Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens

by Geoff 14 Sep 0 Comments

Canon EF-S 17-85mm 4-5.6 IS USM Lens

The Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens is a wide focal length lens, very suitable for travel, nature, wildlife and general photography.

It is a light weight lens and a compact all purpose zoom lens, but it does have a variable aperture of f/4-5.6 which may make it unsuitable for some low light photography. It is equivalent to a 28-135mm lens in 35mm format.

With its variable aperture this lens may not be suitable to many photographers, f/5.6 at the long end is not always sufficient for low light telephoto shooting.

Choose this lens if you want to travel light and you generally do not need to shoot in dark situations, it will be an excellent photojournalism lens in these types of conditions.

With the smaller aperture of this lens it does take advantage of the Image Stabilisation (IS) technology and this does give it some advantages in low light situations. It should be kept in mind that the image stabilisation only helps to reduce camera shake and will not help with subject movement. The only way to help with subject movement is to use a higher shutter speed.

The 17 to 85mm focal length range of this lens is generally sufficient coverage for most general photography applications with an EF-S type smaller sensor camera.

If you really want the best quality available from a lens, then perhaps go for a fixed aperture lens of f/2.8 or f/4 and this will result in better usage of your camera in low light situations.

Some of the lenses in this category are as follows:

EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens – Ultra wide angle lens with variable aperture
EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens – Wide angle variable large aperture lens
EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Zoom Lens - Fixed large aperture low light zoom
EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Autofocus Lens – Wide angle variable large aperture lens
EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens – Wide focal length variable large aperture lens
EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens – Wide focal length range variable large aperture lens
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens – Low aperture macro lens

For most of my photography I use a lens of this focal length range for travelling due to its size, it is great for landscapes cityscapes, still life, as a walk around lens. If y0u are visiting theme parks such as Disneyland and photographing people then it can be just the lens to use in good lighting conditions.

Many superb images have been captured with this lens and it could be an excellent lens to start out in photography for beginners or photographers advancing and developing their skills

See some sample images with this lens on the Flickr web site.