Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
Customer Review: An excellent all-around upgrade lens for APS-C DSLR
Summary: 5 Stars
It is really hard to write a review for this lens where there are many more already in great detail. Instead of an in-depth review I will tell you how this lens has given my camera a new life.
I own a Canon Xti DSLR camera and for more than one and a half years I had been using it with the kit lens until it stopped working, I was deciding either to send it for repair or invest in a new one. The main use for this lens would be parties, where people tend to be very close together or when you want to take a picture where everyone gets around, from 10 to 20 in one frame!!! Also, every now and then some interior photography or landscape comes around. Therefor I needed to keep using a similar wide lens.
I was considering three options, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM, Canon 17-40mm f/4 L IS USM and Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM. The first two were full frame compatible in the event of upgrading to a full frame camera which was not in consideration, then was the fact that the 16-35mm and the 17-55mm have fast apertures. My every day use for my camera is at night mostly so this was a good point to take into account, I could have gone with the f/4 since with the kit lens I tried to keep the zoom at 24mm wich always gives me this aperture but if I was to buy a new lens a better and faster aperture was desirable. That left me with option 1 and 3 (option 2 was good for the price). Before deciding for the 17-55mm I had tried the 16-35mm and it worked as expected, excellent response, fast autofocus and great image quality but I was still short in zoom range besides the fact of being quite more expensive than the 17-55mm.
My conclusion was to buy the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM since it had a little more zoom to go, Image Stabilizer, crop-optimized and not that expensive as an L lens, still light enough to take one-hand pictures. So far it has succeded to fill my expectations, hands down.
Customer Review: Best wide Zoom on a Crop Body Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
After much consideration and reading almost every review available for the 24-70L, I dropped the hat and bought one. I was so excited; I could barely wait to get it. Upon my first few shots, I thought I had made the right choice and a good investment (After all $1300 on a camera lens is an investment, right?) Started to notice on anything off of 70mm (60mm-24mm), my subjects seemed blurry and out of focus. Begin the testing. This lens back focused anything but 70mm every after micro adjusting it. For some reason, when I used my 430ex flash and the AF assist on it, it was even worse. BTW I have a 50D. I am not talking barely back focusing.....I am talking feet! Did forum and internet searching and found many, many post about the same issues and how some had been able to correct by having Canon (Adjust it). So I sent it to Canon. Comes back confirming the issue and they replaced the Collar and tested. Well, that is nice, but still did it! Sent the lens back as defective for a replacement. Amazon, BTW was extremely helpful with this. Got my replacement within 2 days. Did side by side comparisons and the replacement was better. Still the issue was there. A few suggestions were to focus at 70mm, then zoom to what I want and shoot. This works! But, call me silly, for $1300 this is BS! I requested to exchange the 24-70L with a 17-55mmIS. Let me tell you how happy I am with it. The WOW factor was instant with it and the sharpness is incredible. Every shot, consistantly in focus and IQ is just....wonderful! This is the lens for the crop body camera, don't even waste your time on the 24-70L, for a 2.8 wide zoom, this is THE lens.
Update 2-2010 - Just love this lens! The more I use it, the better I like it. Now I have a new problem though: Deciding which of my keepers to delete.....
Customer Review: Help!! I'm an L Lens Trapped in a cheap EF-S Body!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hear me out on this one, I just gave up the very well built and excellent Tokina 16-50 2.8, the ONLY reason why I gave it up was because I needed IS in low light situations. Apart from that, I had no desire whatsover to sell it, but I had to given the direction my photography is taking. On to the 17-55 - I can't believe Canon has the gaul to charge this much (Just north of $1,000) for this lens with;
a.) No lens hood - virtually all 3rd party lenses come with the hood, are built better and cost hundreds less.
b.) A mostly plastic body...
Its high time Canon considered making an L series lens with the EF-S designation, especially when the cropped frame cameras outsell the full framers by a wide margin - I'm beside myself when I consider the 70-200mm L f/4 (non-IS) is made of magnesium, has a lens hood, a lens pouch - yet it costs $300 - $400 less than this lens!!
All of that said, and even with all my negative feelings about the build, hood and no pouch - all is forgiven once I see the results of the images.
At the end of the day, optically, this is a stellar lens, killer in low light, the IS is absolute must if you do any sort of event photography, if you're an APS-C user (XXD, 7D, and Rebel series) there really isn't a suitable alternative that gives you the range, the f-stop and the IS in the ef-s (or third party) lineup to suit pros - the new Sigma 17-50 2.8 is a recent possibility - essentially what we have here is an L professional series lens trapped in a consumer body... Optically (and a lack of competition for cropped sensor lenses) the price is justified, but that's about it... Tokina are you listening?
Customer Review: Great Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
I have only had this lens for 2 days. My initial impression is very favorable as demonstrated by my rating. The weight is good and the image quality is amazing, this is very good glass.
Although the price is high for a non-L lens this is a good investment. The image stabilization is very good and is not offered on any comparable L lens.
I wish this was a EF and not an EF-S but I have no intention at this point of upgrading to a full frame sensor. Also, it would be very nice to have an included lens hood for this price range.
I would highly recommend this lens based on initial impression.
Update 1 yr later:
Best all around lens. I have had friends borrow this lens for trips and they loved it too. The 2.8 aperture will allow this lens to get great shots in marginal light. The images blow the other lens I have tried away, and this includes the L glass in similar focal lengths. I also love the ability to focus the lens without shifting out of auto focus, simply allow the lens to auto focus and then turn the focusing ring to refine the focal point.
Some people have commented on dusting issues with this lens. I have not seen this issue at all but I am pretty careful about cleaning and handling my lens both on an ongoing basis and during lens swaps. I also constantly have a B+W 77mm UVA (Ultra Violet) Haze MRC Filter #010 on it at all times, this MAY help.
If i could only have one lens this would be it.
Still highly recommended.
Customer Review: L series performance *appended- repair needed
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the SHARPEST lens I have come across in the range of 17-XX. I have also owned the 17-40 L series in the past and this lens is sharper. The addition of IS to the already phenomenal F2.8 makes this lens a spectacular performer. The only difference between this lens and an "L" series is no weatherproofing seal and the fact it moves the front element back and forth when zooming.. oh and the little red stripe! It didn't miss out on the L price point though. They certainly hit that easily. If you are thinking that you are going to stick with Canon's 1.6x sized sensor cameras.. this is a GREAT investment.
APPENDED: 10/07.. the lens has started to have IS issues and will be headed in for repair soon, the IS was an un-needed bonus for me I hardly use it.. but it's started to activate and cause the image to shake uncontrollably while the IS switch is OFF! So be aware that this may be a problem that could arise from misuse:( I let somebody borrow it and they kept the IS on while it was on the tripod for quite some time) or it could be a time/usage failure, but I have had it for about a year and a half now and it's headed back to canon for what I hope is not a costly repair. There is also some dust on the inside of the front lens element that I will have them remove while they have it, but to all the whiners out there.. IT'S NOT AFFECTING MY PHOTOS. It would require SO much dust on that lens element to be noticeable, it's the REAR element that's easy for the slightest piece of dust show up especially at higher f-stops. I will update again when I get the repair bill.