Review of New Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 Lens
April 27, 2006: I’ve mentioned on the show that my next major camera-related purchase might be the new, not-yet released Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 Lens. I like the fixed aperature, the image stabilization and the nice range (especially on the wide angle).
What I don’t like is the $1,200 price tag. Yikes! Is it worth it. This review on Photozone seems mixed.
The Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS is not a perfect lens but it lives quite well up to the very high expectations of the user base. The resolution figures are among the very best seen so far for an APS-C standard zoom lens. The center resolution is nothing short of outstanding and the even borders can keep a very good to even excellent quality level. The distortion characteristic is quite typical for a zoom lens in this range (pronounced barrel distortions @ 17mm, moderate pincushion distortions @ 55mm) whereas CAs are unusually moderate. Unfortunately vignetting is a weak spot of the lens peaking around 1EV at f/2.8 throughout the range. It’s not a show stopper but a little annoying nonetheless. The build quality of the lens is pretty good but in relation to the price tag of the lens Canon should have used a little less plastic – finally even the much cheaper EF 70-200mm f/4 USM L features a magnesium-alloy shell. Probably a marketing decision to keep professionals away from APS-C DSLRs. All-in-all the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS is clearly a level up from the other Canon standard zooms – a highly desirable lens though the pricing may rise a few question marks.
So, should I get it or not?
Scott
May 12th, 2006 at 3:25 am
FUCK NO!!
May 12th, 2006 at 4:29 am
I’d hate to be the Canon marketing guy trying to push this lens on y’all! Thanks for the advice.
May 22nd, 2006 at 4:14 am
Scott,
What a bunch of a-holes. I’m going to be a little different and actually address your questions some amount of intelligence.
While there is no such thing as a perfect lens, it sounds like this one might be a very good all-around, general purpose lens. With your camera body it would actually be a 27-88mm which is a pretty nice range for portraiture and travel snaps.
The image stabilization is a huge bonus. I have one IS lens, the 100-400mm and I love it!
Get it, try it, you’ll probably love it … if not we’ll see it on eBay someday, lenses hold their resale value pretty good.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I just bought the lens for wedding photography. I have been using the 17-85mm IS lens but needed more light sensitivity. If I wanted to be tied to a tripod, I’d go for an L wide angle, but why bother? This lens is very sharp and being able to hand-hold at 1/15 is a must-have for me. I’m ready to give this lens it’s first run at a wedding next week and feel very confident that it will perform beautifully. Price? Yeah, it’s expensive, but there is nothing else on the market with these specs that can do what this lens can. f/2.8 and 1/15 (or even less) with no camera shake…that’s worth the $$ for me.
June 8th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
…by the way, lens hoods for this lens are next to impossible to find right now, so beware.
June 18th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
Perhaps check out the new Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens ($450). It doesn’t have IS, but allegedly performs very well… and it’s $750 less than the Canon!
August 2nd, 2006 at 1:49 pm
On my Canon body…it will be Canon optics. IS on this baby is superb, try it before start bashing EF-s.
September 30th, 2006 at 4:41 am
I must recommend against the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 for several reasons. It can only be used on APS or small-frame image sensor cameras. The vignetting and distortion problems are fairly substantial for a $1,300 lens. It is not weather or dust sealed and mostly plastic construction. Otherwise, the performance is good, but nowhere near the EF 17-40mm f/4L. The 17-55mm is faster by a full stop, but that does not make it a better lens. Just bump your ISO setting up for better results on the 17-40.
Be aware that Canon is working toward an affordable full-size image sensor EOS camera body. The EF-S lenses will be incompatible. The EF-S 17-55mm IS lens will become greatly de-valued at that time. In fact, all EF-S lenses, no matter how good they are, will lose much of their resale value.
If you are willing to spend that much money, why not just get the EF 16-35mm 2.8L. It will hold its value forever and it is a better lens! Simply choose a good normal range zoom that covers at least the 24-70mm range to work with it.
Juts my humble opinion.