lens selection

I have a 40d with a 17-85mm f 4-5.6 lens. Does it make sense to trade the lens in for the newer 15-85mm f305-5.6 lens?

Dear OP...

The Canon EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 is an excellent lens (I use it on my backup 60D body). But I don't know if this would justify the change - you may want to add a different lens to your collection depending on what you are interested to take pictures of (maybe a prime or a longer lens such as Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM). You can see some samples here for these lenses - this may help you to decide. Just select your camera body and lens combination.

http://www.pixel-peeper.com/adv/?lens=13192&camera=714&perpage=12&focal_min=none&focal_max=none&aperture_min=none&aperture_max=none&iso_min=none&iso_max=none&exp_min=none&exp_max=none&res=3

Enjoy. Take pictures and share your work.

Cheers.

Bcoop wrote:

I have a 40d with a 17-85mm f 4-5.6 lens. Does it make sense to trade the lens in for the newer 15-85mm f305-5.6 lens?

Your call.  Are you using the lens aberation corrections or DLO of the latest version of DPP to get the most out of your 17-85?

The wider angle to 15mm may be enough justification compared to spending more on a 10-20ish zoom.  Or justify it based on the marginally better build and optical performance of the 15-85 over the 17-85.

I lusted for the 17-85 for a few years, but made do with my old film-era lenses on my 40D until one of them finally crapped out.  Then I bought the 15-85.  Love it.  But if I already had the 17-85 (and it was working) I don't think I'd spend the extra to upgrade to the 15-85.  That's just me, kind of a frugal person. YMMV

Re: "trade the lens" -  Retailers are going to offer much less as a trade-in than what you could get selling it yourself.

Bcoop wrote:

I have a 40d with a 17-85mm f 4-5.6 lens. Does it make sense to trade the lens in for the newer 15-85mm f305-5.6 lens?

If you are lookin to go wider...

As mentioned above, software correction of lenses has come a long way, and now its in DPP ... you'll be amazed by what that kind of lens correction can do.

If you've been shooting JPEG instead of RAW, DxO can apply lens corrections to those files for you.

As for whether it makes sense ... that's completely up to you. The new 18-135 STM is also worth considering if you want longer instead of wider.

Bcoop wrote:

I have a 40d with a 17-85mm f 4-5.6 lens. Does it make sense to trade the lens in for the newer 15-85mm f305-5.6 lens?

Only you can decide whether it makes sense to pay the extra cost for the 15-85. But here are the differences between the two lenses as I see them:

15-85 has better build quality.

15-85 goes 2mm wider--which is actually quite significant.

15-85 has 4 stops of image stabilization (vs the 17-85's 3 stops).

15-85 is slightly faster (slightly wider max aperture) at equivalent focal lengths

15-85 has noticeably better IQ. See IQ comparison here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=251&Camera=736&Sample=0&FLI=1&API=0&LensComp=675&CameraComp=736&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=1&APIComp=1