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EF-S 17-55 USM & EF-S 15-85 USM. Do they differ in color reproduction?

Started Mar 9, 2014 | Discussions thread
photonius Veteran Member • Posts: 6,895
Re: EF-S 17-55 USM & EF-S 15-85 USM. Do they differ in color reproduction?

Sol Invictus wrote:

Hello. I recently rented these two lenses for my EOS 700D and took a series of pictures with them. Apart from other image specs, I noticed that while shooting at the same aperture setting, my copy of 17-55 gave bright (more than desired) and washed out images that lacked colors and vibrancy. In comparisson, the 15-85 deliverd very good colors that were vibrant and full of life. Strangely enough, I got the same vibrant results from my 18-55 IS STM kit lens again at the same aperture setting.

the change in color due is due to overexposure:

Here two pics, SAME lens, just different exposures. the second overexposed is more bluish.

I found that if I slightly underexpose the images taken with the 17-55 and add some saturation/vibrancy, the final results look very similar to the images taken with the 15-85 (without any pp) but I don't want to go under this route. So what's the deal with the 17-55? Could this be an issue of my copy only?

possibly the 17-55 transmits more light? don't compare it to another lens with the same  settings (I presume done full manual). Just use it with the normal exposure metering (P, T, or A), do the exposures come out correct?

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