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Pros:

• good picture quality in the center of the frame and at the whole focal length range
• coma and astigmatism at an acceptable level
• good anti reflective coatings (no inner flares)
• efficient and fast autofocus
• solid build
• picture stabilization

• high level of chromatic aberration at 17 mm focal length
• weak picture resolution at 17 mm at the edges of the frame
• visible vignetting at 17 mm
• very large distortion at 17 mm focal length
• weak aperture

Canon seems to use an odd kind of policy, (i.e., we will produce something good, but so that it is not too good we will make one of its characteristics flawed). So the lens has a weak aperture but still it is sizable. It is enough to compare the lens with the better aperture Sigmas 17-70 and 18-50 mm. On the other hand, Canon gave us picture stabilization, but that doesn’t seem to be enough. We all know that the stabilization will reduce the effect of our hands shaking during long exposure times, as is the case with weak aperture lenses, but this still won’t reduce the lens movements.

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Next, we have a very good picture quality in the middle of the frame at the whole focal length range. But also at the whole focal length range we get a very high chromatic aberration. On the one hand we have a very weak 17 mm focal length, which suffers from big distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration and on the other hand another focal length – 85 mm, at which, at the maximum aperture, the lens has its best picture resolution results. At the 17-30 mm focal length the Canon EF-S 17-85 mm is the same as the cheap kit lens but at 50-85 mm it is so much better than the kit…there are more and more examples.

However, we shouldn’t be surprised by Canon’s policy. If for 515$ you could buy a 17-85 mm lens, which is perfect at all ranges, who would bother buying the L-grade lenses?

Sample shots:

Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 53 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.4 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 47 mm, f/7.1, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 3.0 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 66 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.8 MB
Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 30 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.6 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 68 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.9 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 33 mm, f/7.1, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.5 MB
Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 30 mm, f/7.1, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.5 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 85 mm, f/10.0, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.4 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 73 mm, f/9.0, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.9 MB
Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 30 mm, f/7.1, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.5 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 85 mm, f/7.1, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.5 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 28 mm, f/7.1, exp. 1/250 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.5 MB
Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 85 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/80 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.6 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 53 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/100 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.6 MB	Camera: Canon 20D Parameters: 33 mm, f/4.5, exp. 1/125 sec., ISO 100 File: JPG, 3504x2336 pix, 2.6 MB