Advice please on 17-85mm..........

[Edd1e]

I am looking to upgrade my 18-55mmIS lens & have been drawn to the 17-85mm. Would this be a worth while upgrade for a general walkabout or if not what would be Thank you in advance!

[Muscat]

Re: Advice please on 17-85mm..........

I can not comment on the 18-55 but I do have the 17-85 lens and I use it as my walkabout lens. I find it to be a very good and versatile lens

[colin C]

Re: Advice please on 17-85mm..........

The 17 - 85mm IS is a well regarded lens and was considered a worthwhile upgrade for the previous 18 - 55mm, but not so much over the newer 18 - 55mm IS.

At a little more than twice the price, I would go for the 24 - 105mm f4 L IS. That is a jump up in performance, L series and a constant f4 aperture. Keep the 18 - 55mm IS to cover the wide end, with a vew to changing it for the 17 - 40 f4 L at some later date.

Colin

[Nathaniel]

Re: Advice please on 17-85mm..........

I would keep the 18mm-55mm IS lens, which is very good. I suggest you go for the 24mm-105mm L as a second lens. The latter is a lens which is in my "wish" list at the moment.

[DrJon]

Re: Advice please on 17-85mm..........

I used to have a 17-85 lens but wasn't enormously happy with it. I ended up using my 24-105 instead (and living with the lack of wide angle). The 15-55 IS is a good lens and I don't see the 17-85 as a useful upgrade. The 15-85 is a better lens though, and would be a good upgrade, but it costs more.
Suitable upgrade lenses would seem to be, to me at least:
15-85 (the obvious choice)
24-105 (especially if you might get a full-frame camera at some point or like telephoto more than wide-angle)
17-55 f2.8 (which is very impressive, but this is reflected by the price - except seems to be down to 24-105 levels...)
John

[Fr1so]

Re: Advice please on 17-85mm..........

I have the 17-85mm. It is a good lens, good built quality, good image quality. But at the 17mm you have a lot disortion. So, keep off the 17 ... and start around 20mm. But disortion can be fixed by photoshop software. The 15-85 is the upgrade for the 17-85, and is better then the 17-85 ... you find that in all the reviews. You could look at the reviews of http://www.the-digital-picture.com.

In my oponion is the 17-85 a upgrade for the 18-55mm, in the wide angel and at the long end. Ans it feels more like a lens, better glass. The only pro of the 18-55mm, is that this lens start at 3.5 aperture, and the 17-85 begins at 4.5.

And yes, if you have the money the 24-105mm L lens is very good, one of the best!