Equipment review: Canon 20mm f2.8
Before reading this review please read my general introduction to reviews here
I
bought this lens while I still had the 20-35mm zoom. The two
lenses are a similar size, with the 20mm prime being a little larger. However, the zoom has
a very wide hood that’s difficult to keep on the lens while in a bag whereas the
20mm hood is pretty compact.
The zoom was pretty good at 20mm so the prime isn’t hugely different, though mine is a little better at wide apertures. As I often shoot at or close to wide-open this and the extra stop were the main drivers to buy it.
The dynamics changed a little when I purchased the EOS 350D. With digital it is always possible to increase ISO to compensate for smaller apertures, and the zoom adds some practicality over a prime. However, the 20-35 zoom range is small and not that useful. I therefore ended up keeping the 20mm and buying the 10-22mm (which took the impractical 20-35mm lens hood).
When I bought the EOS 5D the 20mm prime was the only super wide that I have to fit it. Image quality was OK but wasn't brilliant. To resolve this I bought the 17-40mm zoom and found it far superior. Hence the 20mm is no longer in my collection.