Thursday the 15th of September will see what is probably the biggest shoot of my career to date. I'm not wanting to give anything away just yet, but I wanted to take a step back and look at the wider picture ;-) I'm really surprised I haven't seriously looked at this lens sooner. Taking into account that the Canon 17-40mm F4 L Wide Angle Lens is one of the cheaper 'L' glasses around, it certainly packs value for money. Not only do I need this lens for a shoot on Thursday, but with the recent increase in my landscape photography it's going to be a handy addition to my kit bag. Being surprisingly light and quick to focus it's very versatile and easy to use meaning i'm very unlikely to leave the house without it.

Canon aren't best known for their wide angle lenses with many photographers critising them. It's not uncommon to see a Canon body fitted with the Nikon 14-24mm lens via an adaptor plate, but as the saying goes "It's not the equipment, it's how you use it". This lens provides me with the focal length that I require and unlike it's bigger brother (the 16-35 F2.8L) it still allows me to use my current accessories due to size of it's filter thread.

I recently had the pleasure of using a Sigma 17-35mm F2.8 out on holiday in Mallorca. As great as it was with it's monsterous filter thread size of 82mm (much like the 16-35 F2.8) I had no accessories that would fit it?! The Canon 17-40mm has a 77mm filter thread which means all of my exisiting filters slot in or screw on just fine. I'm really looking forward to putting the lens through it's paces and will report back as soon as I have!