The Canon 20-35mm f3.5-4.5 has been around for a while, so is essentially a film camera lens. How does it perform with digital? Results with my Canon EOS 20D have been excellent in general use, although as you’ll see from the test results, it’s not perfect.

As you would expect, results are best well stopped down, but even at full aperture, results are perfectly useable. Vignetting and distortion levels are low for this sort of lens although there is some color fringing in the corners even at f5.6. In the hand it feels very well made with a silky smooth zooming action - no stiff uneven movement here. That coupled with the silent and instantaneous USM focusing make the lens a pleasure to use. Quality control also seems good - This is the second one I’ve used and both have been excellent.

Results with the Canon EOS 5D are a different story though. Although results are OK they don’t seem nearly as good as with the Canon 20D or with film.    Canon EOS 5D Test