The Canon 17-85

mrbez

mrbez

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Hi Guys,

What do you think of this lens? It is much of an improvement on the 18-55 IS?

Is it a good lens to have as a walk about?

A friend of mine is selling and I have the option to get it, or I may even post it on here for him.

Craig.
 
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It's a nice lens for the money. Distorts and the wide end though. I used to have one and got good results with it.

A friend of mine is selling and I have the option to get it, or I may even post it on here for him.
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Don't think thats allowed.
 
For similar money you might get the newer 18-135mm IS lens - which is marginally softer at 18mm but very similar elsewhere.
 
I had one. The range, IS and USM are all nice as is the image quality but if you look closely you may see CA and it distorts like hell at the wide end, so much so that mine was right on the limit of what my software could correct.

If you are not going to use the wide end or aren't bothered about distortion or a little CA then you might get away with it.

I gave mine away and bought a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8.
 
Mine is a few years old so it's non VC. It's sharp and can focus very close and of course it's f2.8 all the way.

Most if not all of these lenses distort a bit at the wide end and the Tamron does too, but the 17-85mm does it more. One on line review site said that it distorted more than any similar lens they'd tested.
 
markmullen said:
I found mine a great step up from the 18-55 non IS kit lens.
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I started out with the IS version of the 18-55 and although the 17-85 is a much nicer built lens than that, it's not much better in IQ IMO. I think it's worth it's usual second hand price (£200-230) but definitely isn't worth what Canon wants for a boxed new one. The new 15-85 is apparently a much better lens in terms of image quality.
 
I always thought the 17-85 was a great lens for the price and a nice focal length.

Here is a pic at 17mm. Note the sea distortion. Camera was a Canon 550d with suspect focus problem in camera!


And this one shows the detail.
 
I'm pleased with mine. Yes there are better lenses out there, but if you can get this lens for a good price, its def worth having a play with. I think it is an upgrade from the 18-55 lens, but I do think you need to be wise on the price paid
 
I have been offered one of these plus a battery grip for £240.

The more I research, the more I think I should get the Tamron 17-50 2.8
 
AndyWest said:
I always thought the 17-85 was a great lens for the price and a nice focal length.
Here is a pic at 17mm. Note the sea distortion. Camera was a Canon 550d with suspect focus problem in camera!
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Andy,

DPP will remove the distortion and vignetting on the seascape and make it look like an even more expensive lens. :)
 
I love mine tbh, is a great "carry around" lens
got some good shots from it :)
 
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