Chris Dodkin
West Coast Correspondent
Having invested a large-ish fortune in Canon lenses over the years, I eventually decided that the time had come to invest in one additional item - the Canon EF Lens Work III book (Vol 13).
This is an impressive coffee-table style hardback - with a rather fetching Canon red cover.
The book is like a family photo album of Canon lenses - starting with a history of Canon lenses over the years, and a stunning two page spread showing every camera body Canon have made.
Chapters include:
THE EF LENS CONCEPT
CANON'S CHALLENGES
THE EF LENS WORLD (SINGLE FOCAL-LENGTH LENSES)
THE EF LENS WORLD (ZOOM LENSES)
THE EF LENS WORLD (EF-S LENSES)
EF LENS ACCESSORIES & VARIETY IN THE CANON LENS WORLD
THE BASICS OF INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES & CORRESPONDENCE OF EF LENSES TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO TECHNIQUES
EF LENS TECHNOLOGY
OPTICAL TERMINOLOGY & MTF CHARACTERISTICS
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS & LENS MAPS
The book gets into it's main stride with example images and full write-ups on all of the current lenses in production. There is great technical detail here, and some stunning sample shots to inspire the reader (to get out the credit card and buy more lenses!).
There are then detailed chapters on interchangeable lenses, choosing lenses for different types of photography, accessories, etc.
The book concludes with detail MTF charts, and technical data - more than you ever needed to know for most.
It's a good read - the images are stunning, the information is well presented, and the technique section is very useful.
It also happens to be a really good sales tool for Canon...
If you don't want the latest version - there's an older edition available on Canon Europe's website, for download as multiple PDF docs. Just click on each subject heading to download each PDF.
Canon Europe - EF LENS WORK III EN
This is an impressive coffee-table style hardback - with a rather fetching Canon red cover.

The book is like a family photo album of Canon lenses - starting with a history of Canon lenses over the years, and a stunning two page spread showing every camera body Canon have made.
Chapters include:
THE EF LENS CONCEPT
CANON'S CHALLENGES
THE EF LENS WORLD (SINGLE FOCAL-LENGTH LENSES)
THE EF LENS WORLD (ZOOM LENSES)
THE EF LENS WORLD (EF-S LENSES)
EF LENS ACCESSORIES & VARIETY IN THE CANON LENS WORLD
THE BASICS OF INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES & CORRESPONDENCE OF EF LENSES TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO TECHNIQUES
EF LENS TECHNOLOGY
OPTICAL TERMINOLOGY & MTF CHARACTERISTICS
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS & LENS MAPS
The book gets into it's main stride with example images and full write-ups on all of the current lenses in production. There is great technical detail here, and some stunning sample shots to inspire the reader (to get out the credit card and buy more lenses!).
There are then detailed chapters on interchangeable lenses, choosing lenses for different types of photography, accessories, etc.
The book concludes with detail MTF charts, and technical data - more than you ever needed to know for most.
It's a good read - the images are stunning, the information is well presented, and the technique section is very useful.
It also happens to be a really good sales tool for Canon...



If you don't want the latest version - there's an older edition available on Canon Europe's website, for download as multiple PDF docs. Just click on each subject heading to download each PDF.
Canon Europe - EF LENS WORK III EN