This is a superb lens; a 'must have' for the creative Canon photographer. When reading negative reviews, bear in mind that wide lenses can be very difficult to use (particularly for first-timers) and require a lot of patience and practice regarding framing and composition.

A stellar performer for architecture and that wwwiiiiddddeee perspective which brings out the creativity. Very solid build quality. I often end up going for my 17-40 instead though when I need glare taken off water ie streams.

Very sharp; great colors; little distortion; built like a tank

The lens coating helps but its no polarizer

I'm not a technical guy so this review will not be covering the tech specifications of this lens. I gather that if you're reading this you are pretty much in the same boat I was before buying.

This is an outstanding lens. A bit pricey... but nothing else really compares to it.

"There's not a lot of point to use this lens on a crop sensor because in that case the magnificent field of view, amazing sharpness and brilliant distortion control get lost in the cropping of the image circle.

I like to use it for action shots. I'm in the military and sometimes its not easy to back away to get the whole scene so the wide angle REALLY helps.

Fantastic lens for interior pictures. No noticeable barrel distortion, great image quality. I had been using a Nikon 14-24 but was getting frustrated spending time correcting the barrel distortion.

Consistent Output; Fast / accurate auto-focus; Insignificant Distortion

If you use one of the 1.6x image sensor Canon camera you are better off looking at Canon's 10-22mm zoom that provides true wide angle coverage for those cameras. It will save you some money and provides the equivalent of a 16-35mm zoom for that sensor size.

The version II of this lens is much sharper than its predecessor and is a great ultra-wide lens for the Canon pro bodies (14mm on the 1Ds Mark III and 5D full frame; 18mm equivalent on the 1D Mark III)

Not worth the money for 1.6x sensor camera bodies (i.e.; 20D; 30D; 40D; Rebel XTi; etc...)

Try using the 14mm on a full frame camera without a major grin on your face.

I gave this lens the top rating. It is expensive and lots of people will knock it a little for this reason. But I find it to be the perfect tool for some types of jobs. It is a specialty lens for sure. I shoot real-estate photos as part of my business.