The Canon EF-S 10-22mm 3.5-4.5 USM lens is a wide to ultra-wide angle zoom lens for Canon

Canon Inc.

is a Japanese multinational corporation that specialises in the manufacture of imaging and optical products, including cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers and computer printers. Its headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.-Origins:...

 digital single-lens reflex camera

Digital single-lens reflex camera

Most digital single-lens reflex cameras are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera....

s with a Canon EF-S lens mount

Canon EF-S lens mount

The EF-S lens mount is a derivative of the EF lens mount created for a subset of Canon digital single-lens reflex cameras with APS-C sized image sensors. It was released in 2003. Cameras supporting the EF-S mount are backward-compatible with the EF lens mount and, as such, have a flange focal...

.
The field of view has a 35 mm equivalent focal length

35 mm equivalent focal length

In photography, the 35 mm equivalent focal length is a measure that indicates the angle of view of a particular combination of a camera lens and film or sensor size...

 of 16-35mm, which is analogous to the EF 16-35mm 2.8L

Canon EF 16-35mm lens

The EF 16-35mm 2.8L USM lens is a professional wide-angle lens made by Canon Inc. It replaced the EF 17-35mm 2.8L USM lens, which had itself replaced the EF 20-35 2.8L lens.The lens has an EF mount to work with the EOS line of cameras...

 on a
full-frame camera. The 10-22mm is an internal focusing lens. Of the 13 elements, one is of Canon's Super Ultra-Low Dispersion

Dispersion (optics)

In optics, dispersion is the phenomenon in which the phase velocity of a wave depends on its frequency, or alternatively when the group velocity depends on the frequency.Media having such a property are termed dispersive media...

 glass and three are aspherical

Aspheric lens

An aspheric lens or asphere is a lens whose surface profiles are not portions of a sphere or cylinder. In photography, a lens assembly that includes an aspheric element is often called an aspherical lens....

 elements.

Praise

The 10-22 is considered to have good image quality (sharp and low distortion) and build. The optical construction is similar to L-series

Canon l lens

An L lens is a line of SLR photography lenses made by Canon.L lenses are Canon's top-of-the-line lenses. The "L" officially stands for "Luxury", a reference to the lenses' high price and proclaimed build quality. The use of "ASPH" was common to notate aspherical elements throughout Canon's and...

 lenses, but it is not designated as L-series (as reflected in the build quality), which some have argued is for marketing reasons, as with the 17-55

Canon EF-S 17-55mm lens

The Canon EF-S 17–55mm 2.8 IS USM is a standard zoom lens for Canon digital single-lens reflex cameras with an EF-S lens mount. The field of view has a 35 mm equivalent focal length of 27–88mm.-Praise:...

.

• "This is an extremely sharp lens, at all three tested focal lengths."
• "The Canon 10-22mm has much less distortion than any wide zoom I've tested"
• "There is moderate barrel distortion at 10mm, a negligible amount at 15mm, and only a tiny amount of pincushion distortion at 22mm. Overall, exemplary performance in this measure."
• "This lens is small, light and solidly built. Sometimes Canon's non-L series lenses can feel a bit cheap, but not this one. … there is little to fault about it with regard to either fit or finish."

Criticism

Cost is the biggest criticism; the 10-22 costs as much as many L-series lenses, but is only usable on EF-S cameras, and thus is questionable as a long-term investment. Others think this less of a concern.

Chromatic aberration

Chromatic aberration

In optics, chromatic aberration is a type of distortion in which there is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same convergence point. It occurs because lenses have a different refractive index for different wavelengths of light...

 is somewhat high at 10mm, and vignetting

Vignetting

In photography and optics, vignetting  is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation at the periphery compared to the image center. The word vignette, from the same root as vine, originally referred to a decorative border in a book. Later, the word came to be used for a photographic...

 is measurable at 10mm and maximum aperture (0.85 EV units), but not terribly noticeable in normal use.

Use

Optimal aperture (for sharpness and to reduce vignetting) is 5.6 to 8; 8 is particularly recommended at 22mm.

Filters exacerbate vignetting, hence thin filters are recommended at 10mm, and stacking filters is discouraged.

Modification

The lens is easily modified to allow use on 1.3x crop EF-Mount bodies such as the Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

The EOS 1D Mark III is a professional 10.1 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera camera body produced by Canon. The EOS 1D Mark III was announced on February 21, 2007 and is the successor of the Canon EOS-1D Mark II N and was first released in May 2007...

 by removing the snap-in rear plastic piece. The same modification allows the lens to mount on full-frame bodies such as the 5D, although the rear of the lens contacts the mirror at wider focal lengths.

Similar lenses

The Nikon

Nikon

, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...

 12-24 DX is Nikon's ultra-wide angle zoom, and is earlier, but is more expensive, not as wide, and has more barrel distortion.

The Sigma 10-20 DC is the Sigma

Sigma

Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and carries the 'S' sound. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 200. When used at the end of a word, and the word is not all upper case, the final form is used, e.g...

 ultra-wide angle lens for APS-C

APS-C

Advanced Photo System type-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System "classic" size negatives...

 sensors. Tamron

Tamron

is a Japanese company manufacturing photographic lenses, optical components and commercial/industrial-use optics. Tamron Headquarters is located in Saitama City in the Saitama Prefecture of Japan....

 also offers a 10-24mm ultra wide-angle zoom lens for APS-C

APS-C

Advanced Photo System type-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System "classic" size negatives...

 cameras as well as an older 11-18mm lens.

Some consider the Tokina

Tokina

is a Japanese manufacturer of photographic lenses and CCTV security equipment.-History:Tokina, become a partner of Pentax, division of Hoya Corporation and jointly developed some lenses. These will be available under the Pentax and Schneider Kreuznach D-Xenon and D-Xenogon brands in Pentax K mount...

12-24 to be comparable and cheaper, while others consider the Canon 10-22 to be significantly superior.
In May 2008, "PhotoZone" considered the Tokina 11-16mm, f/2.8, introduced in 2008, to be the best ultra-wide angle lens available for Canon APS-C Format cameras.

Specifications

• Press release on DPreview
• Canon Technical Specifications

External links