Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM User Reviews

I loved using this lens when it was all I had. The sharpness wide open wasn't spectacular, but 8 Mpixels is all we had then. The main issue was distortion, which software then didn't correct for easily. Otherwise, fairly sharp and nice optical range. Loved the image stabilization and quick focusing. It got stolen with my camera, and I replaced with the 17-55/f2.8.

I have had this lens for many years. It has taken some abuse and has some battle scars. I have not experienced the 'error 99' with the aperture cable tearing as many people have reported. Ergonomics and build are good. The focus is quick and accurate. IS works well. I would consider this lens to be a step up from the first 18-55, but not on par with the STM version or the 15-85 that replaced this lens. 17mm is a mess being not very sharp, high distortion and CA's. However, the rest of the ...

This was a really nice general walk about lens. I had several years faithful service with some very crisp results. However it failed. Just like so many other people with this lens, "error 99". Turn the camera off an on would reset it for a while until finally even that stopped working. Searching the net and I found it to be a very common fault of this lens. Apparently an internal wiring harness breaks. I wasn't prepared to spend the money to get it fix so I sold it as is (with full ...

Came as my kit lens with a Canon 40D back in 2009. A vast improvement on the kit 18-55 that came with my 20D a year or so earlier. Much faster ultrasonic auto focus with more sure focus lock, :-) greater zoom range :-) (27-135 in FF terms) meant that until I updated to a 15-85 this lens remained on my 40D 90 % of the time. Overall I say it was a good but not great lens, wide open and 17mm it lacks sharpness :-( but this improves as you zoom up. Good close focus (marked as Macro but no way is ...

This is my girlfriends main walkaround lens on her EOS 7D. I also used to own this lens in past. Not the best lens around, but decent for the price. It has rather high CA, but can be corrected in lightroom, distortion is also high, can also easily be corrected in lightroom. IS is helpful, HSM is quick and quite. Eventually we will replace this lens maybe with Sigma 17-70 2.8-4 or Canon 15-85.

Love this lens, have taken most of my favourite photos with it and it is the one most likely to be found on my DSLR. Having said that, its a bit soft wide open and after a couple of years the AF stopped working however I have continued to use in MF mode and whilst a bit of a pain 4 years since the AF broke I am still using it. If I had my choice again I would maybe go for a faster lens and sacrifice the IS if necessary, something like the EF-S 17 - 55mm f2.8 IS would probably be ideal but ...

I've compared the one I have with a 17-40L lens and there simply wasn't that much difference. Given the additional range and IS, this is the walk-around lens that I've been using for years. Build quality is so-so. It doesn't zoom in/out that smoothly. But it has held up for years with no problems. Perhaps, check the sharpness of the one you get before you decide to keep it.

This is a good travel zoom at an acceptable price, even if I would have preferred to have it somewhat faster. Before you buy an EF-S lens, be aware that it cannot be used on a full frame camera. Sooner or later you may end up with such a camera (I did..). Problems: I got problems with the autofocus right after the warranty was out, and I considered it too expensive to repair.

This was the kit lens that I got with my 40D. Its positive features are the relatively light weight and small size, and the near ideal focal range for a walk-around lens. Unfortunately, the image quality is pretty poor, particularly at the frame edges at wide angle. The image also tends to be quite soft as the zoom approaches 85mm. This coupled with a not too impressive build quality and also zoom creep (as you carry the camera the lens slowly extends and there is no locking mechanism) means ...

It is best for normal use .It covers all wide and zoom functions. Problems: some time has error. i think somthing like 99 error. which is due to the damage of strip inside it.