Moved from 24-70 f/2.8L to 17-55 f/2.8 IS

[snmichaels]

Hi guys. I just recently made the move from the fabulous 24-70L to the 17-55 f/2.8 IS. It took me a while to make the decision as there were a lot of things to consider.

My biggest concern was with the build quality of the 17-55. I must say that there is a big difference in build quality between these two lenses. It's not so much that the 17-55 is so poor, in my opinion it's just that the 24-70L is so damn good! They don't call it the 'brick' for nothing! That said, the 17-55 isn't that bad, especially if you're upgrading, it's pretty good. The 17-55 is still good, it's nice and tight, no rattles when shaken, absolutely no zoom creep, the zoom action feels okay (stiffer than my 24-70L though).

As far as performance goes, I haven't fully tested it in many conditions, but so far it's great! I have tried it at night on the street, and it pulls off seemingly impossible shots! And I do miss having the extra wide angle over the 24mm; 17mm is MUCH noticeably wider than 24mm, but you hardly notice the missing 15mm on the long end.

I have noticed that shots from the 17-55 are noticeably cooler than the 24-70L though. I will take some more sample shots and post them up.

This has just been my experience so far.

 

[vmlopes]

Have read this on more than one forum, the 17-55 f/2.8 is widely recognised as probably the best everyday lens for a canon crop sensor.

Image is L quality, there is no doubt on that front. But its true the build quality and wetaher proofing is not like the Brick, but why have a weather sealed lens on a non weather sealed body??

I have the same combination, and you wont be dissapointed.

Victor

 

[snmichaels]

Another good thing is that money I got in the difference I can put to a flash or a fast prime or something.

 

[snmichaels]

And when I thought about it, I thought that the IS would only really be useful for really low light shots, wide open etc. But it's useful when you want to increase the DOF in certain circumstances too. So if I'm shooting a busy-ish street shots with points of interest all at different distances, I can stick it up to f/8ish and still get a quick sharp shot even with cloudy overcast days.