Anyone use the canon 17mm ts-e yet?

I have searched and found little in the way of hands-on info regarding this lens... Most places have it on backorder and the few who do have it are charging a serious premium over msrp...

Anyway, I have a chance to buy one used in excellent condition for a decent price...
Just wondering if anyone has used this yet... I have heard it's supposed to be optically on par with the Nikon 14-24 @ 17mm, as well as the Zeiss 18mm... This is of great interest to me since, as many of you already know, Canon has very little in the way of ultra wide glass to rival the 14-24 or 18mm zeiss in that range...

Truthfully, I'm not terribly interested in the tilt/shift although I'm sure I'd play with it if I had the lens.. I am simply interested in an ultra wide from canon without soft corners and optical flaws like the 17-40 I use... I've been waiting for canon to make a lens like this for a long time and wonder if it's worth the hefty price tag...

thanks in advance

Whether its worth the price tag will depend heavily on the individual. For me this is the lens that motivated me to sell the Nikon 14-24 (I shot 99% at 14mm anyway and in most of those cases I shot that wide so that I could crop rather than tilting the lens up and getting perspective distortion). 17mm is wide enough for me when you have shift, I rarely use the tilt though.

Hey Mac,

Darwin Wigget posted a piece about this lens on his blog recently. It's not super in depth, more of an initial look, but he says more to come later.

Cheers

Carl

Played with one at PMA - a truly awesome lens but no shooting experience with it.

Here is a review:
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Revi ... eview.aspx
I specially enjoy the animated examples.

A close friend of mine has a 17mm TS-E and likes it, and I know Darwin Wiggett is pleased with his copy so far as well despite the lack of filter capability. As Carl noted above, we should see more from Darwin... I expect he will really put the lens through its paces in terms of real, hands-on shooting experience.

I have one on order. 17mm is a good focal length for me, and combined with shift (which I use a lot with perspective control lenses & adapters) and tilt (which I have historically not used) I expect this lens to become a real work horse. No direct shooting experience yet, I have only messed around with my friend's copy. But from what I have seen so far I expect it will be more than good enough to retire my faithful Sigma 12-24mm and may be good enough to forestall me ordering the Nikon 14-24mm.

Mac, your style is your style, but you may find the tilt and shift become useful. Shift is nearly essential for me, while tilt is something that I've been coming to feel the lack of in some of my landscape work...

Was just over at Darwin's place this past weekend and he's sold on it, even, as Royce says, with the lack of filter capability. Saw some samples on his computer and was blown away enough to know that I need to own one, so next on my list is a 17 mm TS-E! To me, the best part of it was the ability to stitch images together without having to do 50 years worth of work in PS or other programs due to the lack of perspective distortion.

thanks for all the info, everyone!

My shooting style definitely could benefit from this lens and the focal length is perfect for me... and the corners look nice and sharp in some of those comparisons...

I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on it.. I will definitely post my results and thoughts...

Hi Mac,
I am totally new to tse but I own both the 17tse and the 24tsemkII. However I am having a great time with the 17tse as it is perfect lens for indoors and landscapes. I don't seem to have the need to use the 24mm tse yet. I too have not played much with the tilt feature but the shift feature is just fabulous. For panoramic shots all I have to do is take one shot in the centre, one shifted left and the third shifted right. Then all I need is to use photomerge the shots in Photoshop and the stitching literally takes seconds and you get a perfect pano with very little cropping require at all. I am having great fun with this lens. I don't have the experience to tell you how good the sharpness on the edges are, they look good to me. I just shoot and enjoy the great tse feature. I will let more experienced photographers provide you with those experienced.

Cheers

Perry

This is such a compelling lens to me - I shoot my 17-40 mostly on the 17 end - and with the ability to use the 1.4x TC, it might even make a good 24mm. Two lenses in one, not bad in my book.

Plus, I know I can somehow work it into my weddings!

I've got the Nikon 14-24mm on my 1DIII, but I'd love to know more about T/S advantages. Generally, the issue is not sharpness because I can usually shoot at a small enough aperture to get everything in focus even without a tilt or shift, but I do find myself frequently playing with perspective control in Photoshop and I assume it is easier to make those corrections with the T/S lens rather than with the software. Is that right?

Thanks,

--Gib

Gib Robinson wrote:I've got the Nikon 14-24mm on my 1DIII, but I'd love to know more about T/S advantages. Generally, the issue is not sharpness because I can usually shoot at a small enough aperture to get everything in focus even without a tilt or shift, but I do find myself frequently playing with perspective control in Photoshop and I assume it is easier to make those corrections with the T/S lens rather than with the software. Is that right?

Thanks,

--Gib

Hi Gib,

Tse was new to me too, I have always wonder why most people who own tse lenses tends to own the entire range and I know why now. It is a fantastic lens. One of the main features for architectural photography. Tall buildings now dont look like they are leaning backwards now with pictures taken with tse lens. Panorama shots is now a breeze to take. Just take 3 shots and you get almost a perfect stitch and the pano shots look straight and does not have a fish eye look. Rent one and try it and you will soon learn what I mean

Cheers

perry

I have just got the new 24mm TS-E mk2 and its a marked improvement, a second hand mk1 was my most used lens of last year by far so it was easy to justify getting the new one which I imported from NZ (worked out as £1500 instead of £1900 and that was with VAT). I use it for architecture, landscapes, making panoramas, as a straight 24mm wide angle,

I really conquered the tilt last year and I can now get insane DOF in the landscape thanks to Live View. The new lens is a definate increase in sharpness, but I have to say I must have a very good copy of the mk1 as its not a huge step up. WHat is a massive improvement is the literally non existent distortion. When pushing the shift to 12mm, the sharpness is very impressive. The vignetting is literally all but gone unlike the old version which suffered considerably when shifted (just like CA). The images look exceptionally good right across image circle with only a drop in resolution at the very edges. Another thing to mention is that Canon have also redesigned the filter screw thread. Its the easiest of any Canon lens.

Is it as sharp as the 24mm on the 14-24? I havent tested it yet but I am going to do and extensive comparison of the two and a whole load of other 24mm focal lengths when I get home.

Thanks for the help again with this decision, everyone...

I made a little write-up on my new photo blog about the lens and included some tests if anyone is interested.

http://macdanzigphotography.wordpress.c ... e-17-40-l/