16-35 f/2.8 or 17-40 f/4

[Phideaux]

I'm looking to buy a seconhand lens primarilary for landscape but also for interiors. I was going for the 17-40 f/4 but with the release of the 16-35 f/2.8 II I wondering if the Mk I will now come down in price as people trade up to the MkII.

Is the 16-35 MkI worth the substantial increase in price over the 17-40?

 

[dod]

for interiors I'd have thought the extra stop would be just what you need.

 

[dazzajl]

Sometimes but DoF can often require you to be somewhere around f8 -f11 anyway.

The 16-35 is lovely and the extra stop is almost worth it just for the brighter viewfinder but I've shot some back to back stuff with both lenses and the difference is pretty slight and you really need to know where to look for it.

The 17-40's weak point in terms of sharpness and general image quality is around the 40mm area, so if you compare them both only as far as 35mm it's a great performer.