Canon EF-S 15-85 f3.5-5.6

Jackwow

Jackwow

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Neil
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I've had a look back and can't find any other threads on this lens.

I'm thinking of buying the EF-S 15-85 as a walkabout lens for my 7D and just wanted to know if anyone had any experience of it and could recommend it.

I currently use an EF 24-105 but find that although it's got good reach it's just not wide enough and so I have to keep swapping between it and my EF-S 10-22, which can be quite annoying.
 
I have one on my 7D. I love it... Great walkabout.

Check out the flickr group :-)
 
Yep, bought one as an upgrade to my 18-55 IS and it's a lovely bit of kit. Only downside in my opinion is the high level of vignetting wide open, but that can be easily removed, particularly if you use DPP to process.
 
It is supposed to be a good lens with a good range just over 5x. It is highly priced and from what i have seen the second hand versions keep their money so far.
 
Thanks Deckard and you Dylan. Looks like the card will be taking a hit this weekend as I'm of to Thailand next week.
 
Bought the 18-55 this evening, but as it was dark by the time I got home I haven't had a chance to use it other than a few test shots in the shop. Lens appears to be very well made, nice firm zoom and feels better balanced on the 7D than the 24-105. So lets hope it performs as good as it feels.
 
Planned to try it out yesterday but spent all day in front of the box watching the Ryder Cup. However did manage to take a serious of shots, from my apartment balcony, both wide open and fully extended at various apertures and am very pleased to say that it is very sharp and there is absolutely no sign of any vignetting.

As it's dark every day by the time I finish work in Dubai I won't get any chance to use it this week but I'll be in Thailand the following two weeks so hope to give it a good try out then.
 
Jackwow said:
Planned to try it out yesterday but spent all day in front of the box watching the Ryder Cup. However did manage to take a serious of shots, from my apartment balcony, both wide open and fully extended at various apertures and am very pleased to say that it is very sharp and there is absolutely no sign of any vignetting.

As it's dark every day by the time I finish work in Dubai I won't get any chance to use it this week but I'll be in Thailand the following two weeks so hope to give it a good try out then.
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I think that's a super lens, and doesn't get the attention it deserves. Range is fantastic, very sharp and pretty flare-free. It's just the prejudice we all seem to have, including me, about f/3.5-5.6 as a lowest f/number, even though that's mostly all you ever need.

As for vignetting, I think you must have the vignetting correction enabled on the 7D - it certainly has a bit of that at 15mm :eek: I guess that's a good example of how software can sort these things out. Canon's DPP is brilliant for correcting vignetting, CA and distortion with a single mouse click, but only works with Raw.
 
Jackwow said:
But any reason to not just let the camera do it?
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There's more control in DPP, and some other software packages like LightRoom, but the camera does a pretty good job of vigneting. However, it doesn't do anything to CA (which isn't bad with the 15-85) or distortion (which is). That is, straight lines at the edges of the frame, like buildings, that appear curved outwards, barrel distortion, especially at wider angles.

This kind of software correction is commonplace in many compacts and will surely be a feature of new DSLRs (Nikon has a rather basic CA correction facility on some cameras now) but I think manufacturers are wary of our natural 'emotional resistance' to software solutions to optical problems even though it will give us better images.
 
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