Nature photographer David Kingham felt the pulse of Canon’s [shoplink 246]EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM[/shoplink] lens (not the new 16-35mm f/4L IS) to see how well the lens suits for night photography and general landscape shooting. The focus is on night photography, David Kingham says:

[…] this lens performs very well at f/4 and okay at f/2.8, as I said earlier, not the best for night, but it is very good. With the Canon 6D I can easily take shots at ISO 12,800 to compensate for this loss of light at f/4.

The lens was tested on a [shoplink 7139]Canon EOS 6D[/shoplink]. The review comes with a huge set of sample pictures shot at night, and discusses coma and other artefacts that are typical for night photography. In the conclusion he writes:

 I have to say that I absolutely love this lens, it will never leave my bag. For landscape photography it’s stunning and a joy to use. For night photography it’s okay. […] When I’m backpacking or hiking though, this is the perfect lens that I can use during the day and night when weight is a major consideration. If you hate the idea of carrying around 3 lens for night photography this is the lens for you. […]  There’s always trade-offs when looking for an all-around lens, in this case I think the trade-offs are quite reasonable, I highly recommend this lens.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM price check: [shopcountry 246] [via David Kingham]

ephotozine reviewed Canon’s new ultra-wide [shoplink 21480]EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM[/shoplink] zoom lens. The outstanding sharpness, excellent build quality and super-fast auto-focus are among the highlights of the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS. In the conclusion ephotozine writes:

There can be no doubt that from an optical standpoint, this is one of the finest wide angle lenses Canon has produced to date. Images are razor-sharp across the frame from maximum aperture and CA levels are kept well under control.

The slightly wavy distortion pattern, and vignetting that never seem to go away may put some people off this lens, but at least these issues can be corrected by software afterwards. The price will be the bitterest pill to swallow, especially as the f/2.8 lens from Canon is actually less expensive at the moment. The price will probably settle at a more reasonable level as time passes though.

Even with the odd niggle, they probably won’t be enough of an issue to put most prospective buyers off what is currently Canon’s sharpest wide angle lens to date.

Yep, this is a great lens. See also what Lensrental’s R. Cicala, who disassembled the lens, has to say about the EF 16-35mm f/4L IS:

Now that I’ve seen the insides I’m very optimistic that this lens will be less likely to deteriorate optically over time, and will be more easily corrected when it does.

The EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM does not come at a bargain price, it’s $1,199 in the US.
Canon EF 16-35 f/4 IS price check: [shopcountry 21480]

Photozone.de reviewed the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM, a budget-friendly tele lens. I like the first sentence in the review:

If you are looking for the best tele lenses around, you don’t really need to look further than Canon

Build quality is “fine for a lens in this class thanks to decent quality plastics“. In the conclusion they write:

The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM gives you lots of bangs for your bucks. The biggest strength remains to surprisingly high level of resolution across the range. The low level of chromatic aberrations (CAs) are also contributing to the subjective quality perception. Image distortions remain moderate at all settings whereas vignetting is a bit on the high side at max. aperture. A more significant weakness is the rather mediocre bokeh (quality of the out-of-focus blur).

I also like the last sentence of the review:

Well done Canon … again!

The Canon [shoplink 18138] EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM sells for $349[/shoplink], an excellent choice for the budget-oriented photographer.

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM price check: [shopcountry 18138]

Specs (taken from B&H’s product page):

Long-reaching zoom lens provides a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 88-400mm, covering portrait-length to telephoto perspectives.

Optical image stabilization helps to minimize the appearance of camera shake by up to 3.5 shutter speed steps to benefit shooting handheld in dim lighting and with greater zoom magnifications.

The STM stepping focus motor produces near-silent, smooth, and quick autofocus performance that is well-suited to video applications.

One ultra-low dispersion element helps to reduce chromatic aberrations and distortion while also contributing to greater image sharpness, contrast, and clarity.

Enhanced lens coatings minimize flare and ghosting in order to produce true colors with maintained contrast.

A minimum focusing distance of 2.8′ throughout the zoom range and a maximum magnification of 0.29x at the telephoto end enables working with close-up subject matter.

A seven blade circular aperture helps to produce an aesthetic out-of-focus quality to benefit selective focus and shallow depth of field imagery.