| Field-test of the Canon EF 14mm
f/2 SL USM Super Wide-angle Lens. The 24mm focal length is considered as the widest angle-of-view available for wide-angle lenses although with some, you can find settings such as 21mm or 23mm. Any focal length wider than 21mm is known as Super wide-angle as well as fisheye lens and Canon has three such lenses in its EF line-up for EOS cameras. They are the EF 15mm f/2.8 full-frame fisheye and Super wide-angles in the form of the EF 14mm f/2.8L USM and the EF 20mm f/2.8 USM. Of course, Canon also has two zoom lenses that incorporate focal lengths of 20mm and wider; the EF 17-35mm f/2.8L USM and EF 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 USM plus the discontinued EF 20-35mm f/2.8L AFD. Super wide-angle lenses, like their wide-angle counterparts, offer exaggerated perspective and an almost unlimited amount of depth-of-field, making it easier to have most of the composed scene to be in focus even if the photographer does not have the time to get it right in focusing, manually. Both the EF14mm f/2.8L USM and EF 20mm f/2.8L USM are Super wide-angles - the former has a diagonal angle-of-view of 114-degree and the latter, 94-degree. In this issue, the focus is on the EF 14mm f/2.8L USM version. This lens, although based on the popular manual focus FD 14mm f/2.8L version, has been improved optically for the EF line-up, and is capable of higher resolution, sharpness, color balance and contrast, making it a favorite among professional photographers.
Weighing at only 560 grams, the EF 14mm f/2.8L USM is both compact and lightweight, which is partly responsible via the use of Canon's Rear-group internal focusing design. This design means that the overall balance of the lens does not change when the focusing distance is at the closest or infinity. Unlike other EF lenses (except for the EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye lens), this Super wide-angle does not employ a regular filter thread where screw-on filters can be fitted onto its front. It uses a drop-in gelatin filter slot at the rear of the lens. The EF 14mm f/2.8L USM is also the lens with the shortest focal length in the EF line-up and among L-series lenses. Its second element is aspherical, which corrects image distortions, especially for subjects with many straight lines, like tall buildings, flagpoles or street lights - this correction is known as rectilinear, where the lines do not converge, unlike those captured with fisheye lenses. The lens uses a Ring USM for fast focusing and accurate AF operations. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . |
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