Thanks to our local Canon rep, I got a chance today to shoot with both of Canon’s newest lenses: the TS-E 17mm f/4L and the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II. In a nutshell, they both rock. Completely. It’s good enough that, if I couldn’t afford one, I’d sell other lenses to get a copy. Really.
We met at the Seattle Central Library; it seemed a good place to demo the lenses as there’s lots of room and lots of vertical lines to look at. I got busted for using a tripod, though (apparently it’s against the rules), but was encouraged to continue shooting, so it was freehand for most of the two hours we were there.
I was fully prepared to be underwhelmed by the 17 and to leave the demo wanting to upgrade my 24 to the newer version, as I’ve been disappointed with Canon’s aspherical 14mm lens - the distortion makes it an unpleasant choice for shooting architecture. I figured the 17 would be an improvement, but wasn’t expecting much.
I started out with the 17 on my 1Ds Mark II, then used both it and the 24 on a 5D Mark II. First off, let’s compare the build of the lenses to the current TS-E offerings.
If you’re familiar with Canon’s tilt-shift lenses, you’ll know that their tilt mechanism is in one plane and the shift in another. The 17’s movements are in the same plane, allowing for compound movements in the same plane, a great asset and something not formerly available unless you were brave enough to have at your expensive lens with a screwdriver and a steady hand. The 24 II’s movements remain as they are in the original.
The construction, fit, finish and mechanical operation are smooth, tight, and attractive. The lenses look a lot less like something that came out of a Soviet surplus depot and more like a well-thought design. The knobs are larger and easier to turn, although the lens’ habit of tilting or shifting when you’re walking around is still present, even with the locking screws tightened.
The 17 doesn’t have a hood -- it’s too wide. The lens cap is of a new design, requiring a slide-clip be held while the cap is twisted on like a lens hood. The glass is beautiful, and protrudes quite far from the end of the lens in a fisheye-esque curve. Because of this, a bit of extra care needs to be taken with this lens to avoid physical damage to the glass.
I do regret not taking any photos of the lenses mounted on the camera, but I’m a photographer and was excited about spending time using the lenses, and pretty much forgot to take photos of them. Here’s some basic info: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0902/09021806canon17mm24mmtselenses.asp
The above photo was shot with my 1Ds Mk. II on a tripod before I got busted and had to stow away the tripod. The lens is wide - the advertised field of view is 104˚ diagonally - it’s w-i-d-e. The photo is uncorrected - the camera was perfectly level, which definitely helps, but there’s not really any distortion and the chromatic aberration that plagued many copies of the original 24mm TS-E seems to have been much reduced, at least from what I was able to see in the images from today’s two-hour session.
With the protruding front element, flare is definitely an issue - you really need to pay attention to all light sources when shooting with the 17.
I was quite impressed with the wide field of view and relative lack of barrel distortion, even when hand-holding shots purposely far off level.
Candidly, I spent most of my time with the 17, mostly because I already own a copy of the 24 and would rather acquire the wider lens first, then upgrade a lens I’m mostly happy with anyway.
I’ll write more once I get a chance to spend more time with the resulting images. My overall impression? If you shoot interiors, you’ll want one of these.
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