Canon lens upgrade

Loki98

I've been considering upgrading from a Canon 18-55 IS kit lens to a 17-85 IS.
Would this give much of an increase in image quality or would the 15-85 be better.

sebphoto

Simple answer: no.
If you need a zoom lens then go for best crop lens - Canon 17-55 f/2.8 or go beyond and get two primes.
Good luck.

fret_wimp2

Hi Loki.

Firstly, On your original question, in a few situations where its slightly darker, that new IS lens might help you a bit, but its quality overall wont be much if anything better than your kit lens.

Second, few questions you need to answer before dropping a lot of cash on new glass.

1. What is the issue you currently see with your photos taken with your current
camera & lens?

2. Those photos you identified as being lower quality than expected, what was the circumstances of the photos? i.e where they hand held in low light or super solid tripod etc.

If your issue is that ALL your images are soft/distorted, then new glass might help. but if your issue is that the pic of a race car is a little blurry, the iamges of the kids running around indoors are not as sharp as you like or you find your handheld night shots or night shots on a 20 quid tripod are soft, then new glass wont help you.

If you eliminate all factors making your images of lower quality than you want and the issue persists, then new glass might help.

But, dont go for the same/similar lens, just with IS. save your money and get something exceptional.

Any of the canon L series lens's, although not cheap will be awesome. Primes firstly are always the crispest and generally have least distortion, but others ( 24-70 F2.8 springs to mind) are still amazing and offer a lot of flexibility.

Aim to get something that gives you a wider apature and has been reviewed and tested many times and shown to be of outstanding quality.

If you have a crop sensor (APS-C) camera, and you dont want to lose the wide angle end of your zoom, then the Canon 17-55 F2.8 ef-s comes highly recommended: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-17-55mm-f-2.8-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx

you lose a little in telephoto, but quality wise its worth it, and really if you need to hit higher focal lengths, you really need to buy a lens for that (after all if you want a 17-300 zoom, buy a super zoom bridge camera and forget about DSLRs!)

Summary: identify why your images are not as good as you want, eliminate all factors, if issue persists, buy best glass you can afford.

CDM001

I have a 550D, I want to get a new lens any ideas

sebphoto

CDM001 wrote: »

I have a 550D, I want to get a new lens any ideas

Get best lens as you can afford
Is it your first DSLR?