Customer Reviews

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM UD Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

ANOTHER REBATE ALERT, December 6, 2011: Canon is again running an "instant rebate" (the rebate should be in the price you see--you don't have to mail in some coupon) for this lens. This time it's over the period November 27, 2011 through January 7, 2012. If this is the right lens for you (see below for my comments and other reviews), then this is probably a good time to consider purchasing this lens. I continue to regard it as one of my most versatile lenses. Best wishes.

UPDATE, July 11, 2010: The Canon rebate referred to below should just about be concluding as I write this, so you can read this review (and others) and decide whether this lens--at its regular price--is right for you. (Or you can wait for the next rebate program, but that may be a while from now.) Since the time when I wrote my initial review, I have come to regard this lens even more highly. It feels great on my Canon EOS Rebel T2i, and I had a recent experience with this lens that might interest you. My wife and I took a sightseeing train ride along the Arkansas River through some very picturesque parts of Colorado. There was an open-air observation car that was great for taking pictures; however, when the train was moving it was impossible to remain perfectly still, as the car swayed slightly (and unpredictably) from side to side. I thought about turning the image stabilization (IS) off completely, but decided to give it a try. It turns out the IS worked beautifully. One more thing: As the sun set, the canyons the train was climbing through were alternately drenched in glorious late-day sunlight or covered with shade. Given the rapidly changing light conditions and the train sway, it wasn't the easiest task to try to capture the gorgeous scenery, especially for an amateur like me, but the Canon EF-S 15 - 85mm f/3.5 - 5.6 IS lens turned out to be up to the task. I have no regrets.

REBATE ALERT: From May 9 through July 10, 2010, Canon is running an "instant" rebate program that includes this lens--at a considerable saving. The best part about an instant rebate is that it should be built into the price you see on Amazon (it was when I bought mine), so you don't have to mail in some form and wait (and hope) for a rebate to arrive weeks later. If this is the right lens for you (something we haven't established yet), then now may be a good time to pull the trigger on a purchase.

Regarding this lens, it is a considerable improvement from the typical kit lens on a digital SLR. Kit lenses are decent for the money you pay (which isn't much), but they have clear limitations, especially in sharpness. If you are reading this review, I assume you are looking for a lens for the general-purpose focal-length range, and the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5 - 5.6 IS USM fits well into this category. The 15 - 85mm range is wider than most kit lenses (probably on both ends), which enables the photographer to use this lens for a wide variety of purposes. The build quality is quite good, though not up to "L" series lens standards. Of course, its price is also not up to L levels, either. Sharpness is very good. Frankly, I can't really tell the difference between this lens and L glass (but I'm just a humble layman), although professional photographers and serious amateurs probably can. Concerning qualities such as vignetting or chromatic aberration, I suggest you consult some of the many professional reviews on the web, which generally paint a good picture of this lens.

Okay, so should you buy this lens? That's the question I want to address with this review. If you do a lot of low light shooting, like weddings, this lens probably isn't fast enough for you. You can't always use a flash in a church. The Canon EF-S 17 - 55mm f/2.8 IS USM or the Canon EF 24 - 70mm f/2.8L USM may be better choices. Both of these lenses have what the EF-S doesn't--a much wider aperture. They also have higher price tags and a narrower focal length range. They are also heavier (especially the 24 - 70 L), which depending on how long you typically carry your camera around may mean something to you. Specifically, the 15 - 85mm weighs 20.3 ounces, while the 17 - 55mm weighs 22.8 oz, and the 24 - 70mm weighs a heftier 33.5 oz. For comparison, a Canon EOS Rebel T2i without any lens weighs only about 19 oz.

The 15 - 85mm lens is relatively new (2009), so it is built with the latest manufacturing technology. It features, for example, four-stop image stabilization, which is great. (Remember that image stabilization helps compensate for the unsteadiness of the photographer, but does nothing to stop the movement of your subject.) "Bokeh" (foreground/background blur quality) is very good. The lens is made of plastic, but its high-quality plastic, if that doesn't sound too oxymoronish.

In short, if you are looking for the absolutely finest general purpose lens that money can buy, this is not your lens. However, if what you want is a very noticeable step-up in sharpness from a kit lens, combined with a very convenient weight and four-stop image stabilization--and you don't want to fork over a great deal of money--then this lens merits your careful attention.

This lens will take a key place in the Canon line-up: it will be the first high quality wide angle to medium telephoto lens for APS-C (i.e. 1.6x) crop bodies. Thankfully, this lens is well qualified for this role. The build quality is solid and both the focus ring and zoom rings are firm yet move smoothly. The image quality provided by the lens is outstanding. The lens is very sharp across its zoom range, even wide open. Color fidelity is also a strong point of the lens, as it produces saturated yet natural colors. Distortions are also at a minimum considering the focal range of the lens. Although there is some barrel distortion at the wide end (particularly at 15mm), this is simply unavoidable for superzooms covering this range and it should be pointed out that even L lenses covering the same (35 mm equivalent) range cannot fare better in this respect. I confidently give this lens 5 stars!

The only alternative to this lens that I considered was the Canon EF-s 17-55mm f/2.8, which is another superb lens for APS-C cameras. I decided to choose the 15-85mm over the 17-55mm simply because it suited my needs better. Optically the lenses perform about the same (i.e. both offer superb image quality), therefore this did not factor into my decision. The two lenses simply have different strong suits. The 17-55mm with a constant aperture of 2.8 gives the lens versatility in low light situations and allows it to double as a portrait lens in certain situations. On the other hand, the 15-85 while having a variable aperture f/3.5-5.6 offers a greater focal range: 15-85 (i.e. 24-136 in 35mm eq.), allowing it to cover a greater range of subjects in daylight. Since I plan to later buy a dedicated portraiture lens and since I was mainly interested in a walkaround lens for reach and image quality, the 15-85mm seemed the more appropriate choice for me. Of course, the decision was only helped by the fact that the 15-85mm is also $300 cheaper than the 17-55mm. However, both the 15-85mm and the 17-55mm are great walkaround lenses offered for Canon crop bodies and which lens you choose can only be dictated by your particular circumstances.

I was one of the early fans of this lens, and to my knowledge, one of the first guys to get their hands on one and play with it, from the moment I held this lens, I knew she was a winner

Lets start with the build quality, its fantastic, ok its not quite L-level, but it is considerably better than the old 17-55 f/2.8 IS I owned, as in its put together much better, the build is similar to a midrange Nikon lens [Such as the 16-85 VR] which is a good thing, the zoom and focus rings both operate smoothly, but are also reassuringly firm, there is a slight bit of zoom creep between 24-35 I've found, but nothing major to worry about

AF-wise, its a very quick performer, probubly one of the faster USM lenses out there, and its also very quiet, even for a USM lens the soft noise is well..softer...and the IS functions completely silently and smoothly, and as advertised, its good for at least 4 stops of stabilization, I've managed 1/4 shots with ease at 85mm for instance...

Optically, this lens impresses, people may criticize its variable aperture nature but its tack sharp wide open, even at 15mm, distortions are very good [They test even less than the 24-105 f/4L on a full frame camera] and the colors have a very nice zest to them, The only down side is the chromatic aberration, which is a tidge high, but its also easily correctable from what I've seen, and certainly not as bad as some people would make it sound, overall I've been very impressed with this lens optically, its one of the best lenses I've had [And I've owned the 24-105 f/4L IS and the 17-55 f/2.8 IS] and its my favorite walk-around lens ever

My only other complaints are the fact that it should include a hood for the price, Canon is still the only manufacturer who forces you to buy $45 lens hoods for $700-800 lenses just because they're not an L lens...Its quite annoying to be honest..but again, I knew that going into this..

Overall, its a fantastic lens, don't mock it till you try it :)

I recently upgraded from the EF-S 18-55 IS to this EF-S 15-85 IS. GREAT lens, the difference between 17 & 15 is quite noticeable when it is needed. I recommend the Canon to anyone. Image quality is excellent, there is a little bit of vignetting but when you shoot in RAW, it is EASILY correctable in Canon's DPP, as is the slight barrel distortion. I have not yet seen any chromatic aberration (CA).

The USM motor is superb, FAST, QUIET & ACCURATE.

The minimum aperture is f/22 at 15mm and f/36 at 85mm, which I love, a noticeable step up from the 18-55 IS

Using the 15-85 lens on any of the Rebel series cameras may feel a bit unbalanced, unless you have the battery grip on your camera. I shoot with the 50D, which is a bit larger & heavier camera body, so it is a good match and well balanced, comfortable feel. The lens is substantial with a 72 mm filter size, to be safe I am taking after Nikon and I bought a B+W 77mm Circ. Pol, and will use it on the lens with a 72-77 stepping ring. This will eliminate all possibility of filter vignetting!

It is not an "L" lens, but no EF-S lenses are.

* Evaluation (on a 5 point scale)

Image Quality - 5
price value - 3
build quality - 5
focal length range - 5
lens speed (f/stops) - 4
focus speed - 5
quiet focus - 5

Minimum focusing distance (macro) remains constant throughout the focal length range, being about 7 or 8 inches (18-20 cm).

I have some images in my gallery: [...]
goto my gallery titled "Gallery" the first 3 images: the Statue of Liberty & the two images titled "Deer Tracks in the snow" were taken with this lens.

Would I recommend this lens to a friend (or non-friend)?... Unquestionably YES

I would have loved to see this lens as a constant f/4, but I'm thinking the physical size of such a lens would be unbearable.

This lens is the perfect walkabout lens covering 23-135 with the 1.6 factor.

Distortion is at a minimum, and although not a fast lens, the IS makes even hand held shots sharp.

The downside of this lens is that both in sunlight, and in studio flash conditions chromatic aberration (purple/green fringe) is evident in all shots. Granted it is less pronounced than with the cheap kit lens (for the 7D) but none the less at 1:1 resolution there is chromatic aberration in every shot where dark and bright come together in high contrast.

The Canon software that comes with DSLRs does a very good job of removing the fringe from photos, however that means unlike Nikon's in-camera processing of the image to remove fringe, an extra manual step of doing that on the Canon is necessary for any images that are more than casual snapshots.

If you want 1 lens for a very wide to slight tele range, this is probably the best thing available for 1.6 crop factor. However even if the price is near L lenses, this is not an L lens and it will be apparent when zooming in 1:1.

I bought the 7D as a back up for a 5Dmk2. I am a professional photographer and I write books about photography. I always use a back up. When I bought the 5D2 I found that the 24-105 nicely covered most of the focal lengths I routinely use. And I like that lens very much. So I wanted to outfit my back up body (7D) with an equivalent lens. I checked out the well reviewed 17-55mm f2.8 and I liked the constant aperture but I didn't like giving up focal length at either end. I did a bunch of research and what I found, and later confirmed, is that the 15/85 is very sharp wide open, in the center at all apertures and I decided that the speed vs. range compromise worked better for me when range was the prime consideration. So I went ahead and bought it. Most of my work consists of shooting portraits in the studio and in nice, air conditioned buildings. So for a while the 15/85 languished in my studio. Two weeks ago I won a contract to do an annual report for a major construction concern. We'd be shooting outside, in very hot and very dusty conditions the last week of July and the first week of August. It alternated between high temperatures with high humidity and very high temperatures with medium humidity. Most of the time on road construction sites in between major swaths of black top the temps ranged from 108 to 112. I chose to use the Canon 7D because of it's environmental seals and it's higher sync speed. It also focuses better than most competitive camera. I chose the 15/85 because it was able to handle very wide shots for scenics and overviews as well as tight portraits and even tight, almost macro shots. I didn't want to have to keep changing lenses in the middle of what amounted to a dust storm. Was I happy with the images. Yes. The lens is very sharp as long as you don't stop down past f8 or f11 (diffraction limiting, a law of physics...) The lens vignettes strongly at wider focal lengths and there is a lot of geometric distortion at the two extremes of focal length. A few years ago these would have been "deal killers" for me. But now all the programs I use have lens corrections that are optimized for the body and lens combination. With the checking of one box the two lens faults are corrected. And they look very good.

Over the course of the two week project I shot nearly 6,000 images with the combo. We shot in more heat than the camera's owner's manual suggests is safe. We shot in the rain and we shot in areas where dust constantly settled on the camera and lens. The lens is gasketed to a certain extent. As long as we kept dirt and water off the front element the lens gave me the images I needed to make the client very happy. And to put money in the bank. I'll keep it and I like it. So often these days we just look at stuff on our monitors but I did take ten of my favorite files and have 12 by 18 inch C-prints made. Just to see. The results were very, very good.

I'd buy this lens again but I sure wish the folks at Canon would package it with a lens hood........Range is good if it means fewer lens changes.Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography

I bought this lens to make it one of two lenses to walk around, being the other one the Canon EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS USM.

This lens has a good color saturation, sharp image quality and fast Autofocus. the 85mm focal length is very useful to zoom at something without having to carry your longer zoom around. I use this lens mostly at day time, and the 17-55mm F2.8 is my inside-night time lens, although I can stretch the IS and make good pictures in low light.

After having lenses from Tamron and one Sigma, I can really say that Canon is the best way to go if you aren't in a tight budget.

You know what they say - it's about the glass. For a walkaround/general purpose lens I had used a Tamron 18-270 on my T2i and now 7D. The problem is, I rarely used the extreme telephoto, mostly because it looked horrible.

When I changed to the 15-85, which has a great wide end by the way, it was like I had a new camera. The sharpness of this lens is quite impressive - and that's throughout it's range. This is especially true in the corners, where many other lenses show issues. CA stays impressively low as well.

Vingetting is a bit string but can easily be corrected in post or even easier, automatically in-camera on some models like the T2i, 7D, 5D MKII etc. This is a fantastic lens, and most shots look very sharp even shot full open. While it's not a fast lens, the IS is very good on it and will help compensate. Add the sharp accurate optics and you have a winner. Highly recommended.

Oh yes, it beat the pants of my old Tamron 18-270.

After one month of intensive use, I'm really happy with that lens. The focal range makes it a really good all around lens(15mm being wide enough in most situations and 85mm being long enough) and it's now my default lens on my camera.
The contrast and definition are far above the 18-55 kit sold with my camera.
The construction quality is good and the lens is quite heavy.
The only minor issues are a great amount of barrel distortion on the widest angle and a noticeable vignetting at the widest aperture (the latter is really easy to correct in post so not really an issue).
The lens is not cheap but worth it.

If you have to pick one high-quality walk-around lens for your Canon APS-C (1.6x) dSLR, this is it. I debated between this one and the Canon 17-55m f/2.8 IS; the additional range won over (the extra 2mm on the wide end helps noticeably, and longer telephoto reach is nice too), and being 25% cheaper didn't hurt. The big advantage of the other lens' f2.8 max aperture could be important to some. I shoot a decent bit of video and don't mind the smaller aperture for a little more latitude in focusing errors; even my stills are rarely shot below f5.6, though I do have other lenses to cover other needs (50mm f/1.4 USM and 70-200 f/2.8L IS).

Coupled with the EOS 7D, this lens is perfect as a fairly compact and very capable kit. Images are sharp and colorful, focusing is quick. Build quality feels solid. No issues at all!

Why 4 stars only then? Dunno, found it hard to give 5 stars when I compare it with my faster L lenses, even though those are much more expensive. Guess it's an absolute rating scale for me :)