Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Comments

1. Trevor S. Howard says:

   August 1, 2010 at 8:34 am

   Review by Trevor S. Howard for Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
   Rating:
   I was one of the early fans of this lens, and to my knowledge, one of the first guys to get their hands on one and play with it, from the moment I held this lens, I knew she was a winner

   Lets start with the build quality, its fantastic, ok its not quite L-level, but it is considerably better than the old 17-55 f/2.8 IS I owned, as in its put together much better, the build is similar to a midrange Nikon lens [Such as the 16-85 VR] which is a good thing, the zoom and focus rings both operate smoothly, but are also reassuringly firm, there is a slight bit of zoom creep between 24-35 I’ve found, but nothing major to worry about

   AF-wise, its a very quick performer, probubly one of the faster USM lenses out there, and its also very quiet, even for a USM lens the soft noise is well..softer…and the IS functions completely silently and smoothly, and as advertised, its good for at least 4 stops of stabilization, I’ve managed 1/4 shots with ease at 85mm for instance…

   Optically, this lens impresses, people may criticize its variable aperture nature but its tack sharp wide open, even at 15mm, distortions are very good [They test even less than the 24-105 f/4L on a full frame camera] and the colors have a very nice zest to them, The only down side is the chromatic aberration, which is a tidge high, but its also easily correctable from what I’ve seen, and certainly not as bad as some people would make it sound, overall I’ve been very impressed with this lens optically, its one of the best lenses I’ve had [And I've owned the 24-105 f/4L IS and the 17-55 f/2.8 IS] and its my favorite walk-around lens ever

   My only other complaints are the fact that it should include a hood for the price, Canon is still the only manufacturer who forces you to buy $45 lens hoods for $700-800 lenses just because they’re not an L lens…Its quite annoying to be honest..but again, I knew that going into this..

   Overall, its a fantastic lens, don’t mock it till you try it
2. peter_co says:

   August 1, 2010 at 8:59 am

   Review by peter_co for Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
   Rating:
   This lens will take a key place in the Canon line-up: it will be the first high quality wide angle to medium telephoto lens for APS-C (i.e. 1.6x) crop bodies. Thankfully, this lens is well qualified for this role. The build quality is solid and both the focus ring and zoom rings are firm yet move smoothly. The image quality provided by the lens is outstanding. The lens is very sharp across its zoom range, even wide open. Color fidelity is also a strong point of the lens, as it produces saturated yet natural colors. Distortions are also at a minimum considering the focal range of the lens. Although there is some barrel distortion at the wide end (particularly at 15mm), this is simply unavoidable for superzooms covering this range and it should be pointed out that even L lenses covering the same (35 mm equivalent) range cannot fare better in this respect. I confidently give this lens 5 stars!

   The only alternative to this lens that I considered was the Canon EF-s 17-55mm f/2.8, which is another superb lens for APS-C cameras. I decided to choose the 15-85mm over the 17-55mm simply because it suited my needs better. Optically the lenses perform about the same (i.e. both offer superb image quality), therefore this did not factor into my decision. The two lenses simply have different strong suits. The 17-55mm with a constant aperture of 2.8 gives the lens versatility in low light situations and allows it to double as a portrait lens in certain situations. On the other hand, the 15-85 while having a variable aperture f/3.5-5.6 offers a greater focal range: 15-85 (i.e. 24-136 in 35mm eq.), allowing it to cover a greater range of subjects in daylight. Since I plan to later buy a dedicated portraiture lens and since I was mainly interested in a walkaround lens for reach and image quality, the 15-85mm seemed the more appropriate choice for me. Of course, the decision was only helped by the fact that the 15-85mm is also $300 cheaper than the 17-55mm. However, both the 15-85mm and the 17-55mm are great walkaround lenses offered for Canon crop bodies and which lens you choose can only be dictated by your particular circumstances.
3. AdamSmythe says:

   August 1, 2010 at 9:16 am

   Review by AdamSmythe for Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
   Rating:
   UPDATE, July 11, 2010: The Canon rebate referred to below should just about be concluding as I write this, so you can read this review (and others) and decide whether this lens–at its regular price–is right for you. (Or you can wait for the next rebate program, but that may be a while from now.) Since the time when I wrote my initial review, I have come to regard this lens even more highly. It feels great on my Canon EOS Rebel T2i, and I had a recent experience with this lens that might interest you. My wife and I took a sightseeing train ride along the Arkansas River through some very picturesque parts of Colorado. There was an open-air observation car that was great for taking pictures; however, when the train was moving it was impossible to remain perfectly still, as the car swayed slightly (and unpredictably) from side to side. I thought about turning the image stabilization (IS) off completely, but decided to give it a try. It turns out the IS worked beautifully. One more thing: As the sun set, the canyons the train was climbing through were alternately drenched in glorious late-day sunlight or covered with shade. Given the rapidly changing light conditions and the train sway, it wasn’t the easiest task to try to capture the gorgeous scenery, especially for an amateur like me, but the Canon EF-S 15 – 85mm f/3.5 – 5.6 IS lens turned out to be up to the task. I have no regrets.

   REBATE ALERT: From May 9 through July 10, 2010, Canon is running an “instant” rebate program that includes this lens–at a considerable saving. The best part about an instant rebate is that it should be built into the price you see on Amazon (it was when I bought mine), so you don’t have to mail in some form and wait (and hope) for a rebate to arrive weeks later. If this is the right lens for you (something we haven’t established yet), then now may be a good time to pull the trigger on a purchase.

   Regarding this lens, it is a considerable improvement from the typical kit lens on a digital SLR. Kit lenses are decent for the money you pay (which isn’t much), but they have clear limitations, especially in sharpness. If you are reading this review, I assume you are looking for a lens for the general-purpose focal-length range, and the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5 – 5.6 IS USM fits well into this category. The 15 – 85mm range is wider than most kit lenses (probably on both ends), which enables the photographer to use this lens for a wide variety of purposes. The build quality is quite good, though not up to “L” series lens standards. Of course, its price is also not up to L levels, either. Sharpness is very good. Frankly, I can’t really tell the difference between this lens and L glass (but I’m just a humble layman), although professional photographers and serious amateurs probably can. Concerning qualities such as vignetting or chromatic aberration, I suggest you consult some of the many professional reviews on the web, which generally paint a good picture of this lens.

   Okay, so should you buy this lens? That’s the question I want to address with this review. If you do a lot of low light shooting, like weddings, this lens probably isn’t fast enough for you. You can’t always use a flash in a church. The Canon EF-S 17 – 55mm f/2.8 IS USM or the Canon EF 24 – 70mm f/2.8L USM may be better choices. Both of these lenses have what the EF-S doesn’t–a much wider aperture. They also have higher price tags and a narrower focal length range. They are also heavier (especially the 24 – 70 L), which depending on how long you typically carry your camera around may mean something to you. Specifically, the 15 – 85mm weighs 20.3 ounces, while the 17 – 55mm weighs 22.8 oz, and the 24 – 70mm weighs a heftier 33.5 oz. For comparison, a Canon EOS Rebel T2i without any lens weighs only about 19 oz.

   The 15 – 85mm lens is relatively new (2009), so it is built with the latest manufacturing technology. It features, for example, four-stop image stabilization, which is great. (Remember that image stabilization helps compensate for the unsteadiness of the photographer, but does nothing to stop the movement of your subject.) “Bokeh” (foreground/background blur quality) is very good. The lens is made of plastic, but its high-quality plastic, if that doesn’t sound too oxymoronish.

   In short, if you are looking for the absolutely finest general purpose lens that money can buy, this is not your lens. However, if what you want is a very noticeable step-up in sharpness from a kit lens, combined with a very convenient weight and four-stop image stabilization–and you don’t want to fork over a great deal of money–then this lens merits your careful attention.
   
4. Gene Naftulyev says:

   August 1, 2010 at 10:02 am

   Review by Gene Naftulyev for Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
   Rating:
   This lens is the perfect walkabout lens covering 23-135 with the 1.6 factor.

   Distortion is at a minimum, and although not a fast lens, the IS makes even hand held shots sharp.

   The downside of this lens is that both in sunlight, and in studio flash conditions chromatic aberration (purple/green fringe) is evident in all shots. Granted it is less pronounced than with the cheap kit lens (for the 7D) but none the less at 1:1 resolution there is chromatic aberration in every shot where dark and bright come together in high contrast.

   The Canon software that comes with DSLRs does a very good job of removing the fringe from photos, however that means unlike Nikon’s in-camera processing of the image to remove fringe, an extra manual step of doing that on the Canon is necessary for any images that are more than casual snapshots.

   If you want 1 lens for a very wide to slight tele range, this is probably the best thing available for 1.6 crop factor. However even if the price is near L lenses, this is not an L lens and it will be apparent when zooming in 1:1.
   
5. Richard says:

   August 1, 2010 at 10:46 am

   Review by Richard for Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
   Rating:
   I recently upgraded from the EF-S 18-55 IS to this EF-S 15-85 IS. GREAT lens, the difference between 17 & 15 is quite noticeable when it is needed. I recommend the Canon to anyone. Image quality is excellent, there is a little bit of vignetting but when you shoot in RAW, it is EASILY correctable in Canon’s DPP, as is the slight barrel distortion. I have not yet seen any chromatic aberration (CA).

   The USM motor is superb, FAST, QUIET & ACCURATE.

   The minimum aperture is f/22 at 15mm and f/36 at 85mm, which I love, a noticeable step up from the 18-55 IS

   Using the 15-85 lens on any of the Rebel series cameras may feel a bit unbalanced, unless you have the battery grip on your camera. I shoot with the 50D, which is a bit larger & heavier camera body, so it is a good match and well balanced, comfortable feel. The lens is substantial with a 72 mm filter size, to be safe I am taking after Nikon and I bought a B+W 77mm Circ. Pol, and will use it on the lens with a 72-77 stepping ring. This will eliminate all possibility of filter vignetting!

   It is not an “L” lens, but no EF-S lenses are.

   * Evaluation (on a 5 point scale)

   Image Quality – 5
   
   price value – 3
   
   build quality – 5
   
   focal length range – 5
   
   lens speed (f/stops) – 4
   
   focus speed – 5
   
   quiet focus – 5

   Minimum focusing distance (macro) remains constant throughout the focal length range, being about 7 or 8 inches (18-20 cm).

   I have some images in my gallery: [...]
   
   goto my gallery titled “Gallery” the first 3 images: the Statue of Liberty & the two images titled “Deer Tracks in the snow” were taken with this lens.

   Would I recommend this lens to a friend (or non-friend)?… Unquestionably YES

   I would have loved to see this lens as a constant f/4, but I’m thinking the physical size of such a lens would be unbearable.