For the last three months or so, I’ve been really wanting something wide to shoot landscapes with, and the 18-55 kit lens just wasn’t cutting it. It’s lack of sharpness racked at smaller f/stops and set at infinity just was killing me. I looked around, and decided to buy my first L series Canon lens, the EF 17-40 f/4 L.

Talk about heavenly. The pictures I’ve been getting the last two days (the amount of time I’ve had the lens) are astounding in their sharpness and contrast. While not super wide on my 300D (roughly 27mm because of the 1.6x multiplier), I find the view to be acceptable. The build of the lens is solid, and I find that it just is very polished. Apparently, people weren’t kidding when they said the L series was the lenses to have (if you feel like spending an arm and a leg and your car). At f/4, it’s not very fast, but I’m not terribly concerned about it. I’ve shot at f/4@1600 and then used Noise Ninja with great success with my 75-300. I’ll use the same workflow in this situation.

Overall, I’m pleased with this lens so much, that I wish I had all kinds of L glass now (and while I’m dreaming aloud, how about a 1D Mark II). I’ll post some photographs taken with the new lens after I proof them.