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I've always liked my Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS. I bought it to replace my 18-55mm kit lens which I wasn't too happy with.
But..the distortion this lens exhibits, especially at the wide end, is beginning to get me down. Any shots with obvious vertical or horizontal elements need correction and sometimes it is really "in yer face" obvious.
Everything else about this lens I still like. The focal length range is good; a real "walk about lens", the pictures are sharp and contrasty and the IS works. It's just that those banana shaped door frames are getting on my nerves now.
It seems to have got worse since I moved to the 40D from the 350D, although I'm not sure that makes sense technically - it's probably because the first real shoot with the 40D was a wedding and resulted in me having to correct the best part of 350 photos. Not easy when my RAW converter (DxO, which normally handles this correction automatically) still doesn't support the 40D (see another rant here http://dpnow.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=4371) so I've had to resort to CS2's / CS3's lens correction filter.
Any other 17-85mm users having the same problem? It took me a while to realise how bad it was and it was only when I put 2 images, one processed through DxO and the other not, in the same folder and switched back & forth, that I really noticed.
Another way of testing your lens (and plenty of other camera / lens combinations) is to use PT Lens http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/ free for 10 goes but only 15 USD for a full licence. I think I knew about it before but "forgot" and re-discovered it yesterday (one of the benefits of age I now realise
- I'm looking forward to having a "fling" with the woman I've been married to for nearly 25 years 
)
Anyway, perhaps I should trade the 17-85mm in and buy another couple of better specified lenses? The Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM and EF24-105mm f4 L IS USM perhaps? Trouble is, I can think of better things to spend 1,300 quid on at the moment! And if I can't, she who must be obeyed can!
But..the distortion this lens exhibits, especially at the wide end, is beginning to get me down. Any shots with obvious vertical or horizontal elements need correction and sometimes it is really "in yer face" obvious.
Everything else about this lens I still like. The focal length range is good; a real "walk about lens", the pictures are sharp and contrasty and the IS works. It's just that those banana shaped door frames are getting on my nerves now.
It seems to have got worse since I moved to the 40D from the 350D, although I'm not sure that makes sense technically - it's probably because the first real shoot with the 40D was a wedding and resulted in me having to correct the best part of 350 photos. Not easy when my RAW converter (DxO, which normally handles this correction automatically) still doesn't support the 40D (see another rant here http://dpnow.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=4371) so I've had to resort to CS2's / CS3's lens correction filter.
Any other 17-85mm users having the same problem? It took me a while to realise how bad it was and it was only when I put 2 images, one processed through DxO and the other not, in the same folder and switched back & forth, that I really noticed.
Another way of testing your lens (and plenty of other camera / lens combinations) is to use PT Lens http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/ free for 10 goes but only 15 USD for a full licence. I think I knew about it before but "forgot" and re-discovered it yesterday (one of the benefits of age I now realise
- I'm looking forward to having a "fling" with the woman I've been married to for nearly 25 years )Anyway, perhaps I should trade the 17-85mm in and buy another couple of better specified lenses? The Canon EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM and EF24-105mm f4 L IS USM perhaps? Trouble is, I can think of better things to spend 1,300 quid on at the moment! And if I can't, she who must be obeyed can!
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