Small Size and Conveniently Portable
This lens accomplishes the incredible feat of being a fixed aperture zoom lens that you can actually carry around all day without wearing your arm out. The retracting design and a small focus element make the lens lightweight and portable. Taking advantage of the benefit of electronic distortion correction, this large-aperture zoom lens with a fixed f/2.8 aperture achieves both high image quality across the entire image and efficiently with a compact optical system.
High-Image Quality and Optical Design
There is a lot that contributes to the optical quality of this lens, and it starts with four Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) elements (marked as dark green). The large-diameter UD lens at the front is a unique configuration previously found only in L lenses. This configuration effectively corrects chromatic aberration, reduces the weight of the front lens group, and contributes to ease of use by suppressing the change in the center of gravity felt by the user when changing the zoom range. Two glass-molded aspherical lenses (marked as light green) are effectively placed to achieve high rendering performance with suppression of various aberrations and contributes to the lenses compact size. The lens provides clear, high-resolution images from the maximum aperture. This design also features dust- and weather-resistant construction (another feature borrowed from the L-series lens line).
Action!
This lens is for more than just still shots, your video adventures and productions will benefit as well. The leadscrew-type STM focusing motor is extremely quiet and the 16mm-28mm zoom range is great for vlogging at home, or filming on the street. Focus breathing is also well controlled with this lens, lending even more professionalism to your productions.
Get Close
An ultra-wide angle lens can do so much more than capture large spaces. With a minimum focus distance of 7.9 inches (at 28mm), you can really get creative with the look of your images.
Bokeh
Even with a zoom lens, the foreground and background can be blurred softly and significantly. This constant f/2.8 lens provides rich bokeh at every focal length. The ability to open the aperture also allows for faster shutter speeds, preventing blurring of the subject.