Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM Review

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM Handling and Features

At first glance, this lens looks exactly like it is the bigger brother of Canon's older 14mm f/2.8 lens. Design and build of this lens is what you'd expect of Canon's L series, with tough black finished metal and plastics used throughout its construction. There's a lot of glass in the design of this lens, which adds to the weight, which is still well over a kilogram, despite it sporting a reasonably modest f/4 maximum aperture. The lens balances well enough with the Canon EOS 5D Mk III camera body used for testing, but it may be too large and heavy to use with some of Canon's more compact camera bodies.

An Ultrasonic motor powers autofocus, which allows manual focus adjustments to be made at any time, and AF speeds are very fast as a result. Manual focus adjustments are a pleasure to apply, thanks to the smooth, precise and well damped focus ring. A distance scale is located on top of the lens behind a small window, which will be especially useful for setting the hyperfocal distance with a calculator, as there is no hyperfocal scale marked on the lens. Closest focus is 28cm which is great for the occasional wide-angle close up image, or for shooting in claustrophobic environments. Estate agents in London will love this feature.

Focusing and zoom are performed internally, although due to the wide angle nature of the lens, and bulbous front element, with integrated hood, you'll not be fitting filters to this lens easily. 

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