Upgrade to 15-85 USM from 18-55 STM?: Canon SLR Lens Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Upgrade to 15-85 USM from 18-55 STM?

Started Jun 30, 2014 | Discussions

wanner • Regular Member • Posts: 377

Upgrade to 15-85 USM from 18-55 STM?

Jun 30, 2014

I'm thinking about upgrading from my 18-55 STM kitlens and have been looking at the 15-85 USM as a general walking around lens to go with my 700D/T5i.
What has me interested is the extra sharpness, its wider and more reach.

What are your thoughts?
Is the 15-85 worth the money to upgrade from 18-55 STM or are there better alternatives?

edit: Just realized that the 17-55/2.8 or similar is probably more suited to my needs

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Canon 700D
Canon 18-55mm STM
Canon 40mm STM
Canon 55-250 STM

wanner's gear list:wanner's gear list

Canon PowerShot S90 Canon EOS 700D Canon EF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM +4 more

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Canon EOS 700D (EOS Rebel T5i / EOS Kiss X7i)

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STR54 • Regular Member • Posts: 297

Just do it!

In reply to wanner • Jul 1, 2014

wanner wrote:

I'm thinking about upgrading from my 18-55 STM kitlens and have been looking at the 15-85 USM as a general walking around lens to go with my 700D/T5i.
What has me interested is the extra sharpness, its wider and more reach.

What are your thoughts?
Is the 15-85 worth the money to upgrade from 18-55 STM or are there better alternatives?

Hey wanner,

Way back when I purchased my Canon T2i plus 18-55 zoom kit, the lens was immediately sold and the 15-85 was purchased. The kit zoom was never mounted on my camera but I put it it on the buyers camera body to make sure it did function! Anyway over the past four years the only things that have developed with the 15-85 have been some zoom creep and the slim silver trim tape has come off. It took your post to even remember owning the 18-55 :-). Do recommend purchasing a cheap knockoff lens shade to help with the little flare it can produce. If you need samples just search this forum and there are some in my gallery too. There are other alternatives especially if you think going full-frame is in your future. But for Canon APS-C cameras the 15-85 has my highest praise.

Mike

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technic • Veteran Member • Posts: 8,932

Re: Upgrade to 15-85 USM from 18-55 STM?

In reply to wanner • Jul 1, 2014

wanner wrote:

I'm thinking about upgrading from my 18-55 STM kitlens and have been looking at the 15-85 USM as a general walking around lens to go with my 700D/T5i.
What has me interested is the extra sharpness, its wider and more reach.

What are your thoughts?
Is the 15-85 worth the money to upgrade from 18-55 STM or are there better alternatives?

I previously had the 18-55IS (the STM version is even better) and now use the 15-85. I don't think you are going to get extra sharpness with the 15-85; however, the 15-85 has better contrast/color, much more useful reach for 'walkaround' and much better mechanical quality. So don't pay the huge upgrade fee for extra sharpness, but zoom reach and other qualities are difficult to put a value on.

If you want good reach (from 24mm equiv. to tele) I don't think there are serious APS-C alternatives for the 15-85IS. If you want first of all better optical quality and can compromise on focal length range, there are many other options e.g. Sigma 2.8/17-50, Canon 2.8/17-55 and Sigma 18-35.

edit: Just realized that the 17-55/2.8 or similar is probably more suited to my needs

the main 2.8/17-55 advantage is that it is brighter (especially at the long end) and has very good quality even wide open. So it is a good choice if you often work in low light conditions (e.g. indoors without flash) and/or want better DOF control.

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jvc1 • Senior Member • Posts: 2,202

Re: Upgrade to 15-85 USM from 18-55 STM?

In reply to wanner • Jul 1, 2014

I've owned the 15-85 for 3 years. I didn't even consider the 18-55 kit lens (the STM version didn't exist then) when I bought my 60D so I can't comment on the IQ differences. I can tell you that I love the 15-85. I've been very happy with the pictures and so far, no zoom creep. I have 4 other lenses but this one in on my camera most of the time. The difference on the wide end between 15 & 18 is bigger than you'd think too. I use a bounced flash most of the time indoors. You can compare the lenses at "the digital picture" if you want to see how it stacks up to the 18-55 and the 17-55.

jvc1's gear list:jvc1's gear list

Canon EOS Rebel SL2 Canon EOS 90D Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM +10 more

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SimpleKindaEye • Regular Member • Posts: 236

Re: Upgrade to 15-85 USM from 18-55 STM?

In reply to wanner • Jul 1, 2014

wanner wrote:

I'm thinking about upgrading from my 18-55 STM kitlens and have been looking at the 15-85 USM as a general walking around lens to go with my 700D/T5i.
What has me interested is the extra sharpness, its wider and more reach.

What are your thoughts?
Is the 15-85 worth the money to upgrade from 18-55 STM or are there better alternatives?

edit: Just realized that the 17-55/2.8 or similar is probably more suited to my needs

Check out the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8. I just recently got it and have been happy with it both inside and out. I got it for use inside with low ligth situations and its working great and recently took a walk around outside. I am happy with this lens so far.

SimpleKindaEye's gear list:SimpleKindaEye's gear list

Canon EOS 600D Canon EOS 6D Canon EF 50mm F1.4 USM Canon EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM +5 more

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akustykmagmanetpl • Senior Member • Posts: 1,363

do!

In reply to wanner • Jul 2, 2014

wanner wrote:

I'm thinking about upgrading from my 18-55 STM kitlens and have been looking at the 15-85 USM as a general walking around lens to go with my 700D/T5i.
What has me interested is the extra sharpness, its wider and more reach.

What are your thoughts?
Is the 15-85 worth the money to upgrade from 18-55 STM or are there better alternatives?

I know "The Internet" is raving about 18-55 STM how it is supposed to be super sharp etc.

but it's not what I see in real life photos. now with 15-85 my observations are spot on with tests and charts - this is a very sharp lens, with well controlled distortions and vignetting, very good contrast and colors. best standard zoom for APS-C Canons.

plus, the difference between 15mm and 18mm is quite significant, especially for an outdoor photographer.

as for combination of 15-85 with Rebel (I've had 600D) - it is a little bit lens-heavy and all together not really small. but it surely is smaller than 700D + 17-55

akustykmagmanetpl's gear list:akustykmagmanetpl's gear list

Canon EOS 10D Canon EOS 80D Canon 6D Mark II Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM Canon EF 50mm F1.4 USM +9 more

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Damoo • Senior Member • Posts: 1,102

4 years ago, Yes. Not now

In reply to wanner • Jul 2, 2014

If this was 4 years ago, then 15-85mm would sound as a good option.

However, now with the sigma 18-35mm f1.8, the reduced price of Canon's 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM, sigma's 17-50mm f2.8 OS are much better alternatives.

If you are getting 20-25% discount on the current market price of the 15-85mm, then you can go for it. (Its a sub $400 lens)

Damoo's gear list:Damoo's gear list

Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) Olympus OM-D E-M5 Canon EOS 6D Sony a7S Canon EOS 5D Mark IV +16 more

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plantdoc • Veteran Member • Posts: 4,339

Re: Upgrade to 15-85 USM from 18-55 STM?

In reply to wanner • Jul 3, 2014

Don't expect a big difference in sharpness from the STM. Range and build quality are the major differences. Be sure to check the 15-85 for decentering at wide angle. This was an issue for me and reported by others. However, perhaps Canon has adjusted QC for an IQ problem that has been too common for me.

Greg

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