soft here, showing just 1,539 lines. Stopping down to f/5.6 improves the average score to 3,595 lines, and edges jump to 1,808. The sharpest performance is at f/8—the average score is 3,681 lines, and even the outer edges are fairly crisp, at 2,126 lines. If you're shooting a landscape, f/11 robs you of a bit of sharpness in the center of the lens (3,291 lines averaged across the frame), but edges show 2,371 lines. Diffraction is more of an issue when shooting at narrower f-stops, decreasing detail at f/16 (2,831 lines) and f/22 (2,240 lines) when working with the 5DS R.
Image quality across the frame is more consistent at 14mm. At f/4 the lens records 3,488 lines on the center-weighted test, with edges of the frame topping 2,900 lines, for crisp details from edge to edge. Stopping down to f/5.6 improves the overall score to 3,844 lines, its peak resolution at this focal length. There's a dip in image quality at f/8 (3,555 lines) and f/11 (3,381 lines), but diffraction isn't a real concern until you narrow the f-stop to f/16 (3,019 lines) and f/22 (2,374 lines).
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Results are similar at 18mm. At f/4 the lens manages 3,570 lines, and it peaks at f/5.6—3,816 lines. In both cases the edges are very crisp, about 2,700 lines. Diffraction cuts into resolution a little bit at f/8 (3,706 lines) and f/11 (3,315 lines), but it's more of an issue at f/16 (3,009 lines) and f/22 (2,347 lines).
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At 24mm the lens maintains its strong performance. It scores 3,085 lines at f/4, with edges that hit 2,475 lines. Images are sharper at f/5.6, with a 3,347-line average score and edges that hit 2,800 lines. Peak performance is achieved at f/8 (3,412 lines), with strong results at f/11 (3,379 lines). Diffraction reduces clarity at f/16 (3,076 lines) and f/22 (2,445 lines).
Sharpness isn't the only aspect of a lens we evaluate. We also look at how even illumination is across the frame. This is often an issue with ultra-wide lenses; most have edges and corners that are noticeably dimmer than the center. If you shoot in JPG format, in-camera corrections eliminate this issue at all but 11mm f/4, but Raw shooters are going to have to deal with some uneven illumination.
At 11mm f/4 the corners and sides are noticeably dimmer than the center of the image—lagging behind by 4EV and 2.5EV respectively. Stopping down to f/5.6 improves things; the corners show a 2.6EV drop and the sides just 1EV. At f/8 the corners are still dim (-1.5EV), but the sides are within 0.5EV of the center, barely noticeable in field conditions. At f/8 the corners improve, dimmer by 1.2EV, and at f/16 corners are within a stop of the center, an acceptable result that won't require correction for most shots.
The story is similar at 14mm, but the vignette effect is less pronounced. At f/4 we see -3EV illumination at the corners and -2EV at the sides of the frame. At f/5.6 the corners lag behind the center by 1.8EV, but the sides of the frame pull within a stop. At f/8 the corners show only a 0.9EV dip in brightness.
The trend of improvement continues at 18mm. At f/4 the corners show a 2.3EV drop, and the sides about 1.4EV. At f/5.6 the sides are fine (-0.5EV) and corners dim by 1.2EV. Corners pull within a stop at f/8. At 24mm the corners start at -2EV at f/4, with sides at -1.2EV. Sides pull within tolerable limits at f/5.6, and corners drop by just 1.3EV. At f/8 illumination is acceptably even across the frame.
Imatest also analyzes distortion. This is one aspect where the 11-24mm isn't perfectly corrected. At 11mm the lens exhibits 6 percent barrel distortion, a figure that's reduced to 2.8 percent at 14mm, cut to under 1 percent by 18mm, and absent at 24mm. If you shoot in Raw format you can correct this using a workflow application like Lightroom ($9.99/Month at Adobe) , just as you can illumination. Lightroom has a one-click correction that compensates for both for this lens.
Conclusions
The Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM is a lens that's unmatched in the market. It's the widest rectilinear zoom for any system—to get a wider field of view you'll need to look at a fish-eye lens like Canon's own EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM ($1,249.00 at Amazon) —and it's very sharp throughout its zoom range. It doesn't deliver the same optical perfection you get from the best prime lenses—there's some distortion and corners and sides are a bit dim when shooting in Raw format—but both aspects are easily corrected using a software workflow, and are not at all out of line for a lens of this type. Sure, it's expensive, but that's the price you pay for a lens of this quality and scope. It's more than worthy of our Editors' Choice distinction.
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