Canon has had a good variety of wide angle lenses for a while, but as a HUGE fan of super wide angle zoom lenses, I’ve had an itch that was almost scratched but not quite. Now with the 11-24mm f/4, that itch has been scratched very well.
As a concert photographer who is usually limited to the photo pit without a lot of room to move back and forth, zoom lenses are a life saver. That’s why I was thrilled when Canon announced this new ultra wide angle lens, and even more thrilled to try it out during a couple of recent shoots.
Is there distortion on the edges? Well, sure, a little, but it’s incredibly minimal! Check out the completely un-cropped images above, with no lens corrections, shot at 12mm. The guys on the edges would normally be stretched quite a bit more, especially in the first one, but this rectilinear lens handles them really well.
I also love just how close this lens allows me to get to performers who come out to the edge of the stage or come out for some crowd interaction. The musician above looks like he’s still a decent distance from where I’m shooting from, right? Here’s an iPhone shot from the crowd where you can see me in the lower right hand corner…
I’m probably a bit closer than you were expecting, right? My only complaint about the ultra-wideness of this lens is that it makes it difficult to keep the other photographers out of my shots!
This thing is a bit of a beast though, coming in at 2.6 pounds (for comparison, another one of Canon’s wide-angle zoom lenses is 1.35 pounds), so it can add a little weight to your pack and shoulders. But for the results, it’s totally worth it to me.
I didn’t see any noticeable chromatic aberration in the images, and I have no complaints on edge to edge sharpness even its widest points.
This thing handles lens flare like a champ. Normally in a shot like the one above, with the sun beaming directly into the lens, you’d be lucky to see much of anything. But here you just get a little bit of flare near the headstock of the guitar.
As with any lens with a rounded front element, you’ll want to make sure you keep a lens cloth handy for the occasional accidental finger smudge. The built-in lens hood does help prevent that, plus it’s never going to fall off and get lost during a shoot.
So, is this lens worth it for music photographers? If you’re a fan of the ultra-wide look, then absolutely!