Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens

Boasting an impressive 5x zoom range this is a versatile lens.....

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  Solid feel and 5x zoom range

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  Barrel distortion, wide-aperture resolution

The EF-S 17-85mm is a major step up from Canon’s EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 II kit lens, adding an extended focal length range, image stabilization, fast and silent autofocus with a decent manual focus option, and substantially improved build quality.

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  Decent build quality - much better than any of Canon's 18-55mm kit lenses, Very useful focal length range, almost ideal for a walkaround lens, Highly effective image stabilization, Excellent autofocus and manual override, Consistently high image quality across almost all of the range

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  Poor performance at wideangle, with marked barrel distortion, high levels of light falloff, and intense green/magenta chromatic aberration, Slow maximum aperture, Very average close-up performance

The build quality of this lens is one of the major drawbacks. Border quality at the wide zoom range is another one. All-in-all, the lens tries to be a lot of things but fails in most of them.

I can’t help feeling that Canon have pushed the focal range a tad too far at the wide end of this optic because from the 20mm mark through to the 85mm end it is a cracking walkabout lens. It is only the widest few millimetres that let it down a touch.

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  Excellent resolution holds up throughout the focal range., IS system helps a lot in low light., The lens makes a good replacement for kit lenses, The focal range ideal for a walkabout lens.

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  Distortion is bad at the widest settings and a little CA creeps in., Front lip is prone to damage., Hood is an optional extra.

The Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens combines a very useful zoom range with image stabilization in a light and well-performing package . Keep in mind that the 17-85 IS is an "EF-S" lens and only works on EF-S compatible Canon EOS bodies such as the **D and Digital Rebel / ***D Series.

The first step up Canon's ladder of standard zoom lenses, at least from the kit lens supplied with the 550D and 600D , is the EF-S 17-85mm. It's better built, with a much sturdier feel than the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens for those cameras.

The Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 USM IS is a lens that promises many things. It is certainly a very versatile standard zoom with a long zoom range and an image stabilizer that can save the day in many situations.

Canon seems to use an odd kind of policy, (i.e., we will produce something good, but so that it is not too good we will make one of its characteristics flawed). So the lens has a weak aperture but still it is sizable.

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  good picture quality in the center of the frame and at the whole focal length range, coma and astigmatism at an acceptable level, good anti reflective coatings (no inner flares), efficient and fast autofocus, solid build, picture stabilization

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  high level of chromatic aberration at 17 mm focal length, weak picture resolution at 17 mm at the edges of the frame, visible vignetting at 17 mm, very large distortion at 17 mm focal length, weak aperture

This lens which I just purchased for the 2nd time, since I wore out the 1st one I owned , is nothing less than amazing and spectacular. Presently is much cheaper than what I paid for it a few years ago. It is very versatile, light , agile and reliable. The focus is fast and the results are pristine.

I bought this lens when I upgraded from 50D to a 7D mark ii. The ability of the 7D mark ii to store in camera lens correction profiles is a game changer for lenses like this. It may not be a perfect lens, no lens is, but now you have the ability to fix it in camera without having to play around in...

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  Really great zoom range. Good image stabilization

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  Not as good as my 17-40, but hey what do you want for the price.

There seems to be a lot of quality control issues with this lens. The main problen i have with this lens is "zoom creep". Its also hard to focus manually.Other than that, the lens is good. I traded the kit lens that came with the camera for this lens, and i'm glad i did.

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  good lens if you dodge a lemon.

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  Poor build quality, zoom creep

Canon EF-S 17-85mm, a major improvement from Canon’s EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 II kit lens offers attractive features appropriate for individuals who are into photography while traveling light.

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  • Powerful ring-type ultra-sonic monitor (USM) produces fast and silent autofocusing (1.15ft close), • Standard zoom lens with f/4-5.6 maximum aperture, • Very handy weighing 475g (1 lb) measuring 78.5mm (3.1”) in diameter and 92mm (3.6”) long, • EF-S Lens mount ideal for EOS (Canon) bodies...

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  • Intrusion of magenta chromatic deviation and marked barrel distortion brings poor performance at wide-angle, • Average close-up performance, • Slow aperture speed

This is a great lens. I've used this lense on both my Rebel XTi and my Canon 20D with great success. The autofocus is quick and the Image Stabilization is fantastic. And the lense is very easy to keep clean and provides outstanding images.

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  Consistent Output, Durable, Easily Interchangeable, Easy To Clean, Lightweight, Rugged, Sharp Focus, Strong Construction

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  None so far

Objectif parfait pour les voyages vu sa plage d'utilisation et son poids mais gros problème de fiabilité comme beaucoup l'ont constaté. Dommage pour l'image Canon, on s'attend à mieux.Acheté en Juin 2012, en panne en décembre 2014....

Fantastic lens , top quality images, The USM auto focus is so silent that I was wondering if it was working, so I made some tests and indeed it does work very well and the focus is impeccable...and you dont ear anything when it does and it does it very smouthly. what a great buying decidsion.

I have the original version of this lens, made in Japan. This version is made in Taiwan and sells for about 1/2 of what I paid for the original. Actually, not much more expensive than buying the kit lens.