Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS kit lens - recommendation . .

[Busa_Rush]

I got this with the 450d and it's really not very good, you can't use 18 to 20 mm where there are any straight lines near the edge of the frame and it never gets very sharp although towards 50mm it does improve a lot. Build quality is not very good either.

I thought it would be a good general purpose walk about lens but I'd really like something optically better and a slightly longer reach would be nice too.

Has anybody used the EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM ? It gets good reviews and I've not read a bad word about it, seems like it would do the trick ? Bit pricey.

Anything else worth considering from Sigma or Tamron ?

[Dogsey]

I've got the 15-85mm, bought in January, so far so good for performance and most of this set was taken with it (except the trains).

However, the first problem you described (converging verticals) is an issue with most very wide angle lenses and the 15-85mm certainly still suffers with that. It can be corrected at the processing stage though.

Another issue with the 15-85 is that it suffers fairly heavy vignetting at the wide end, fine if you don't mind the look and again can be corrected in processing.

That said, it only really comes off my camera (40D) when I'm shooting wildlife (Sigma 100-300 f4) or occasional portraits (50mm f1.8) and is a huge step up from the Nikon 18-55mm lens I was using on a D50 before switching to Canon, but then at the price of the 15-85 it should be!

Edited by Dogsey on Monday 22 February 10:20

[14-7]

Busa_Rush said:

Has anybody used the EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM ? It gets good reviews and I've not read a bad word about it, seems like it would do the trick ? Bit pricey.

I'm using a 15-85 on my 7D and think it's a good lens for normal everyday use. Good build quality and it AF's quickly, is nice and quiet and produces good quality images.

There is some vignetting when using it at 15-20mm but luckily the 7D has an onboard corrrection for this that seems to eliminate it almost totally.

Here's some sample shots using the 15-85.





I am about to order a 10-20 Sigma for landscape work though.

Edited by 14-7 on Monday 22 February 12:05

[arej]

I like the idea of the 15-85mm but it is very expensive. Currently I like the look of the Sigma 17-70mm which has just been re-released with OS and HSM. They don't seem very available but will probably get one at some point.

[Busa_Rush]

Thanks for the help and pics. I didn't realise the 7D could compensate for lens aberrations . . . makes it a much cheaper proposition.

The Sigma is interesting, there's a new one with HSM and OS for £370 which is a bit cheaper than the Canon, I just wonder if the picture quality would be as high.

[RobDickinson]

7D can compensate in camera for vignetting on a number of lenses on in camera jpg, but DPP can correct for this after the fact for all canon bodies I think.

15-85 is a decent lens, I went for the 17-55 because I wanted f2.8, both are good.

Oh and look at the new sigma 8-16 HSM it may be a better UWA option than the older 10-20.