Reasonably sharp wide-angle lens. There is slight red-green fringing, similar to 15 mm fisheye. Purple fringing is absent. Strong vignetting at f2.8-f4, but this goes away at f8 and higher. Good centre sharpness, but the corners are a bit soft at f2.8, and this improves by f5.6.

reasonably sharp; usm focus; excellent build quality; accepts 72 mm filters

vignetting; some CA; soft at f2.8

20mm prime lenses aren't overly popular anymore these days - most people prefer ultra-wide zoom lenses or prime lenses with an even more extreme focal length. However, consider me to be a relic. I think that 20mm is actually a sweet spot in this focal length class.

Heavy vignetting, soft in the corners, but it's a good little lens if you are looking for something on the wide end.

If you were actively seeking a review of this lens, the chances are that you've already seen another one written by Mr Ken Rockwell, who I believe it's fair to say divides opinion on many photography matters.

Fast and accurate focus; sharp frame centre; attractive colour rendering

Soft corners; field curvature; colour fringing

The Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM ($539.99 direct) is a fairly compact wide-angle lens for Canon D-SLR cameras . When used on a full-frame body, the lens can capture stunning landscapes, and its distortion characteristics are controlled enough for use for architecture.

Slightly soft at f/2.8; Prone to color fringing

I brought it for group shots at weddings as it was recommended to me

Easily Interchangeable; Lightweight

The Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM ($539.99 direct) is a fairly compact wide-angle lens for Canon D-SLR cameras. When used on a full-frame body, the lens can capture stunning landscapes, and its distortion characteristics are controlled enough for use for architecture.

The lens has been great so far and performed very well. The images do have a soft focus when using the maximum aperture f/2.8.

Lightweight; quick focus

Soft focus

I bought it to use with my Canon 5D Mark III for street photography and the occasional landscape. Very true colors and little distortion (nice) but serious vignetting, especially noticeable in the landscape shots.

The Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM ($539.99 direct) is a fairly compact wide-angle lens for Canon D-SLR cameras. When used on a full-frame body, the lens can capture stunning landscapes, and its distortion characteristics are controlled enough for use for architecture. Mounting it to an APS-C camera like the EOS Rebel T4i gives the lens a narrower 32mm field of view, which is still considered to be a moderate wide angle. When you consider its field of view, the lens is pretty compact. It measures just 2.8 by 3.1 inches (HD) and adds 14.3 ounces of weight to your gear bag. It can focus as close as 0.8-foot, which allows you to get some interesting shots with a shallow depth of field, but when shooting wider scenes the lens will keep everything in focus, as racking it to infinity will put every object more than three feet from the lens in sharp focus. The front element is slightly curved, but you can still use a screw-in filter with the lens—you'll just have to invest in one with a rather...

The Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM lens delivers an ultra-wide field of view on full-frame cameras, and is quite sharp once you stop down to f/4.

Ultra-wide field of view; Sharp when stopped down; Minimal distortion

Slightly soft at f/2.8; Prone to color fringing