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Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens review, tested with Canon EOS 5D Gordon Laing, December 2006 / updated July 2007

More Results : Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting


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Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM resolution using Canon EOS 5D

  To measure resolving power we photographed the Enhanced Digital Camera Resolution Chart with each lens set to f8 using a Canon EOS-5D in Aperture Priority mode. The 5D was set to Large Fine JPEG mode and the Standard Picture Style. Check the captions for the individual focal lengths used.

The crops are taken from the originals and presented here at 100%. Each number represents 100 lines per picture height (lpph), so a figure of 18 means a resolution of 1800 lpph.

The Canon 17-40mm may suffer from corner softness when zoomed-into 40mm and focused at infinity, but there's no arguing about it's resolving power in the center of the frame. Here the 17-40mm aced our resolution chart, delivering 2400 and 2350 lpph of horizontal and vertical resolution respectively, technically out-resolving both the 24-105mm and 24-70mm lenses, and even beating the 85mm f1.8 prime in terms of vertical resolution. It's testament to Canon's L optics though that all three zooms essentially keep-up with the resolving power of the 85mm f1.8 prime lens.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM horizontal resolution
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM horizontal resolution
2400 lpph, 17-40mm at 40mm, f8, 100 ISO
2300 lpph, 24-105mm at 70mm, f8, 100 ISO

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
 
Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM horizontal resolution
Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM horizontal resolution
2350 lpph, 24-70mm at 70mm, f8, 100 ISO
2400 lpph, 85mm, f8, 100 ISO


Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM vertical resolution
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM vertical resolution
2350 lpph, 17-40mm at 40mm, f8, 100 ISO
2300 lpph, 24-105mm at 70mm, f8, 100 ISO

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
 
Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM vertical resolution
Canon EF 85 mm f/1.8 USM vertical resolution
2300 lpph, 24-70mm at 70mm, f8, 100 ISO
2300 lpph, 85mm, f8, 100 ISO

Canon 17-40mm results continued...

Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting
All words, images, videos and layout, copyright 2005-2009 Gordon Laing. May not be used without permission.

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