The Holding Tank
Photography
RSS 2.0 Feed
| Photos
& Themes
RSS | Hardware | Technical |
Links | Books and Magazines
| Downloads |
Hardware
| Lens Data and Reviews | Lens Selection | Long Lens Selection | Wide Range Zooms | Consumer Zooms |
| Macro Equipment | Tilt and Shift Lenses | My Bags | My Old Hardware |
| My New Hardware | Lens MTF Comparison | Lens Tests | Weather Protection | Canon AF System | Camera Tests |
Wide
Range Zoom Options
In this section I want to look at the
performance tradeoffs for wide range zoom lenses. The general approach will be
to compare the interpolated performance at various focal lengths with an
equivalent prime and zooms from the main lens study. Here the plots used will be
the average of the saggital and meridional MTFs to provide a less stringent
estimate of the lens relative performance. The idea is to find a zoom lens that,
although not providing the best performance, is not too band and has a
sufficiently wide zoom range to be useful.
The below two part table provides an overview
of the lenses in this section.
Points to note are that the cheaper lenses
often have rotating and extending front elements and no focus distance
indication.
Make |
Model |
Min
f |
Max
f |
|
Dia
mm |
Length
mm |
Volume
mm^3 |
Mass
g |
Filter
Size |
FE
Rotation |
CANON |
EF
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
100 |
400 |
4.0 |
92.0 |
189.0 |
1256398 |
1380 |
77mm
|
|
CANON |
EF
100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM |
100 |
300 |
3.0 |
73.0 |
121.5 |
508524 |
540 |
58mm
|
|
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 III |
75 |
300 |
4.0 |
71.0 |
122.0 |
483021 |
480 |
58mm
|
Y |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM |
75 |
300 |
4.0 |
71.0 |
122.0 |
483021 |
480 |
58mm
|
Y |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM |
75 |
300 |
4.0 |
78.5 |
137.2 |
664023 |
650 |
58mm
|
Y |
CANON |
EF
80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II |
80 |
200 |
2.5 |
69.0 |
78.5 |
293534 |
250 |
52mm |
Y |
CANON |
EF
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM |
70 |
300 |
4.3 |
82.5 |
99.9 |
534027 |
720 |
58mm
|
N
|
CANON |
EF
55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM |
55 |
200 |
3.6 |
70.4 |
97.3 |
378746 |
310 |
52mm |
Y |
CANON |
EF
28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM |
28 |
200 |
7.1 |
78.4 |
86.6 |
418061 |
500 |
72mm |
|
CANON |
EF
28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM |
28 |
300 |
10.7 |
92.0 |
184.0 |
1223160 |
1670 |
77mm
|
|
CANON |
EF
90-300mm f4.5-5.6 USM |
90 |
300 |
3.3 |
71.0 |
114.7 |
454119 |
420 |
58mm
|
|
CANON |
EF
90-300mm f4.5-5.6 |
90 |
300 |
3.3 |
71.0 |
114.7 |
454119 |
420 |
58mm
|
|
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/2.8 L USM |
70 |
200 |
2.9 |
84.6 |
193.6 |
1342324 |
1310 |
77mm
|
|
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/2.8 L USM IMAGE STABILISER |
70 |
200 |
2.9 |
86.2 |
197.0 |
1149663 |
1470 |
77mm
|
|
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/4 L USM |
70 |
200 |
2.9 |
76.0 |
172.0 |
780271 |
705 |
67mm
|
N
|
CANON
|
EF
24 70 mm f/2.8 L USM |
24 |
70 |
2.9 |
83.2 |
123.5 |
671434 |
950 |
77mm
|
|
CANON
|
EF-S
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 |
18 |
55 |
3.1 |
69.0 |
66.2 |
247540 |
190 |
58mm
|
|
CANON
|
EF
17-40mm f/4L USM |
17 |
40 |
2.4 |
83.5 |
96.8 |
530076 |
500 |
77mm
|
N
|
CANON
|
EF
16 35 mm f/2.8 L USM |
16 |
35 |
2.2 |
83.5 |
103.0 |
564027 |
600 |
77mm
|
|
CANON
|
EF-S
10 22 mm f/3.5-4.5 USM |
10 |
22 |
2.2 |
83.5 |
89.8 |
491744 |
385 |
77mm
|
|
CANON
|
EF-S
17-85mm f4-5.6 IS |
17 |
85 |
5.0 |
78.5 |
92.0 |
445263 |
475 |
67mm
|
N
|
Make |
Model |
Focusing
|
AF
Actuator |
FTMF
|
Distance
Scale |
DOF
Scale |
Zoom
Control |
Max
Mag |
Closest
Focus M |
Price |
CANON |
EF
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
LE |
USM
|
Y |
Y |
N |
PP |
0.2 |
1.8 |
£1,149 |
CANON |
EF
100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM |
RFS |
USM
|
Y |
Y |
N |
FR
|
0;2 |
1.5 |
£239 |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 III |
FGRE |
MM |
N
|
N
|
N |
RR
|
0.25 |
1.5 |
£128 |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM |
FGRE |
Micro
USM |
N
|
N
|
N |
RR
|
0.25 |
1.5 |
£169 |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM |
FGRE |
Micro
USM |
N
|
N
|
N |
RR
|
0.26 |
1.5 |
£360 |
CANON |
EF
80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II |
FGRE |
MM |
N
|
N
|
N |
R |
0.16 |
1.5 |
£129 |
CANON |
EF
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM |
RFS |
USM
|
Y |
Y |
N |
RR
|
0.19 |
1.4 |
£849 |
CANON |
EF
55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM |
FGRE |
Micro
USM |
N
|
N
|
N |
R |
0.21 |
1.2 |
£189 |
CANON |
EF
28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM |
IFS
|
Micro
USM |
N
|
N
|
N |
R |
0.28 |
0.45 |
£339 |
CANON |
EF
28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM |
IFS
|
USM
|
Y |
Y |
N |
PP |
0.3 |
0.7 |
£1,649 |
CANON |
EF
90-300mm f4.5-5.6 USM |
|
Micro
USM |
Y |
Y |
N |
RR
|
0.25 |
1.5 |
£149 |
CANON |
EF
90-300mm f4.5-5.6 |
|
MM |
Y |
Y |
N |
RR
|
0.25 |
1.5 |
£119 |
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/2.8 L USM |
IFS
|
USM
|
Y
|
Y
|
N
|
RR
|
0.16 |
1.5 |
£899 |
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/2.8 L USM IMAGE STABILISER |
IFS
|
USM
|
N
|
Y
|
N
|
RR
|
0.17 |
1.4 |
£1,370 |
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/4 L USM |
IFS
|
USM
|
Y
|
Y
|
N
|
RR
|
0.21 |
1.2 |
£599 |
CANON
|
EF
24 70 mm f/2.8 L USM |
FFM
|
USM
|
Y
|
Y
|
Y
|
RR
|
0.29 |
0.38 |
£930 |
CANON
|
EF-S
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 |
OLE
|
MM
|
N
|
N
|
N
|
REFE
|
0.28 |
0.28 |
#N/A
|
CANON
|
EF
17-40mm f/4L USM |
|
USM
|
Y
|
Y
|
N
|
RR
|
0.24 |
0.28 |
£529 |
CANON
|
EF
16 35 mm f/2.8 L USM |
IFS
|
USM
|
Y?
|
Y
|
N
|
RR
|
0.22 |
0.28 |
£999 |
CANON
|
EF-S
10 22 mm f/3.5-4.5 USM |
IFS
|
USM
|
Y
|
Y
|
N
|
FR
|
0.17 |
0.24 |
£555 |
CANON
|
EF-S
17-85mm f4-5.6 IS |
IFS
|
USM
|
Y |
Y |
N |
FR
|
0.20 |
0.35 |
£499 |
In this section plots are presented for the
lenses and reference lenses in several focal length groups for maximum aperture
and f8,10 and 30 lp/mm.
The Canon MTF plots are computer models and do not include production tolerances. In comparing zooms and primes it should be remembered that zooms, and in particular wide range zooms will have more degrees of freedom and thus suffer from production tolerance issues more resulting in a reduced MTF performance compared to the prime. The same can probably be said comparing L zooms to non-L zooms.
Make |
Model |
28mm |
55mm |
85mm/90mm |
100mm |
200mm |
300mm |
400mm |
CANON |
EF
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Good |
Avg |
Good |
Avg |
CANON |
EF
100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Avg |
Avg |
Poor |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 III |
N/A |
N/A |
Good |
Good |
Avg |
Poor |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM |
N/A |
N/A |
Good |
Good |
Avg |
Poor |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM |
N/A |
N/A |
Good |
Good |
Avg |
Poor |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
80-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II |
N/A |
N/A |
Good |
Avg |
Avg |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM |
N/A |
N/A |
Poor |
Poor |
Avg |
Good |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM |
N/A |
Good |
Poor |
Poor |
Avg |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM |
Avg |
Avg |
Poor |
Poor |
Avg |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM |
Good |
Avg |
Poor |
Poor |
Good |
Avg |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
90-300mm f4.5-5.6 USM |
N/A |
N/A |
Avg |
Avg |
Avg |
Poor |
N/A |
CANON |
EF
90-300mm f4.5-5.6 |
N/A |
N/A |
Avg |
Avg |
Avg |
Poor |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/2.8 L USM |
N/A |
N/A |
V
Good |
V
Good |
V
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/2.8 L USM IMAGE STABILISER |
N/A |
N/A |
V
Good |
V
Good |
V
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF
70 200 mm f/4 L USM |
N/A |
N/A |
V
Good |
V
Good |
V
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF
24 70 mm f/2.8 L USM |
V
Good |
V
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF-S
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 |
Good |
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF
17-40mm f/4L USM |
V
Good |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF
16 35 mm f/2.8 L USM |
Avg |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF-S
10 22 mm f/3.5-4.5 USM |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
CANON
|
EF-S
17-85mm f4-5.6 IS |
Good |
Good |
Avg |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
The above table gives an indication of the
relative MTF performance of the various lenses. It seem fairly clear there are
no obvious across the board winners.
This limited zoom range L series lenses
clearly are good but do have a
limited zoom range as well as being heavy.
The EF-S 17-85mm performed quite well and has
a good zoom range or the shorter end of the focal length range.
Most of the wide range zooms performed good
to average at the wide end degrading to poor at the long end. An exception to
this rule was the 70-300mm which was good at the long end but poor at the wide
end.
The 100-400mm scored average to good at all
focal lengths.
However, it needs to be noted that the EF
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM and EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM are push-pull zoom
actions with problems of this construction.
Despite the variable performance the EF
28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM provides a 7X zoom in only 500g package at a modest price
and might fit the bill for a compromise lens for occasional use where a wide
zoom range is needed. The lens is light enough to be packed as an “in case”
option.
The EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM provides a
10.7X zoom but is heavy and expensive (1.6Kg £1600) with fair to middling
performance. This might be a good choice for an essential situation where a
really wide range zoom is needed.
Last Updated 05/06/2008
All Content © 2005-16 Lester Wareham All Rights
Reserved
All material is supplied as is and without warranty,
use at your own risk.
All opinions stated are the authors own.
All quoted information remains the copyright of the
respective authors.
Contact:
Note this email gets spammed a lot so if you want to get your message through please prefix "Holding Tank" in the title
holdingtank@ware.myzen.co.uk