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Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Reviews Views Date of last review
2 1441 Tue January 9, 2007
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Recommended By Average Price Average Rating
100% of reviewers £359.00 6.5
Canon_EF-S_17-85mm_f4-5_6_IS_USM.jpg



Description: Equivalent to a 28-135mm lens, this EF-S lens brings true wide-angle to tele coverage to Canon EOS digital SLRs. It has Canon's Image Stabilization system, allowing safe hand-holding at speeds up to three stops slower than otherwise possible. A ring-type USM means both fast and silent AF, as well as full-time manual focus when in the AF mode.

Key Features

# Lens Construction: 17 elements in 12 groups
# Diagonal Angle of View: 78° 30' - 18° 25'
# Focus Adjustment: Inner focusing system with focusing cam
# Closest Focusing Distance: 0.35m - 1.15 ft.
# Zoom System: Ring USM
Keywords: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens


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daveyuk
Forum Regular


Registered: July 2005
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 1174
Review Date: Thu September 7, 2006 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 6 

 
Pros: Very much a walk about lens
Cons: No lens bag or lens hood in the box.

I got this lens when I bought my 30D as I tend to use more of the Sigma range of lenses, so I thought I'd give this one a try and combined with my 70-200mm plus 2x TC these two lenses give me a very flexable working range for not a lot of weight to carry.

The 17-85mm is very lightweight and very comfortable to use not the fastest of lenses at f4 but you do have the option of IS which does come in handy giving you the confidence to drop to a slower shutter speed than you would normally want. Also add that this lens has USM giving near silent AF it all adds up to one cracking little lens. Zooming in and out is both easy and very smooth.

Downsides
a) f4 maximum apeture is a bit slow for a small lens like this one I would have hoped for f2.8 but you can't have everything.
b) No lens hood.
c) No lens bag.
d) Having to buy a lens bag and a lens hood as optional extras does not shine a good light for Canon IMO.

Upsides
a) IS.
b) USM.
c) Lightweight.

What do you get in the box
The 17-85mm lens
Warranty paperwork
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brian wright22
Feet under the table

Registered: March 2006
Location: Maidenhead
Posts: 1681
Review Date: Tue January 9, 2007 Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: £359.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Zoom range, fairly lightweight with fast focusing and image stabiliser
Cons: Not sure about its robustness and ability to keep dirt out.

I purchased this lens at the same time as my EOS 350D. This "kit" was replacing my trusty Minolta 7si 35mm film camera body and Minolta 28-105 mm lens.
You can read my Pixalo review of the eos 350D elswhere. Whilst the 350 D exceeds the 7si film camera results , regarding lower noise for a given iso setting and much faster frame firing although the amount of frames are less, this 17-85mm lens slightly disappoints. Although on the Plus side it does equate to 28mm-136mm if using the
35mm standard.

I have had an issue with it concerned with particles of light coloured dirt on the inside of the front lens. Also the definition at wide angle was not as good as I expected.
A phone call to Canon UK about the problems provided me with an incident number .Off it went ,there are various authorised service facilities but I chose Canon UK at Borehamwood. Ten days later ( excellent service) it returned they said, fully adjusted and cleaned.

The results are much better.I have not been able to establish where the dirt came from. Either it was there at manufacture or it got in very easily with use. Not good whatever the cause. The definition at Wide angle is still in my mind not as good as I think it should be, even at f8-f16. I have not been able to try it out on another EOS dslr body.
In every other respect the lens is very good ,say from 40mm to105mm the results are excellent. There are slight aberrations mainly in the red/cyan ,again worse at wide angle. This is easily fixed prior to printing. I use the Adobe Plug-in by E-PaperPress PT-Lens to good advantage.
In use, the lens dwarfs the eos 350D ,I think I shall look towards the 30D for my next camera.

One last thing I have noticed is that I always have a Hoya Skylight 1B filter mounted on the lens ,mainly for protection,but if you then add a polorising filter at the same time, then expect some vignetting at the widest angle setting the two filters protrude too far..
This was not a problem on my Minolta kit.
Brian Wright
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