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Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 I vs II vs III buying advice


Jaime Valles
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Hello, all. I need to get myself a wide angle zoom lens for my Canon 1DX II, and have been looking at the 16-25mm f/2.8 lenses. They just announced version III of the lens, but it's expensive at $2199:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1274708-REG/canon_ef_16_35mm_f_2_8l_iii.html

 

There's also version II, which is significantly cheaper at $1449:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/486708-USA/Canon_1910B002AA_EF_16_35mm_f_2_8L_II.html

 

And finally there's the original version I which goes on Ebay for around $850:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162200877114?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

I'm sure the quality of version III is best, but how bad is version I compared to version II? And would version I work with the Dual-Pixel Auto Focus of the 1DX II? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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7 minutes ago, Luke Mason said:

Only version II and III support DPAF.

Version III has significantly better optical quality than version II.

Buy what you can afford.

This is really good to know. I think version III is a bit too expensive for me right now, so I'll go with II instead and forget about version I. Thanks so much!

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The 16-35/4 is sharper than the previous 2.8's, IIRC its much better on the long end. And its stabilized. If you can live without the extra stop they can be found for less than $800 if you're patient. I would buy one over the new 16-35 since its also a bit lighter and the stabilization is handy when shooting video.

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7 hours ago, Luke Mason said:

Only version II and III support DPAF.

Version III has significantly better optical quality than version II.

Buy what you can afford.

Why should v1 not be supported by DPAF? Can you point out where did you read it.
I have lens much older than the v1 (introduced December 2000) that works perfectly fine like the 85 1.8 (July 1991) with DPAF.

I have and use regularly the 16-35 II for 4k video (1.3crop) and is quite good, for photos or 1080p the corners are ok but not great, the new one seems better.
It is a good point to consider also the 16-35 F4 IS, personally I would prefer to have the 24 1.4 II + 16-35 F4 than only the new 16-35 III (about the same cost). I have the 16-35 II and the 24 1.4.

In Switzarland you can find many on the local ebay at around 800-900 usd, I would never pay 850 for the I version. As soon as there are III on the market the II will drop even further in price.

 

 

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7 hours ago, gt3rs said:

Why should v1 not be supported by DPAF? Can you point out where did you read it.
I have lens much older than the v1 (introduced December 2000) that works perfectly fine like the 85 1.8 (July 1991) with DPAF.

I have and use regularly the 16-35 II for 4k video (1.3crop) and is quite good, for photos or 1080p the corners are ok but not great, the new one seems better.
It is a good point to consider also the 16-35 F4 IS, personally I would prefer to have the 24 1.4 II + 16-35 F4 than only the new 16-35 III (about the same cost). I have the 16-35 II and the 24 1.4.

In Switzarland you can find many on the local ebay at around 800-900 usd, I would never pay 850 for the I version. As soon as there are III on the market the II will drop even further in price.

 

 

Canon has a list of DPAF compatible lenses.

Your 85 1.8 is supported.

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2 hours ago, Luke Mason said:

Canon has a list of DPAF compatible lenses.

Your 85 1.8 is supported.

From owner and operator of the Canon 16-35 f/2.8 (version 1), I can attest that it works on the 70D and the 7D mark 2.

A bit noisy, but it works... its no STM or nano USM...

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1 hour ago, Luke Mason said:

I dont' know what to say to that...

What exactly is the DPAF supposed to do? (Rhetorical Question)

And, my version 1 lens works with it to do exactly that. In fact, I think it works better than the 50mm f/1.8 II (which is shown as being supported).

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