EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM

This is a great piece of kit. I would place myself in the category of amateur photographer. I love to take my DSLR on holiday, out for dog walks and hikes but as a graphic/web designer, also use it for work (stock photography, headshots, office pictures etc). I decided to upgrade as after taking 3-4 fixed focal length lenses on holiday with me, I was getting annoyed with constantly changing lens and the stock lens just wasn't up to the job of producing quality images - now I just take this one lens and occasionally another fixed focal lens with a wider aperture (but f/2.8 is by no means small)! After upgrading to this lens as my 'everyday' lens, I can safely say I will never buy a camera kit again, I will opt for 'body only' as the stock lenses are poop. The picture quality produces by this lens far outweighs the stock lens, with its larger diameter and large aperture. Build quality is as expected - good. After years of use, my stock lens 'grinds' a bit when zooming, but this is super smooth. As usual, as soon as I get a new lens, I put a Hoya UV filter on, to protect the surface of the lens more than anything (would rather scratch a filter than the actual lens). Overall, highly recommended to professionals and amateurs alike - you'll absolutely love it!

I had read about this lens for many months and finally decided to buy it for my Canon EOS 40D. It is great where the subjects are not too far away and where either poor light or absolute image quality are of paramount interest. Personally I use it about 40% of the time on my 40D with a superzoom (Sigma 18-200 OS) being fitted for the rest of the time for general outdoor photography. You can take the image quality, image stability system and all those other nice things for granted, but it is darned heavy for a 'short zoom' lens (10% heavier than the Sigma Superzoom) and it is also as clumsy to carry around as my Canon EF 70-300IS telephoto. I suspect as I become more demanding of my kit, the EF 17-55's strengths will become far more important than the drawbacks mentioned above...

This lens is super-versatile. 17mm is pleasingly wide for a general-purpose zoom. It's great right through the zoom range. WIth the optical quality of the 'L' series there's very few aberrations. The image stablisation is a dream for hand-held dusk and night photography. The circular aperture provides smooth background blur. If using an E-TTL II flash, this lens sends distance data to the flash which many of the EF lenses don't. The only downside (other than the pricetag) is weight. I find it too heavy to take on a long walk. It is also quite big, and bad for snapshot portraits because people find big lenses intimidating. I find primes easier for those situations.

Let's start at the top: why 4 stars? I bought this lens in 2009, and fourteen moths down the line it seized up: wouldn't zoom below around 35mm. after a lot of struggle, I returned it to Canon who fixed it, and charged me £120 for the privilege, as it was two months out of warranty. It has to be said they were very quick (return in four days)but even so. On the forums, I see this is a well-reported problem with this lens - it can suck in dust through the front element. (I don't shoot in the desert or on the beach, and always have a UV or polarising filter on the lens.) Now you might be asking - why not much lower than 4 stars? Quite frankly, this is a BRILLIANT lens in terms of image quality. I have some L glass, but this outperforms much of the L series. Yes, really. Don't just take my word for it. Bob Atkins ([...]) lists the best Canon EOS lens, and this is the only EF-S lens in the top 20 (at number 17 currently) with a score of 9.6/10. Neither of my Ls score more than 9 - and I'm very happy with them. This is my "go-to" lens. When walking (touring in GB, France, Spain, Germany, South Africa...) it's my most used lens by some distance. Often it's the only lens I take. The range is ideal for general photography (for me, mostly landscape, architecture and general.) It's equivalent to just wider than 28mm to 88mm for a full-frame/35mm camera. And as 2.8, it's fast. The IS works well too: I have no problem hand-holding down to 1/10th of a second - or slower with a good support to brace against. Remember, of course, it's EF-S so won't fit a full-frame camera (such as the 5D and 1D series.) And remember - it's a Canon, so no case, and no lens hood. Cheapskates. You'll need a lens hood, of course, as this is a wide lens. So, if you're shooting with a crop body and can afford the lens, buy it. But I'd also buy a SquareDeal type insurance to extend cover to three years. ANd when it arrives, check the zoom action. If it's not TOTALLY smooth, or seems to stick a little, send it back. Noting my "negative" points - build-quality, no lens hood, cost me an arm and a leg to repair - then you'll see my 4 stars mean that I still love this lens: you can't argue with image quality, clarity, brightness and VERY low distortion. But make sure you have a backup if you're off on a big trip.

I've captured some of the best images of my life using this lens on a Canon EOS 7D and a 70D. Sharp and vibrant with great depth of field. Sharp and fast auto focus and effective stabilization make this IMO the best standard zoom for Canon cropped sensor cameras (and I've used a few 18-50mm (ish) kit lenses including the EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM that came with my EOS 7D and was very good itself). A few specs of dust have appeared inside and although that is annoying it doesn't affect any image quality. The difference is very subtle and almost unnoticeable but the effect is there! As I said I've captured some of the best images of my life using this lens and I've had an SLR or DSLR for 30 years.

The excellent quality of this lens was apparent as soon as I unboxed it. Compared to the 18-55 kit lens this is a massive step up in terms of picture quality, and having an aperture of f2.8 across the full focal range is really great. Focusing is very fast and accurate. I'm probably not going to be able to use this for travel due to (1) weight and (2) size. That's not a criticism of the lens, just the reality of needing to travel light!

Lovely lens, and great images... was being used for product photography daily. However, I was forced to send it back as I was experiencing lens creep under the weight of the lens when shooting downward on a subject (i.e. facing the ground). Ended up going for a similar lens in the Sigma range.. half the price, have been using it for over a year now with no problems.

I love this lens, I've been a landscape photographer for a few years and had been using the Sigma 10-20mm and Sigma 24-70mm for the bulk of my shots. I always wanted something in between these 2 lenses so when I read a review of the Canon I started to make plans to get one. With me now moving into portraiture I think this lens is perfect for all-purpose use and having the f2.8 aperture with the IS really is a pleasure to use. It's very sharp and focus is fast. And to cap it all I kept an eye on the price here on Amazon and the price fluctuated between £720 and £780 so I thought the next time it came back down to the lower figure I'd get it, one day it dropped to £595 so I ordered it quick! And with the cashback it made it a very reasonable price when you think it was around £800 most places. I've yet to use it for landscapes yet but loving it for the portraits I've done. Just make sure you get a protective filter as soon as you get it!

It is a great general purpose lens for every day photography ,fast focus ,great picture details with low light capability . With lens hood it it has a wow factor ! But some how EF 50mm f/1.4 usm is more practical and easy to use if wide angle is not your need of the hour !

Ho acquistato questo obiettivo per abbinarlo alla mia 70D e dopo due anni di utilizzo posso dire che mai acquisto fu più indovinato. Partiamo dai punti di forza: l'APERTURA COSTANTE di f/2.8 nell'intera gamma zoom e lo stabilizzatore d’immagine da 3 stop garantiscono prestazioni sorprendenti e massima versatilità d’inquadratura in condizioni di scarsa LUMINOSITÀ. La MAF automatica è incredibilmente rapida e super SILENZIOSA. Fantastica anche la SFOCATURA dello sfondo che si riesce ad ottenere anche grazie all'ampia apertura circolare. Una volta acquistato questo 17-55mm, l'unica alternativa per ottenere risultati migliori da uno zoom normale è quella di passare a FF e serie L. Le uniche note dolenti sono il prezzo (costa più di un corpo macchina di medio livello) e il peso, circa 600 grammi (alla lunga si fanno sentire). Per il resto, di tutto il parco lenti Canon per APS-C credo che questa sia indiscutibilmente quella che occupa il gradino più alto del podio. In sintesi: PRO: ✓ luminosità ✓ nitidezza ✓ stabilizzazione ✓ sfocatura sfondo CONTRO: 〤 prezzo 〤 peso 〤 assenza del paraluce (che va acquistato a parte) In definitiva, come da titolo, è la MIGLIORE LENTE DI SEMPRE PER APS-C.

Puedo hablar en propiedad , es una maravilla de objetivo , luminoso con un enfoque suave y seguro y para los como yo que no tenemos mucho pulso .....genial. Estoy después de algunos avatares súper satisfecho.

If you told me this lens was new, I would have believed you. Pristine condition.

Pocket Cinema Camera 6KとSigma EF 17-50mm f2.8 APS-C を繋いで満足していたのだけど、ふと、Sigmaの手ぶれ補正をオフにして手持ち撮影をしてみるとPocket Cinema Camera側のジャイロセンサーが無効に。 「常時レンズ手ぶれ補正オン」となっていて、これは常に信号が流れるレンズの仕様らしい。 ムキーっとなってこちらを買ったら、レンズ手ぶれ補正オン -> ジャイロ無効、レンズ手ぶれ補正オフ -> ジャイロ有効、となり期待通りの挙動に。 もちろんPocket Cinema CameraのSSを最低でも1/200以上にする必要があったりとか癖強カメラだけど、Pocket Cinema Camera 4KとMetabones Speed Booster 0.71を介して使うことも可能。この場合も手ぶれ補正オンオフの挙動は同じ。 写りはSigmaの方がもしかして一歩上かも？キリッとした描写はLレンズではないので少し甘いけど、デジタルノスタルジー流行りの若者にはウケがいい。 EF-S17-55mm F2.8を2本買う予算もない（6カメラ程度のマルチカメラ音楽収録）ので、例えば三脚載せるレンズにはSigma、手持ちの時はEF-S17-55mm F2.8と棲み分けています。 ただ、ズームリングが引っかかるような感じで、この辺は年代物っていう感じでしょう。一度メンテナンスに出したいと思っております。ただ、DJI RS2 Pro Combo + Project92（加賀式）制御装置でフォーカスギアをズームに割り当ててリモコンしており（フォーカスはATEM Mini Extreme ISOから制御）、RS2のフォーカス（ズーム）モーターでも十分に回すことができています。