Maybe this question should be on meta. I've just come across the Canon EF-S 15-85mm. It's been available since 2009. I'm just wondering why it has never been mentioned on photo_se_com or any of the other photo sites that I read. Granted, I've since found it on dpreview announced (not reviewed) and a few other places and it is available at Amazon. But it never comes up in lists of "what lenses should I buy".
To me, this seems like the perfect walk-about lens (I like wide) for the casual photog and yes, it is a bit slow, and yes it is a bit expensive. My question is, are there any major problems with this lens that would justify its relative anonymity. As I said it's never been mentioned on photo_se_com, which seems odd for such a versatile range.
Answer
It doesn't provide too much advantage over a standard 17/18-55 kit lens: small, variable aperture (3.5-5.6), an only slightly wider wide end, and an only slightly longer tele end.
Unless you really need both "just a little bit wider" and "just a little bit longer", you might as well spend your $700 on a lens that fits your needs better: perhaps a 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 or an 18-200 f/3.5-5.6, which would provide a faster aperture at 85mm than the 15-85 listed.
Personally, I'd rather sacrifice the 15-17mm range, crop if I need 85, and get a faster standard zoom like the 17-55 f/2.8.
In short, it doesn't really fill any role (wide/long/fast) well; it's just a kit zoom lens with a little bit more zoom capability.
No comments:
Post a Comment