Canon EF Lenses

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Zoom Lens

A superb lens that covers nearly every professional wide-angle task. The EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM is a high performance, water-resistant Canon L-series lens. It has been specifically designed for improved edge-to-edge image quality that will meet the strict requirements of professional and high-end amateur photographers. It features three high-precision aspherical lens elements, each of a different type: ground, replica and GMo for even better image quality than the original EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM.

The EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM incorporates three aspherical elements to ensure corner-to-corner sharpness and clarity throughout the focal range. Two UD (Ultra Low Dispersion) elements virtually eliminate chromatic aberrations. With a constant f/2.8 aperture, it is ideal for professionals shooting in low light conditions. The circular aperture produces a beautiful and natural background blur when shooting at wider apertures. Other features include internal focusing, a ring type USM (Ultra Sonic Monitor), and new AF algorithms for fast and quiet autofocusing.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

Features and Specs | Large Image

Key Features of the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Zoom Lens

Canon L-Series Lens: The lens embodies Canon's highest standards of L-series optics, build quality, reliability and operability. A robust construction includes dust and moisture resistant seals to protect against harsh weather conditions.
Constant f/2.8 Aperture: A fast f/2.8 aperture delivers impressive low light performance and depth-of-field control. The aperture is fixed over the full focal range, allowing photographers to maintain a constant fast shutter speed when zooming.
Ultrasonic Motor: Powered by Canon's exclusive Ultrasonic (USM) motor for autofocusing, the EF 16-35mm f-2.8L II USM is silent in operation and very quick to focus, even in low-light conditions. There is virtually no whining noise as the lens focuses to distract the subject or draw attention to the photographer. Most important for the photographer in the field, the motor draws minimal power so the camera batteries last longer.
Ultra-Low Dispersion UD Glass: Lenses made from fluorite are extremely expensive due to the high cost of synthetic fluorite crystal production. UD (ultra low dispersion) glass made an appearance in the latter half of the 1970's, delivering a special optical glass which could provide characteristics similar to fluorite but at a lower cost and thereby answering another desire of lens designers. While the index of refraction and dispersion of UD glass are not as low as fluorite, they are significantly lower than other types of optical glass. Moreover, UD glass does display similar partial dispersion characteristics. The selection of the proper lens element combination in consideration of the intended focal length and other factors can provide close to the same effect as fluorite, (two UD lens elements are equivalent to one fluorite element). Super UD glass was introduced in 1993 as a new material that achieves almost the same performance as fluorite while achieving a new balance of cost reduction and higher quality.
Three Aspherical Lens Elements: Wide-angle lenses and fast normal focal-length lenses often suffer from an optical problem -- spherical aberration -- which causes an overall softening and optical "smearing" of the image. Canon has developed four different manufacturing technologies to produce Aspherical lens elements, which combat this problem. Aspherical optics, which have an extremely precise variable curvature of one or both sides of a lens element, also allow more compact lens designs and permit lighter lenses with fewer elements.
EF Lens Mount: In designing the EF lens mount, Canon engineers gave photographers a lot more than simply a way to quickly attach an interchangeable lens to a camera body. With the elimination of mechanical connections and the incorporation of an electronic interface between the camera and lens, Canon cameras have greater flexibility with regard to incorporating future technologies and future system upgrades. This fact has already been proven with a vast increase in AF speed, increased functionality such as predictive autofocus systems found in EOS cameras, auto-aperture tilt-shift (TS-E) lenses, the use of ultrasonic motors and the development of the Image Stabilizer lens.
The fully electronic mount system has none of the shock, operational noise, abrasion, play, lubrication requirements, slow response, diminished precision caused by lever operation, or design restrictions related to linkage mechanisms used to transfer data. Furthermore, operation and reliability are significantly improved. And, a lens operation self-test system, using the lens' built-in microcomputer, can even warn of malfunctions through the camera's LCD readout to help ensure high reliability.
Full-Time Manual Focus: A ring USM (Ultrasonic Motor) drives extremely rapid auto focus with near-silent operation. Full time mechanical manual focus override is available without having to switch out of AF. The lens offers a minimum focusing distance of 11.02 inches throughout the zoom range.
Super Spectra Coatings: Super Spectra lens coatings suppress flare and ghosting -- more prone to occur with digital cameras due to reflection off the image sensor. Coatings also help maintain accurate colour balance and high contrast.
Passes Distance Information to E-TTL II: The lens passes distance information back to the camera's E-TTL II flash system for consistently accurate flash metering.

Specifications

Focal Length: 16-35mm
Maximum Aperture: 1:2.8
Lens Construction: 16 elements in 12 groups
Diagonal Angle of View: 108º 10' - 63º
Focus Adjustment: AF with full-time manual
Closest Focusing Distance: 0.92 ft./ 0.28m
Zoom System: Rotating type
Filter Size: 82mm
Max. Diameter x Length: 3.5" x 4.4" / 88.5 x 111.6mm
Weight: 1 lb. 6.6 oz. / 640g

Canon EF Lenses
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