Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM

[V8BJC]

Hi

I had been thinking about upgrading my 18-55 IS II kit lens..... this is now a must since the kit lens is now broken. The questions is .... what shall I get?

The lens would be a general purpose walkabout lens and also used for home / parties etc.

I am also into Car / Motorsport photography and this would be my lens for paddock shooting.

I currently have a 650d with the following lenses:
- EF 50mm f1.8
- EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS II
- EF-s 60mm macro
- EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6L


I have been looking at
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

or maybe for similiar money get two cheaper lenses say
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM &
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM


I have read lots of reviews and remain unsure on what to get.

Any advice or experience with any of the above would be much appreciated. Also, any recommendations for non Canon products that you feel would be worth consideration.

My budget here is Max. £600.

Thanks in advance
Brian

[dogbucket]

I had the 15-85 which was the kit lens on the 7D iirc. It was sharp and compact in size, but ultimately the slow variable aperture was uninspiring for me. I sold that for the 17-55 2.8 which has fantastic optics and produces lovely images, drawbacks was the size and build quality which is still very much EF-S and not befitting the quality of glass. But I would still choose the 2.8

[DavidY]

The Canon Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM is not one of their better efforts, hence the comparative cheap secondhand price, you can take good pictures with it but it is a little soft. I've owned one, and my partners daughter has the kit lens you already have, I reckon that the latter is the sharper lens, so not an upgrade!!

Might you do better with the 10-18 and buying a decent (ish) s/h 75-300 and keeping your existing lens, that way you'll cover the wide angle side with the 10-18, your existing lens will work for your paddock shots and the 75-300 will give you a chance of some motorsport action shots.

Edited to say sorry I missed the 100-400 on your original post!!

Edited by DavidY on Saturday 14th February 20:34

[DibblyDobbler]

I've a 15-85 - nice lens if you don't need a fast aperture. Well made and decently sharp

[fido]

If you need the larger aperture and don't mind carrying around a 650g lens then the 17-55 is a good'un. I actually miss the 18-55 IS II - might be a kit lens but it's good quality and easy to carry around for travel.

Personally I found the f/2.8 not enough for very low light and have replaced it with primes but as an all-round zoom lens it is superb. It's also a bit cheaper these days so well within your budget - only managed to sell mine (2 years old) for £375.

Edited by fido on Saturday 14th February 17:08

[Geordie MGmike]

V8BJC said:

I currently have a 650d with the following lenses:
- EF 50mm f1.8
- EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS II
- EF-s 60mm macro
- EF 100-400 f4.5-5.6L

I see you already have a long end covered with the 100-400L (lucky man ) and the mid range covered with the 50, 60 and 55-250mm.

If you have any aspirations to move up to a full frame body in the future I would stay away from the EF-S range.
How about a 17-40 f4L or the 16-35 f4L (this one is sightly over budget)?
Personally I would go for the 16-35 and live with the small gap until you go FF and get a 24-105 f4L kit lens
http://www.hdewcameras.co.uk/canon-ef-16-35mm-f4l-...

[V8BJC]

Thanks for all the advice and opinions. The 17-55 f2.8 seems to get great reviews everywhere and this would compliment my other kit nicely

Geordie MGmike said:

I see you already have a long end covered with the 100-400L (lucky man ) and the mid range covered with the 50, 60 and 55-250mm.

If you have any aspirations to move up to a full frame body in the future I would stay away from the EF-S range.
How about a 17-40 f4L or the 16-35 f4L (this one is sightly over budget)?
Personally I would go for the 16-35 and live with the small gap until you go FF and get a 24-105 f4L kit lens
http://www.hdewcameras.co.uk/canon-ef-16-35mm-f4l-...

The 100-400 really was a bit of a treat after a financial windfall and it is fantastic for racetrack shooting

HHHMMMMM - the full frame option enters the room! I keep thinking like you re buying EF-S but I read that crop sensor cameras are a better option for long range motorsport shooting as you get 1.6x more reach that with the same lens on FF. To be honest, I am not sure why this is as the lenses magnification does not change.

Is it not the case that with FF you just get more in your picture and if you crop out the middle section then you would get the same result as shooting with APSC?

[RobDickinson]

Loved my 17-55.

17-85 very average little upgrade on kit lens.

15-85 supposed to be good but slower. Trade aperture for zoom.

[outnumbered]

I also had the 18-55, 100-400 and 55-250 and was looking at the same lenses you are.

I picked the 15-85 as the best compromise as a higher quality walkabout/general purpose lens, and am very happy with it. It's a definite step up from the 18-55 in build and image quality, and balances well on heavier bodies like the x0D series. I was put off by the sheer size of the 17-55, and also decided I preferred the extra zoom range over the extra stop of aperture. I got mine second-hand from MBP.

[Geordie MGmike]

V8BJC said:

I read that crop sensor cameras are a better option for long range motorsport shooting as you get 1.6x more reach that with the same lens on FF.

Well yes, the extra reach you get can be an advantage but FF has other advantages ie the ability to get small DOF, usually better high ISO performance etc.

V8BJC said:

To be honest, I am not sure why this is as the lenses magnification does not change.

It's all about the sensor size

V8BJC said:

Is it not the case that with FF you just get more in your picture and if you crop out the middle section then you would get the same result as shooting with APSC?

Yes, that's correct. But the debate on the total number of pixels used for the resulting image come in to play . Say you have a FF 20Mpx camera and you crop the final image to APSC equivalent field of view, you'll be using less Mpx than you would get in a 18Mpx APSC sensor (I can't do the maths at this time of the morning )

But back to your decision.... All I'll say is; don't limit your future body selection by your choice of lens now... If you never intend to go FF then stick with EF-S as they are (usually) cheaper but if you think you MIGHT upgrade to FF go with EF (L).

[RobDickinson]

20 mp ff is 8pm cropped.

Apsc is a decent sport option for a little extra 'reach'.

[outnumbered]

Geordie MGmike said:

But back to your decision.... All I'll say is; don't limit your future body selection by your choice of lens now... If you never intend to go FF then stick with EF-S as they are (usually) cheaper but if you think you MIGHT upgrade to FF go with EF (L).

While you can use EF lenses on EF-S cameras, the zooms can end up at awkward focal lengths. E.g. the standard EF zooms all start at 24mm which isn't so wide on an EF-S camera.

If you buy EF-S lenses used, you wouldn't lose much if you ever went full frame.

[V8BJC]

Thanks for all of the advice chaps.

If I upgrade my body I am most likely to look at the 7d II for the fast shutter burst and extra reach so EF-S lenses won't be a problem.

I have a fair idea now of peoples views on these lenses so next step is to get down to a store to have a look at a couple before parting with my hard earned!

Brian

[troc]

Don't get the 17-85. Whilst it's 'ok' as a walk around, the 15-85 is optically significantly better and also lacks the design flaw that killed mine......

The 17-85 has a design flaw where the cable to the aperture blades can be damaged, leading to an aperture stuck on 'wide open'. If you then try to shoot at any other aperture, you get an ERR 99 message and no photo.

Get the 15-85 if you need the reach and convenience or the 17-55 2.8 if you want/need the faster lens.

I have the 17-55 and it rarely leaves my camera

(Other than an few primes, I use a combo of 10-22, 17-55 and 70-300L to get most of my shots)