Why So Cheap 17-35 f2.8 L????

[desperatedan1992]

Hello All

Looking at upgrading my lens soon and having looked around for a wide angle lens i notice that canon made a 17-35f2.8 L series lens, I have the old 17-40 f4 and love what its able to do but im just wondering if its worth going for the 2.8 17-35 instead.

Now your proberly wondering why i said so cheap, i just checked ebay and someone is selling one in perfect condition for £370 Buy It Now..........HELLO!!!!!! its a L series 2.8 lens....Why so cheap? have i missed something or is the lens really bad?

I heard about the 16-35 hence the hefty £1000 + price tag.

Can anyone help me out here?

 

[andyred]

I think the 17-35 was replaced by the 16-35 (I think it was in the 90's) - not sure what improvements were made with the 16-35 lens, but as you say, it commands a price

Does the listing give a date code ?

 

[tdodd]

I remember reading within the last week or so that the 17-35 was a bit iffy - http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/16-35.shtml. Look at the comparison at f/2.8. The 17-35 is all but unusable wide open.

Consider that it has been superceded by the 16-35 MK1 and that by the 16-35 MK II, and each has been an improvement on its predecessor. I've got the MK II

On a 30D I guess the crop form factor will eliminate dodgy corner sharpness as an issue, and the low pixel density might not put too much strain on the centre either, but I'm not sure it will turn out to be the bargain it appears. Were you to get a 7D or similar, even a 50D, somewhere down the line I imagine you'd be regretting this purchase, or looking to dump it in double quick time. On a crop body I'd be going for the 17-55/2.8 IS. I have that too

 

[desperatedan1992]

Thanks for the advice guys, i had a funny feeling it was too good to be true and more than likely had issues with it, im more than happy with the 17 - 40 but the future might tempt me to upgrade to a 16 - 35 also im hoping of going FF soon something like the original 5d im not sure i can go 5dmark2

Thanks for the heads up....saved me filing for bankruptcy