Is the Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L II USM lens (2007 model) considerably better than the older EF 14mm f/2.8 L USM?
Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L USM:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/Canon-EF-14mm-f-2.8-L-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L II USM:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-14mm-f-2.8-L-II-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
Anyone has tested both lenses? Is the new lens better to a degree that would justify replacing the old one with the new one?
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M$3 Answers
I do have a friend with the oId version, and he's not very happy with it for what he paid. He said it's a good lens, but the vignetting on his copy is very bad, he gets a lot of CA, and the corners are quite soft. He's pretty close to replacing it with the II version, but he's a very particular person.
If you have the I, I think the big question is whether or not you are satisfied with the performance of the lens yourself. The vignetting might not be an issue if you shoot it stopped down, for instance. Your corners might be sharp enough for your liking, and you might not get as much CA as he does.
My bet is that if you're dissatisfied with the old version, the new one will probably satisfy you, but if you're happy with what you've got, why bother changing it?
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M$
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M$
mrnemo is right about the correction of chromatic aberrations in the new lens.
Typically companies, especially Canon, put a lot of money into the R&D side of lenses. Lenses come out way less often than camera bodies so one would suspect that an updated lens would be faster, quiter, sharper or any other necessary imporvements to make it better.
Just a thought...
Thank you! The main difference indeed seems to be the better correction of chromatic abberation. Having a faster AF isn't bad, either. @mrnemo and @damienfranco are right: Canon did not just change the look of the lenses. The old one has been out for 8 years at least… And a lot has changed in the mean time.
Personal Experience
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M$
Interesting. You came to the same conclusion as the author of that review:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-14mm-f-2.8-L-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
The author also chose the EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM over the EF 14mm f/2.8 L USM. I found it remarkable and shocking that a zoom lens would be sharper and better than a professional fixed focal length lens. But everyone seems to like the new version. Thank you!
@teff torbes, thanks for the links. keh.com is very helpful indeed. I'm not always looking at prices. Sometimes, I choose to pay more for 'instant gratification'. If a dealer around the corner has in stock what I'm looking for, I'll get it there instead of ordering it online. As I'm living in Switzerland, ordering from the USA is not always a good option. Often, it's not worth the wait and additional fees for shipping and customs may incur. However, with historically low USD exchange rates, cybershopping in the US is getting more interesting for us Europeans.
No problem.
If you're looking for approximate used prices, there's a great site - KEH. They're easily the best used reseller on the whole 'net, and they will give you a realistic starting point when evaluating the price of a lens. Their equipment grading is very, very conservative. Anything over "bargain" will be indistinguishable from new, and anything "bargain" will be in clearly used, but nice shape.
http://www.keh.com/OnLineStore/ProductList.aspx?Mode=searchproducts&item=0&ActivateTOC2=false&ID=&Size=&BC=CE&BCC=1&CC=6&CCC=2&BCL=&GBC=&GCC=&KW=
They want $1200-1300 or so for the I version in excellent plus condition (which is essentially as good as new).
It's also worth noting that the retail prices are *always* way over inflated. By this I mean the alleged retail price. They set them very, very high on lenses for some reason. The II version is selling for $1870 from Amazon right now, and $1970 from B&H Photo also in spite of a "$3000" price tag.
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Ultra-Wide-Angle-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000V5P94Q/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229874664&sr=8-1
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/519474-USA/Canon_2045B002_Super_Wide_Angle_EF.html
Most lenses in Canon's lineup seem to get the same treatment. The "suggested" price is set significantly higher than what anyone charges for it so you can't accurately determine whether or not you're getting a deal very easily. See the 70-300 DO IS lens, which was never one of their better valued offerings, but was certainly never $2000 street price - it started around $1300-1400 or so. If Best Buy were to carry it, they may have charged $1899 or something, but anyone like B&H will generally be way under the MRSP from the beginning.
For a more affordable example, I paid about $240 for the 55-250mm IS lens when it came out. It's running about $220 now, but the claimed "retail" price is $300.
Hopefully this helps when it comes to determining values of lenses :D
Thank you! Being a Nikon user, I'm not so familiar with Canon lenses and I have never used this lenses. I was offered the old model (new and unused) at an amazing price. I thought this lens couldn't be that bad as it was over USD $3000.- when it was new. But having the choice, I'd definitely buy the newer one.