[Zig]

All local views taken yesterday with the 16-35mm f2.8L

First, looking SW from Selsley Common, near Stroud. Still enjoying things at 16mm f22.



I last photo'd this at harvest-time last summer; here now at 22mm f22, from close to ground level.



Finally, went the other way here: wide open at f2.8 with a focal length of 23mm:



Skies: for the first time in years, I've shot without a polariser, for the first time just putting a UV on, for element protection as much as anything else. This has had several benefits: gaining another stop and a half of light, getting even skies with wide angle work...angles this wide pick up the uneven nature of polarised light; most of all, I guessed that the increased contrast and saturation might not be necessary with this Canon L glass: it seems to have its own "zing" in terms of these anyway.
These "look" tweaked..but I just did straight conversions from raw to jpeg at Standard Everything, doing half the amount of pp sharpening than I was used to.
I simulated some red filtration on the mono one, but really that was about it.

[Don Schaeffer]

#2 is my favorite. It's got a clear point of interest in a wide field.

[wulinka]

I like 2 and 3, in no1 I would crop a couple of centimetres or so off the bottom, but I also like it.
The colors do seem a bit pale on my screen, maybe they wouldn't had you used the pol filter?

I envy you! I haven't been able to use the 5D at F22 because then I can see all the dirt on the sensor,
that neither I nor the professional cleaner were able to completly remove .... :/

Uli

[matthew]

I really like #2. I'm a fan of the solitary-tree compositions in general, and the combination of colours in this is really nice.

I've noticed an effect with UWA lenses that they can have a polarizing effect on the sky all on their own. Apparently there's an explanation that involves the directions of light rays and maybe even a name, but I've never been able to remember it. All I know is that I can see its effects.

Your lens is doing pretty well at f/22, but my understanding is that the main limitation at the narrow end is diffraction, not optics. Dofmaster says that for a subject as little as six feet away, even at f/8 your DOF will extend from about three feet to infinity. I'm not entirely convinced that the whole here-to-infinity thing works, but I have to admit that I need to work really hard to blur the background with my 7-14.

[Zig]

Thanks all, very much. Yes Don, the first one doesn't really "work" unless enlarged a great deal I think. Matthew, I agree, and with such subjects I'd have no probs with f8 for front-to-back sharpness; mind you, when I'm this wide, I like to be able to get down to ground level for blades of grass and small details quite close to the lens, then I go to manual focus and f22, thus it's nice to be able to return to this without a feeling of restriction. Uli does mention the sensor dust thing though, and so am glad of clone tool as well as cleaning aids.