Deciding on whether to buy a product like CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens or perhaps CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens? You’re in the right place as we’ll take you through all of the specs, features and look at the quality, pricing and reviews of both to help you make the decision on which one to go for.

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CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens vs CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens

CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens specs

CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens
 CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens specs

CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens
Lens type: Prime

Lens type: Zoom

Lens category: Wide-angle

Lens category: Wide-angle

Compatibility: Canon EF mount

Compatibility: Canon EF mount

Image stabilisation: No

Image stabilisation: No

OPTICAL FEATURES

OPTICAL FEATURES

Focal length: 20 mm

Focal length: 17 – 40 mm

35 mm equivalent: 20 mm

Maximum aperture: f/4

Maximum aperture: f/2.8

Minimum aperture: f/22

Minimum aperture: f/22

Focusing: Manual & autofocus

Focusing: Manual & autofocus

Minimum focusing distance: 0.28 m

Minimum focusing distance: 14 cm

CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION

Elements and grouping: 12 elements in 9 groups

Elements and grouping: 11 elements in 9 groups

Diaphragm blades: 7

Special elements: – Aspherical elements
– Super UD (ultra-low dispersion) elements

Filter diameter: 77 mm

Diaphragm blades: 5 rounded blades

Silent focusing: Yes

Filter diameter: 72 mm

Weather sealed: Yes

Silent focusing: Yes

GENERAL
Aperture ring: Yes

Special features: – Ultrasonic focusing
– Super Spectra coating

Box contents: – Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Wide-Angle Zoom Lens
– Lens caps
– Lens hood (EW83E)
– Case (LP1319)

GENERAL

Dimensions: 83.5 x 96.8 mm (D x L)

Weight: 500 g

Box contents: – Canon EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens
– Front lens cap
– Rear lens cap

Manufacturer’s guarantee: 1 year

Dimensions: 77 x 70 mm (D x L)

Weight: 405 g

Manufacturer’s guarantee: 1 year

Price: £449

Price: £659

Number of Reviews:

Number of Reviews: 10

Review Score: 8.9 / 10

Review Score: 8.6 / 10


When deciding on whether to buy CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens or CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens, a very important consideration is the price. So we’re going to spend a bit of time looking at the price of both.

To start with, we looked at the price of the 850 products in the same category as CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens, which is the Lenses category. Of these 850 products the average price was £196.11, the most expensive was £3049 and the cheapest was just £0.05. We then looked at the price of the 850 in the same as the CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens, which of course the average was £196.11, top price was £3049 and cheapest £0.05.

We then looked specifically at the average price of products from Canon and Canon, the average was £451.25 for Canon, £451.25 for Canon. The max for each was £9999/£9999 and minimum was £3.99/£3.99

Price analysis of CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens

Price analysis of CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens

  • CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens
  • Ideal for landscape and architecture
  • Compatible with Canon EF mount
  • Aperture range: f/2.8 – f/22
  • Silent focus
  • Top features:- Great for landscape or reportage photography with a wide angle view – Fast aperture for better depth of field and low light shooting – Smooth, quiet autofocus allows discreet photography – Beautiful results from Super Spectra lens coating and special lens elements Great for landscape or reportage photographyWith its 20 mm focal length, the Canon EF f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens gives you a broad 94¬∞ field of view – very similar to how human eyes perceive space.This makes it ideal for capturing stunning landscape images or shots of events as they unfold. Correcting for distortion, the lens creates a natural-looking perspective for architectural shots and interior scenes. Capture more details in each frame and deliver photos you’ll be proud to display.Fast apertureShoot without a flash in low-light settings when it’s not possible to set up a tripod – the Canon EF USM Wide-angle Lens offers an f/2.8 maximum aperture to improve light capture and depth of field.Smooth, quiet autofocusFocus quickly and accurately with Ultrasonic focusing. This autofocus mechanism offers superior holding torque to help you hone in on your subject without overshooting. It’s quiet, so you won’t disturb your subjects in discreet situations like weddings, on safari or at a conference.Adjust focus at any point – full-time manual override means you don’t have to leave AF mode to fine-tune your composition.Beautiful resultsWith Super Spectra coating, your images will benefit from precise colour balance and excellent contrast for naturalistic results. Ghosting and flare from light reflections are offset to keep your images looking purer.Spherical and chromatic aberrations are offset by special aspherical and Super UD elements, so you don’t have to worry about distortion and negative effects on image quality frame-wide.
  • Product codes: 4960999212883
  • CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens
  • Ideal for landscape and architecture
  • Compatible with Canon EF mount
  • Aperture range: f/4.0 – f/22
  • Silent focus
  • Top features: – Versatile zoom range for photographing a range of subjects – Advanced Canon optics for brilliant results – Close focusing distance for detailed shots – Experiment with filters thanks to the non-rotating front element – Weather resistant design for use out in the fieldVersatile zoom rangeThe Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4L USM lens offers an ultra-wide angle zoom range on full-frame EOS cameras or acts as a standard zoom when mounted on DSLRs equipped with APS-C sized sensor – giving an angle of view equivalent to a 28-70mm lens.Advanced Canon opticsThe advanced Canon optics has been developed with 12 lens elements arranged in nine groups. The Super Spectra lens coating works to ensure outstanding colour balance with minimal ghosting and flare.With three aspheric elements, the Canon EF wide-angle lens provides stunning image quality over the 17-40mm zoom range, with the Super Ultra-low Dispersion glass working to prevent chromatic aberrations.Close focusing distanceA close focusing distance of just 28cm throughout the entire zoom range means you can achieve stunning close-up shots with beautiful background blur.The Canon EF 17-40mm lens has been constructed with an ultrasonic motor that drives a speedy focusing performance in near silence. The outstanding holding torque reaches the precise point of focusing, ensuring a consistently accurate performance.What’s more, there is full-time manual override ready and available, allowing you to make focus adjustments without leaving AF mode.Experiment with filtersThe front of the lens is non-rotatable, this makes it easier to use specialised filters such as polarisers and colour graduates. There is a drop-in gelatine-filter holder located at the back of the EF lens.Weather resistantThe Canon lens boasts a lead-free glass construction, making it highly resistant to dust and moisture – ideal for taking photos in rough conditions and challenging environments.
  • Product codes: 4960999189949

What’s better CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens or CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens?

There are obviously a number of differences between CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens and CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens, but there are several things that you can use when comparing the two. The first of these, which we’ve already covered, is price. Make sure you spend a bit of time deciding how much you are willing and able to spend on your product to really get a good idea if the £449 cost of CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens is closer to the expectation you had than the £659 pricep point of CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens.

Once you’ve nailed down everything there is to know on the price of both, the next step is to really study the reviews. Taking the time to read reviews of both will really help you to decide which is a better product between CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens and CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens. We looked at the reviews over at Currys PC World for both products and found that CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens scores out of 10 from reviews. Whereas CANON EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide-Angle Zoom Lens scores 9.1 out of 10 from 10 reviews.

It’s also really worthwhile spending the time to look at the key differences between the two products. For that you can use our comparison table about which looks at the main features of both products to give you a clear idea of where one product perhaps benefits over another. When comparing the two it’s a really good idea to have an idea in your mind of the key features that you need from your Lenses as this will help you to narrow down the products that do or don’t meet your criteria.



CANON EF 20 mm f/2.8 USM Wide-angle Prime Lens



Rating:
8.70 out of
10