Canon EF-S 10-22mm verdict

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm equips budget to mid-range Canon DSLRs with ultra-wide angle coverage. While the equivalent coverage of 16-35mm sounds extreme, the range can be surprisingly useful in practice. For example most of us have faced landscapes, buildings, interiors or even group shots which are simply too large to squeeze into normal lenses, or found ourselves in situations where a wall or cliff edge meant we couldn’t step back any further. In all of these situations, an ultra-wide angle zoom lens can prove invaluable.

In practice the Canon EF-S 10-22mm performs very well, especially considering its extreme coverage. In terms of resolution it matched or out-performed the EF-S 17-85mm and EF-S 18-55mm lenses, and was only just beaten by the premium EF-S 17-55mm model. Amazingly considering its coverage, it also exhibits lower geometric distortion than the EF-S 17-85mm when both are full zoomed-out. Zoom the EF-S 10-22mm to 2mm and it’s virtually distortion-free. Indeed the EF-S 10-22mm on a cropped body manages to out-perform the EF 17-40mm on a full-frame body in many respects.

There’s actually very few downsides to the EF-S 10-22mm. Admittedly it’s annoying the lens hood isn’t included as standard, and once you’ve used an ‘L’ lens you may envy the superior build and smoother operation, but to be fair, these criticisms apply to all EF-S zooms.

So if you’re the owner of an EF-S compatible Canon DSLR who’s ever yearned for wider angle coverage, we can highly recommend the EF-S 10-22mm. It performs very well and delivers an exciting and surprisingly flexible range. As such it’ll become a valuable ally in your lens collection.

If you’re in the market for an ultra-wide angle zoom, you should also consider the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 pictured above which may offer a slightly shorter range and slower aperture, but does come in a little cheaper

For sample images, detailed results and more features, see our Canon EF-S 10-22mm review at our sister site Camera Labs.