Canon EF-S 17-85MM f4-5.6 IS USM

m_stan

Anyone got one of these puppies or have any experience of using one ? I'm on a trip to the US soon and thinking of picking up one as a general purpose everyday lense. A friend has one and raves about it, but then he's a little enthusiastic about everything he owns so looking for some independent validation

Fully plan on getting a loan of said mates lense before I purchase, but before I do - any thoughts ?

digitalbeginner

I thouroughly recommend this lens to all my students who have Canon dSLR's. In 35mm terms its range is 27mm to 136mm, which is a great all-rounder. The image stabilisation is good up to 4 stops (ie at 125mm zoom length you need 1/125 sec. With Image Stabilisation that can theoretically go down to 1/8 of a second!). This is the lens that should be got instead of the 17-55 kit lens. It covers wide angle, the 100mm range for good portraits and a bit left over to get even closer to far away subjects. It also means that your lenses are changed less often and so reducing the risk of dust getting on the sensor.

Quality is superb and prices in the US are much better. This one is €600 in Conns and a student told me today that she was quoted €900 in Blanchardstown,

Dave

440Hz

Yeah I got this as my first 'walk around lens' and Ive been really really happy with it. Its my primary lens really, well worth getting.

helios

Agreed... this is my primary walkaround lens too, and I love it. IS is great and it handles well

Fenster

It's a fantastic lens, but it has some horrible fringing problems.

corkandproud

Got one from Kea in January, great lens for portraits. I use it for a bit of press work and its miles ahead of the 18-55.

m_stan

Thanks for the feedback. Confirms what I'd already heard. They are only $510 in J&R in New York which amounts to less than 380 of the Euros, which all in all means I'm sold !

Fireman

I got the 17/85 with my 20d two years ago and i have to say it is a good all round lens, I use it for portraits, group photographs, and car rally's (before I got my 70/200)

NB just waiting for my new 16/35 Mark 11 from Kea photo

Fireman:D

rabbitinlights

Yup, My everyday lense. I used it while travelling through Asia for 5 months and it never let me down, Its just so usable.

My only gripe would be that the (needed) hood is extra.

S.

FreeAnd..

and its not suitable for a full frame...

digitalbeginner

rabbitinlights wrote:

My only gripe would be that the (needed) hood is extra.

This is a major issue in general IMO. Lens hoods are a significant help in cutting down internal reflections which degrade the image quality (typically leaving them lower in contrast). For the manufacturing cost of a few cent it would make a big difference particuarly in the summer time.

The problem with a lot of zoom lenses that start at wide angle is that you need a "petal" lens hood to ensure you don't get vignetting. Not exactly someting you can buy from a non-brand manufacturer as each petal lens hood is different and therefore specific to each lens. A few cents becomes quite a few euro extra. I suppose that's the idea,

Dave

latchiko

I've got this lens and I'd recommend it also, assuming you don't want to upgrade to a full frame in future.

As for a lens hood, I picked up a cheap replica on ebay and it does the job fine.

digitalbeginner

latchiko wrote:

I've got this lens and I'd recommend it also, assuming you don't want to upgrade to a full frame in future.

As for a lens hood, I picked up a cheap replica on ebay and it does the job fine.

Can you remember where on eBay you got it? How much did it cost?

Dave

Stephen

If you're going to New York, get yourself down to B&H, just behind Madison Square Garden.

latchiko

digitalbeginner wrote:

Can you remember where on eBay you got it? How much did it cost?

Yep, got it here. Works out cheaper than the official hood and does the same job.

m_stan

Stephen wrote:

If you're going to New York, get yourself down to B&H, just behind Madison Square Garden.

I'm actually going to San Fran, but having one shipped from wherever is cheapest. Evidence to date points mnarginally to J&R over B&H. Havent looked into shipping costs just yet.

Rob_T

m_stan wrote:

A friend has one and raves about it, but then he's a little enthusiastic about everything he owns so looking for some independent validation

Fully plan on getting a loan of said mates lense before I purchase, but before I do - any thoughts ?

As your "mate" you should have trusted me more My enthusiasm comes from a position of knowledge/experience!!