Should I upgrade from a EFS 18-55mm to a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM for landscapes? Using a Rebel T3i

[Antonrides]

Only been doing Photography for about a year. Wife bought me a Rebel T3i Kit with two lenes. I'm really into outdoor Photography. I just upgraded myEFS 55-250 to a 100-400mm L series. I was going to buy a better lens for landscape and try to keep under a $1000. I'm thinking EF 17-40mm f/4L USM. Would it take better landscapes and/or is there a better choce in that price range Thanks

[MikeSowsun · Accepted solution]

I would not recommend the EF 17-40mm for your T3i. The EF 17-40mm is really designed to be used as an Ultra-Wide lens on Full Frame cameras. One of it's major drawbacks is the lack of IS. (Image Stabilization) 

For a crop camera like the T3i I would recommend:

EF-S 18-55mm IS STM (very good upgrade to the 18-55 kit lens)

EF-S 18-135mm IS STM  

EF-S 15-85mm IS

EF-S 17-55mm 2.8 IS

EF-S 10-22mm (no IS, but Ultra-Wide)

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

I am going to totally disagree with Mike's post above. I strongly recommend you keep your outfit essentially equal in quality.

Although you have a T3i the 17-40mm f4 will not only work, it will perform outstandingly. And it is an "L" lens to match the level of performance of your EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L.

There are no "L" lenses made for EF-S (Rebel mount) but the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens gets my full recommendation. Another great lens.

The EF 17-40mm f4 L has two great features as it is a constant f4 and it does not change it's shape while zooming. On a Rebel it acts like a 28-65mm f4 so it is not going to be as wide as the 10-22mm (16-35mm).

[ScottyP · Accepted solution]

You would not gain any width by getting the 17-40 lens. As Mike stated, the 17-40 is intended to be a wide angle lens for a Full Frame camera. On a T3i, it gives little. It has a sturdier build and (i think) has a little weather sealing, BUT since your camera is not weather sealed nor is it made of metal like a 5d3, that extra build quality is kind of wasted. Assuming it was width you are after, this would not be helpful.

I would suggest:
EF -s 10-22 if you want a wide angle lens for landscape
EF-s 17-55 f/2.8 if you want to get a much better walk around, general purpose lens to replace the 18-55.

The 17-55 Won't give you any significant increase in width, But it will give you a great improvement in image sharpness, and it gives you a constant wide f//2.8 aperture across the entire focal range. It lets 4x more light into the camera than your 18-55 can.

You gave no indication you want to get away from crop sensors and spend up to go full frame. And that is perfectly ok. Most people do not go full frame, and they still get excellent pictures. If you DID plan to replace all you EF-S crop lenses and change to a full frame camera, then I might say you would want the EF 17-40., because you could still use it on full frame.

I would invest in a good (not cheap) tripod for your landscapes/cityscapes. Since you are not shooting moving things, you can use long exposures to let all the light you need get into the camera. Use a 1 second, or a 30 second or longer slow shutter, and the camera can take pictures of things so dark you couldn't even see them with your eyes. A tripod lets you do it.

Good luck!

[ebiggs1]

Manfrotto 190 Series.

[NX]

Take into consideration if you dont know this by now.  Rebel T3i  has "cropped " sensor (APS-C Sensor). Meaning you have 1.6x "focal length crop"  adds 1.6x magnification to your lens. So your 17-40mm ends up being  27.2mm at the low end and 64mm high end. Everything will be just a wee closer than a full frame 35 mm.