Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM tested with Canon EOS 400D full review Cameralabs distortion results

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

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Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM wide-angle geometry using Canon EOS 400D / XTi

To measure and compare wide angle geometric distortion, we photographed a test chart consisting of a grid pattern with each lens set to its shortest focal length and an aperture of f8. The images were then analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution.

The lowest geometric distortion at wide angle comes from the EF-S 17-55mm, although the EF 17-40mm scores essentially the same result here. The budget EF-S 18-55mm kit lens comes next, but falling behind with the worst result here is the EF-S 17-85mm, which exhibits quite noticeable geometric distortion when zoomed-out.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM	Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM	Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6	Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

17-40mm EF L at 17mm f8 Distortion: 2.9% barrel	17-85mm EF-S at 17mm f8 Distortion: 5.71% barrel	18-55mm EF-S at 18mm f8 Distortion: 3.35% barrel	17-55mm EF-S at 17mm f8 Distortion: 2.87% barrel

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM telephoto geometry using Canon EOS 400D / XTi

To measure and compare telephoto geometric distortion, we photographed a test chart consisting of a grid pattern with each lens set to its longest focal length and an aperture of f8. The images were then analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution.

The best result again comes from the EF 17-40mm, which again is expected because it's corrected for a more demanding full-frame body. Interestingly the budget kit lens comes second here, exhibiting noticeably lower geometric distortion when zoomed-in than the other two EF-S lenses.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM	Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM	Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6	Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

17-40mm EF L at 40mm f8 Distortion: 0.187% pincushion	17-85mm EF-S at 85mm f8 Distortion: 0.967% pincushion	18-55mm EF-S at 55mm f8 Distortion: 0.389% pincushion	17-55mm EF-S at 55mm f8 Distortion: 1.09% pincushion

Canon 17-40mm results continued...

Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

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