User Review: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Block diagram of the 10-22mm
3x Aspherical elements, 1x Super UD element
Courtesy of Canon Camera Museum

Marketed: November 2004

Lens Construction (group): 10

Lens Construction (element): 13

No. of Diaphragm Blades: 6(circular aperture)

Minimum Aperture: 22-27(1/3-stop increments is 22-29)

Closest Focusing Distance (m): 0.24

Maximum Magnifcation (x): 0.17

Filter Diameter (mm): 77

Maximum Diameter x Length (mm): 83.5 X 89.8

Weight (g): 385

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM joined my stable of lenses approximate one year ago and it has seen considerable amount of usage. This ultra-wide angle(UWA) lens features a variable aperture range of f/3.5-4.5 and Ultrasonic Motor(USM) focusing mechanism.

The 10-22mm is designed for EF-S mount(APS-C 1.6x) and will not fit full frame and APS-H(1.3x) camera bodies. In 35mm format, it will translate to a focal length of 16-35mm. Till date, this is the only UWA lens which Canon has for its cropped sensor camera bodies. Coming up next, is my user review of this lens.

General Handling

The 10-22mm comes in at 385g, a pretty light and portable weight. Being light-weight, I feel that the lens does not bog down my camera. In fact with my BG-E7, the camera seemed a little back-heavy when coupled together with the 10-22mm. However being back-heavy has proven to be useful to me, as my 7D does not tilt forward when I side-sling it. In this way, I can shoot photos from my waist discreetly and without much difficulty. This is definitely useful for non-intrusive genre of street photography.

The 10-22mm shares the same build quality as the 17-55mm. Similar materials were used to construct the 10-22mm but with the absence of the plasticky feeling. Zoom ring of the lens is smooth, with the focus ring being even smoother. The protruding AF/MF switch makes switching between auto and manual focus an easy task.

Similar to its bigger sibling, the metal mount, distance window, focus ring and finally the zoom ring.

The AF/MF switch.

The front element of the 10-22mm is actually not that huge but Canon decided to give it a 77mm filter diameter which is commonly seen on pro-grade lenses.

The 10-22mm fitted with a 77mm B+W XS-Pro UV filter.

Size comparison:

L to R: EF-S 10-22mm USM with third party EW-83E lens hood, Sanyo Eneloop AA battery, EF 50mm f/1.8 II.

Front: EF-S 10-22mm USM
Back: EF-S 17-55mm IS USM

Real-time Operation

If you have used EF-S lenses before, then mounting the 10-22mm on a APS-C camera body should not pose a problem to you. Align the white dots, turn, click and you are set to go.

I may be getting very repetitive but the 10-22mm feels just like the 17-55mm. You do not get a rotating front element because the focusing is done internally. Internal zooming is also a notable feature of the 10-22mm. The length of the lens does not change when zooming in and out but the front element does move forward and backwards within the lens.

Full-time manual focusing is available in one-shot focus drive mode which means there is no need to switch to manual focus when you want to manually adjust your focus point when in auto focus mode. The 10-22mm focus very quickly and silently. Focus accuracy is good, even when at close distance.

Image Quality

Multiple aspherical elements plus a super ultra-low dispersion(UD) element, with a focal length identical to the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM in 35mm format, the 10-22mm is essentially another hidden L-lens. However, to fully materialise the potential of this UWA lens, one has to really work on his/her fundamentals of photography.

An UWA lens requires some knowledge to use because the lens enhances the depth of your pictures, enlarging objects nearer to the camera and minimising the size of objects further away from you. With such a wide focal length, the 10-22mm takes in hordes of stuffs into its field of view, therefore composition can sometimes be a chore, with a lot of unwanted objects in the photo. Slight tilting of an UWA lens will also have enormous keystone effect on the photos. Having said so, when in the hands of an experienced user, the 10-22mm will definitely shine.

As with many high-grade lenses, the 10-22mm is sharp and it will get sharper when stopped down. A little colour fringing can be seen along the edge of the photos @ 10mm however it is minimised with the usage of the super UD element.

Distortion control of this lens is excellent, only slight barrel distortion at 10mm and even less pin-cushion distortion at 22mm. Put it to real-time usage and you should not even notice the distortion at all.

The 10-22mm vignettes like all other UWA lenses. Light fall-off is estimated to be at 1.5 to 2 stops, wide-opened at 10mm. Stopping down to f/8.0, will cut down the vignetting to 0.5 to 1 stop of light. As you zoom in to 22mm, light fall-off will be reduced by approximately 2 times the amount at 10mm.

Resolving power(ability to 'see' details) of the 10-22mm is very good, considering the enormous depth of field of a typical photo at 10mm:

At 10mm.

100% crop from centre of frame. Click to enlarge.

The 10-22mm does not flare easily under normal circumstances, unless you are shooting directly into light sources. Even so, the flaring caused is of minute amount, nothing to lose sleep over:

2 spotlights shining directly into the lens, only slight flaring can be seen.

Again, to demonstrate the resolving power of the 10-22mm:

100% crop from centre of frame. Click to enlarge.

There is not much background blur to speak of, unless you are shooting wide-opened at minimum focusing distance(MFD). The bokeh is average, as seen below:

f/3.5, 0.24m away from flower @ 10mm.

Conclusion

It takes a lot of practice to extract proper photos from the 10-22mm but once you get it right, you will continue to want more out of this fantastic lens. Again, image quality of the 10-22mm is very good and if you long for an ultra-wide angle lens for your Canon APS-C camera body, then the 10-22mm is a worthy contender.

Likes:

• High image quality
• Highly resistant to flare
• Has little to no distortion
• Good resolving power
• Silent, fast and accurate focus

Dislikes:

• High price for a non-L lens
• Lens hood not included in the package despite the high price
• Incompatibility with full-frame camera body

If you are bounded by budget issues, you can always consider third-party offerings such as the brighter and faster Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 or the Sigma 10-20mm variants.

I got my copy of the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM at SGD1094 from Cathay Photo.

Sample Images 

I apologise for the keystone effect if it is not to your liking.