Canon EF-S 15-85 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens

 

 

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I have tried numerous lenses on various cameras in the past few years since I got in to photography.

I started out with the 450d with an 18-55mm and a 55-250mm lens. I upgraded the 18-55 to the 17-55 f/2.8 lens along with a 50d which I have since replaced with this 15-85mm which is now the only lens I use on my 60d.

I was looking for a lens that would stay on my camera most of the time and feel that the 15-85 is the perfect walkabout lens. Sure it is not as fast as the 17-55 but you do get the wider angle and a bit more zoom but at the cost of the variable aperture. I don't pixel peep like other people but in terms of picture quality I have not seen much difference between the two lenses. I also feel the 15-85 is a nicer size on the 60d as it is smaller and balances the camera better than the larger and heavier 17-55.

The 15-85 does have a bit of barrel distortion at the wide angle as per most lenses but this is not a problem to me as the Lightroom 3 lens profile fixes this. I find the 15 also wide enough for landscapes and city photography so that saved me from buying a proper wide angle like the canon 10-22mm and it was long enough for my requirements so could get rid of the 55-250mm.

The zoom is nice and smooth as is the full time manual focus so this is great to have to take some really nice video with the likes of the 550d, 7d and 60d.

The 15-85 has a metal mount so you will find this a nice upgrade from the kit lenses and generally the lens feels very solid. When the lens is pointed downwards you will not experience any lens creep unless you are around the 50/55mm. At 15 and 85mm it doesn't move.

I have had my lens for about 18 months and have used it fairly extensively and recently the silver band at the end of the lens has started to peel off. It is like the red band you see on the L lenses. I have spoken to the repair centre who said that it won't be a big deal to fix but it is a bit of a pain that it has happened. I have read on the forums that this has happened to other users so this is why I have knocked it down to 4 stars.

If you want a good sized walkabout lens I would say give this lens serious consideration but your lens choice will simply be down to the type of photography you do.

Before deciding upon this lens I did a considerable amount of research into the various lens options for my Canon 400D. I felt I was not getting the best out of the camera with the 18-55mm lens supplied as standard with the camera. Already having a 75-300mm telephoto and a 100mm macro lens, it rather narrowed down the area of choice for the next lens.

The problem was that everyone seemed to be saying that the 18-55mm supplied lens was very good, and it is within reason, but in practice I find it difficult to get the best out of it, not too bad with relative close-ups but broader shots did not satisfy. While the optics might be good, the play in the manual focusing makes accurate focusing difficult.

This lens, the EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 had some pretty good press reviews, and several recommended it as a worthy walk-around lens; one review said of this lens that "it stands out from the crowd" among the many general purpose lenses, and that it offers "top-tier image quality over an excellent general purpose focal length range".

Well I am not disappointed. Firstly the lens has a good solid feel to it and a nice weight. The zoom operates smoothly and without any flexing, and the manual focusing ring is easy and positive to use with no play in it. In either case the lens does not rotate during adjustments, useful when using some filters.

As for the images it produces, there is a vast improvement over the standard equipment lens. Sharper more detailed images, better tonal range, and better colour rendition; I find I have less editing to do to produce a more accurate picture. Plus the extra flexibility with the slightly wider angle at one end and the much greater range at the 85mm end. That it has Image Stabilisation makes it easier to use with confidence with slower shutter speeds or for telephoto shots.

This is without doubt the lens that will be on my camera the most.

This is a cracking lens and is just about the only lens I used on my 450D and now my 7D. It is solid and dependable. It was great in combination with my 450D and is even better with the 7D.
It doesn't try to stretch too far 15-85 so performance is OK at both extremes and great in the middle. I have taken some fantastic
photos which I would never have been able to get if the thing wasn't so versatile as the opportunity would have been gone if I had needed to change lenses.
I don't know of a better lens for walk about than this - it really makes life easy and saves you fiddling with the technology rather than getting the pic composition reasonable. I have also used it for portrait work - works well and you can keep your distance from the poor unfortunate subject

The one drawback is the price :(

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4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely walkabout lens, but...
The Canon 15-85 mm EF-S IS USM lens is what stays on my Canon EOS 60D most of the time and has produced brilliant pictures over the past 13 odd months (my other lenses are a Canon... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Shruti George

5.0 out of 5 stars NIce sharp lens
I got this lens after reading Amazon reviews and am very glad I did. I wanted an upgrade to replace the kit lens (which had started to sound as if it had grit in it when I... Read more

Published 3 months ago by val

5.0 out of 5 stars A quality piece of kit
When we bought our 60D, we thought the 18-55 lens kit was a good deal - and it probably was. But we have been building our collection of lenses, and having supplemented the... Read more

Published 4 months ago by David P

5.0 out of 5 stars Delighted!
Spent some time looking for a replacement for the standard Canon kit lens EFS 18-55mm for an EOS 500D which I was never entirely happy with, the results not being that much better... Read more

Published 6 months ago by S. Privett

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every penny!
Like most others I had been using the cheap and cheerful stock 18-55mm, I finally felt I had got to a stage where my pictures could be improved with some better glass. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Mr. George Johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars A walkabout with great quality
It is unfair to judge the quality of a product or lens by it's price. Yes it is expensive, too expensive without a lens hood or bag. Read more

Published 8 months ago by tecknofile

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but don't expect miracles.
I'll keep this brief just to add my experiences over the last year using this lens, purchased as part of the 7D kit bundle. Read more

Published 8 months ago by The Mikestro

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the price
I bought this lens as an upgrade to my kit 18-55mm, but was a bit disappointed. The range is a greater, that's for sure, but it's not greater by much. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Pete

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent quality
Before deciding upon this lens I did a considerable amount of research into the various lens options for my Canon 400D. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Benjamin

4.0 out of 5 stars wow
I bought the Canon 15-85mm IS last Saturday, not from Amazon as price was too high. I wanted a lens that I could use as "A walk about" and this seemed to fit the bill. Read more

Published on 10 Nov 2009 by John Kirkpatrick

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