Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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150 of 154 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best non-L Canon lens available on the EF-S mount?, 1 Aug 2006
My favourite EF-mount lens is the 28-105 f3.5-4.5 USM, having shunned the 28-135 IS USM because I felt it overly heavy and expensive. However, my trusty 28-105 becomes a 50-160 on a 350D, which although fine as a short tele-zoom, is not so good as a standard.
The 17-85 IS USM is effectively an EF-S version of the 28-135 IS USM, offering the same 35mm equivalent zoom range. Having decided against that lens on the EF-mount, I was a little reluctant to buy it for the EF-S as I felt it was still heavy, expensive and power-hungry. I was also unsure of the need for Image Stabilisation on a standard zoom. However, with no 28-105 USM equivalent, I opted for the 17-85 to replace the kit 18-55 (non-IS version).
At the time, I was glad that I made the purchase. The 17-85 offers a good zoom range, and the Image Stabilisation does help: I can take handheld shots at 1/10 sec without any shake - very impressive. The lens certainly is heavy, but I have not really noticed it drain power from the camera too quickly. It's advisable to have a spare battery anyway when you use Digital. I've never lost power when I needed it, and I don't recharge until the battery starts to run low.
As for technical reviews, there are lots of scientific and accurate reviews on the web, which you can easily look up. For me, this lens is very sharp, quick to focus, near-silent and pretty handy in low light conditions - although you should always remember that IS alone is not enough in very low light - even cranking the ISO way up does not get around the fact that moving subjects may still be blurred because the max aperture is pretty average through the zoom range. Distortion is kept well in check at all bar the 17mm end where you can see some pretty obvious barrel distortion. You can always use PTLens to overcome this distortion, though - and it's not always apparent in wide angle shots - just ones with horizontal lines running the length of the image. Overall thought - I believe that this lens is actually superior to my 28-105 USM.
This lens is an "upgrade" to the standard kit lens, which was always pretty poor in terms of build quality and image quality. However, there are now other options which are starting to make this lens look somewhat limited.
Newer Canon cameras now come with an 18-55 f3.5-5.6 IS lens. This usually adds £20 to the price of body alone and this represents fantastic value for money.
The Canon 18-55 f3.5-5.6 IS is optically as good as this lens, only slightly shorter and lacking USM.
The Canon 18-55 f2.8 IS USM is the Daddy lens at an L price point, but without the build quality of an L and some reports of poor sealing against dust.
None of Canon's zoom lenses in the APS-C / EF-s are perfect. The 17-85 IS is certainly the mid-point in terms of price, but with the new "kit IS lens" offering equal image-quality (albeit with cheaper, plastic build quality and no USM option), the point of this lens is less and less abvious. It's certainly no better in low-light and the extra zoom range is pretty negligible in real terms.
So, this review is largely out-dated now with the emergence of the 18-55 IS lens. Perhaps Canon will update this lens and make it faster - f2.8-4 would be nice. If they did that, it would justify the extra cost - a metal mount doesn't add anything optically and while USM is very nice to have, it's something you can live without. If the 18-55 IS came with USM, the 17-85 simply wouldn't have anything to offer. The 18-55 IS is certainly the best Canon option this side of prime and L-class lenses. For pure value, the 17-85 is now soundly beaten, but this is more a celebration of the new IS kit lens than a ticking off for the 17-85, which until the new lens was available, was a very good upgrade.
An alternative lens to consider is the Sigma 18-50 f2.8, which offers some clear benefits over this and the 18-55 kit lens.
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54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gives Photography another Dimension, 16 April 2007
I bought this lens as part of the kit, with a Canon EOS 30D last May, now almost a year later I feel I know both the camera and the lens well. The focal range of this lens is perfect for so much - from photography people to nature it is the perfect walk about lens. Added to the fact that it has Image Stabilisation, it seems to give the whole process of photography another dimension. I have recently taken a load of pics at a nephew's wedding, taken both inside and out, with and without flash (Canon 430EX - which incidently is amazing too) using RAW, and must say that even I, who is so critical of his own work, think they are far better than anything I ever took on my old SLR. The quality of the lens is great and cannot really be faulted.
Yes the lens is a little on the heavy side, but quality counts especially when you only get one chance of a photo, like weddings, kids, sunsets etc. I would love to be able to afford an 'L' lens, something I will save for, but until then, this lens will continue to be my trusty walk about.
My advice is simple, if you want a quality lens for every day use, with good zoom and IS, then look no further. If you are buying a new DSLR, like the canon EOS 350D, 400D or 30D, then don't even consider anything other than this lens, so long as you can stretch to it - believe me, you will not be disappointed. I love it.
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73 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vast improvement from kit lens., 29 Jun 2005
This is the first lens I've puchased to go with my Canon 350D. It took me some time to make a decision on which lens to go for. I wanted a significant improvement over the kit lens, but did not want to pay the earth for it.I am please to say that my research has paid off. This lens is the perfect allrounder. I instantly noticed the difference with my pictures. I live near a nice big river with big green trees surrounding it......I've taken some amazing pictures using this lens and I'm very happy with them. IS is also a very useful aid when indoors. Lens copes very well indoors also, and again I've taken some great portrait shots that I'm very please with. Looking forward to using this lens for years to come. You get what you pay for with this lens - no regrets. Go get one.
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