Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L lenses

see also:

• Canon EF lenses
• Canon EF wide angle lenses

• ultra wide angle rectilinear prime lens
• neither have front filter threads - only rear drop-in filter holders
• 2 versions:
  • mark I was initially produced from 1991
  • the later model mark II introduced in late 2007:
    • has more glass with special glasses
    • is larger, heavier
    • focuses a touch closer
    • adds weather sealing
    • improved edge sharpness but still soft wide open
    • different front cap system - now plastic instead of aluminium but designed to lock on thus less likely to fall off, but does not keep dust out and will chafe the lens hood
    • fixes the strong amber ghost images caused by the sun in the original 14mm and replaces them with a much dimmer rainbow laser-beam
    • BUT still unattractive 6 pointed sunstars

• 14mm f/2.8 gives 114deg field of view
• 14 elements in 10 groups including an aspherical lens
• 6 aperture blades
• USM AF with full time MF
• close focus 0.25m giving 0.1x magnification
• rear drop-in gelatin filter holder
• 77 x 89mm
• 560g

• 14mm f/2.8 gives 114deg field of view
• 14 elements in 11 groups inc. 2x aspherical and 2xED elements
• 6 rounded aperture blades
• Super Spectra Coating
• USM AF with full time MF
• internal focus
• close focus 0.2m giving 1:6.7 magnification
• rear drop-in gelatin filter holder
• 80x94mm
• 645g
• weather sealed
• ~$US2200

• despite the Olympus lens is a f/2.8 zoom, it is:
  • lighter at 524g instead of 654g
  • a touch longer at 106mm vs 94mm
  • much more affordable at $A1499 compared to $A2659
  • far more versatile as it can zoom to 28mm in full frame terms
  • much sharper wide open edge-to-edge (see charts below)
  • much less CA
  • much less distortion 1.7% compared to 3.7% barrel distortion
  • much less vignetting wide open 1.5EV vs 2.65EV
  • has much nicer star shapes for astrophotographic landscapes of the Milky Way as it has less coma aberration
  • has image stabiliser of 5 stops allowing hand held shots at 1-2 seconds courtesy of the Olympus cameras (the Canon has no IS)
  • has eye detection autofocus for portraits
  • has fast, silent AF for movies
• why would anyone buy the Canon 14mm lens then?
  • if you already have a Canon full frame dSLR with 50mp and you shoot landscapes on a tripod at f/8 then it may have a use (although for static scenes, the new Olympus cameras can shoot 40mp HiRes shots with less moire on a tripod)
  • one could argue you can get 2 stops better ISO on full frame, but with this lens you need to stop it down 2 stops to get close the the sharpness of the Olympus lens, so that argument generally won't hold much
  • otherwise see your mental health therapist

From ePhotozine.com's reviews (not totally comparable given different sensor sizes):

	Olympus mZD 7-14mm at 7mm	Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II
sharpness
chromatic aberration
coma and star shapes (courtesy of Lenstip.com)	N/A as yet

• Photozone.de
• ePhotozine
  • sharpest in centre at f/4 but edges are soft wide open and are sharpest at f/5.6 - f/8
  • CA ~0.8px wide open at the edges
  • vignetting 2.65EV
  • 3.7% barrel distortion
  • good flare control
• LensTip
  • weak image quality on the edge of full frame
  • pronounced astigmatism and visible coma in the corners - thus not a great lens for astrophotographic landscapes of the Milky Way - the Samyang is much better for this and far cheaper
• http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/lenses/14mm-ii.htm
  • far less distortion than Canon EF 16-35mmL II, Nikon's 14mm f/2.8 or 14-28mm f/2.8 lens