Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 Image Stabilized USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR's
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 Image Stabilized USM SLR Lens for EOS Digital SLR's
Customer Review: Ah...hmmm
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm not sure. I probably don't have the experience to give a full review on this. I bought a Canon XTi body and this lens, based upon the reviews. I'm not UNHAPPY, I think this is better than the kit lens (but it cost a good bit more!), and I believe it's a good "walk-around" lens in that's it's flexible and light. It's also inexpensive for a good zoom lens.
I will say that the vignetting that the reviews complained about is real -- you can see the dark aperture corners close in the viewfinder when you zoom to wide angles (17mm).
My main focus has been indoor, low-light photos (new baby!). I eventually got the $70 F1.8 50mm Canon lens for those portrait photos, but this worked reasonably well. It does take great high-light and zoom photos!
Let's put it this way.... I would not change things if I had to buy my first lens again, I'd still get this.
Also, as other reviewers have noted, it is much longer than this photo implies -- I believe it's the correct lens, but the aspect ratio of the photo is screwy. It's an "impressively" long lens :)
Customer Review: Average lens
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a dedicated APS-C lens. Effectively on a Canon with a 1.6x factor, this lens is a 27mm - 136mm full frame (read 35mm) lens. Great as a 'walk-around lens'.
Although it suffers some very mild distortion, vignetting is almost imperceptible.
This is nice lens....it's not a lens that will get you rave reviews from fellow online review 'clubs'. But it is a good lens. I took it to Europe for 10 days and then to Washington's San Juan Islands and it did very very well. I was proud of my picture quality. For a vacation trip this is a good choice.
I put a quality B+W UV coated filter on it ($50). I worry about damage and not impairing the quality of the lens with a cheap filter.
Shoot this lens wide open at f4.0 for the greatest sharpness through out its range. It will stop down to 5.6 as you pass 35mm.
All in all a good lens with a nice focal length.
My Camera: Canon 30D
Customer Review: Sweetness!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this lens for about a year now and am very happy with it. You can certainly get a better lens, for a lot more money, but for a general walk around lens, this is it.
I get nice sharp images with this lens and it has a great telephoto range, in a fairly compact package. It would be nicer if it were a bit faster at the far end, but again, you'd spend more money for that.
In all I really have no complaints and am quite happy with this lens.
I recommend that you also purchase a good UV filter for it (and all your lenses) to protect the front lens element. But get a good filter. The lens optics are good, so don't put cheap glass in front of them.
I also recommend the Hoya Moose Circular Polarizing Filter (CPL) for shooting out doors. You need a CPL for shooting outdoors, but polarizing filters tend to cool down the colors. The Moose filter is made from 81A glass so it's like having a CPL and a warmer in one filter. The 81A glass compensates for the cooling that you get from an ordinary CPL.
Customer Review: a convenient accessory of APS-C sized DSLRs
Summary: 5 Stars
It covers a very convenient zoom range, equivalent with what 28-135mm used to do for 35mm SLRs over the years.
The IS (image stablization) provides visible improvement in many shots.
Considering the relative price, the cost-effectiveness is top of my list too.
Customer Review: The 'do it all' lens
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent offering by Canon, lens does it all even at 1.5 conversion rate, we put this lens on and have never taken it off because of its versatility for any application. All our other Canon lenses are taking a vacation!