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A comprehensive review of the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens is not my intention here, as there are fantastic in-depth reviews with lab tests and comparisons available at places such as The Digital Picture. Rather, this review illustrates my personal thoughts on using this lens, what I use it for, and how it fits into a photographer’s kit. Hopefully, there will be some value in helping you choose a lens.
Keep in mind that I’ve always shot Canon and so naturally gravitate towards it. However, Nikon can be just as good (or better), and they have fantastic offerings in entry-level, enthusiast, and professional DSLR markets. There are also many excellent and competitive options from Fujifilm, Panasonic, Sony, Leica, and others. The quality of your photos is less about the equipment and more about the photographer; choosing your equipment is a matter of personal preference. I encourage you to experiment with different cameras and lenses until you find the ones that you like.
The Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM fills the role of my primary “general-purpose” lens. It is roughly the equivalent of the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens but for APS-C sensor / 1.6x crop camera bodies, delivering a full frame field of view equivalent of 24-136mm. Its construction is very solid and durable, though not quite up to the same standards as its EF L lens counterpart. Regardless, in my opinion this is the best EF-S series lens, on par with L-series lenses.
From the Digital Picture review (linked above):
This is not a Canon L Series Lens (as of this review date, Canon has not released an EF-S L lens), but the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens has many L lens qualities including three aspherical elements and one UD glass element.
What makes this lens so good?
- Focal length – With a range of 15-85mm, this is an exceptionally versatile lens. Realistically, most people could probably shoot with just this single lens and have all of their needs satisfied. It’s one of the widest of all of Canon’s EF-S zooms; only the EF-S 10-22mm USM goes wider. At the same time, it provides a great medium telephoto length of 85mm which is very useful for more tightly framed shots. This makes the lens suitable for a wide range of applications. For landscape photography you can use both ends of the focal range: wide-angle for vast photos that exaggerate depth and telephoto for photos with compressed depth. For portrait photography you have an excellent zoom range that allows you to fit in groups of varying size and the telephoto end for tight portraits. This focal range also makes it a great walkaround lens for events and general shooting of all kinds. More than just a mid-range zoom, this is a true wide-angle-to-medium-telephoto lens.
- Optical quality – This lens produces some of the sharpest and highest quality images of all the EF-S series. As mentioned above, it has three aspherical elements and one UD glass element (which helps reduce chromatic aberration on the telephoto end). In terms of quality, it is one of the best (if not the best performer) in the EF-S series. Some argue that the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM has better image quality at equivalent focal lengths, though this is a debated issue.
- IS – Canon’s 4-stop image stabilization allows you to shoot with much slower speeds than without, useful in a variety of situations including telephoto shooting and low-light conditions, diminishing the need for a tripod.
- Ring USM – A major feature that separates most professional-grade lenses from entry-level, the excellent implementation of Ring USM for autofocusing is very fast and nearly silent. Full time manual focusing is available to easily adjust focus manually without needing to move the switch from autofocus to manual.
- Price – For a lens of this quality and with these features, $700 new is very good. If you shop around you can find it for even less. I’ve seen it as low as $550 new. In contrast, the other top performing EF-S lens, the 17-55mm f/2.8, is typically at least $400 more expensive.
The uses of this lens are almost endless: landscapes, portraits, group shots, architecture, events…
Wide End
Focal Length 15mm, Shutter Speed 1/800, Aperture f/3.5, ISO 100
Focal Length 15mm, Shutter Speed 2, Aperture f/10, ISO 100
Telephoto End
Focal Length 85mm, Shutter Speed 1/320, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100
Focal Length 85mm, Shutter Speed 1/125, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 640
Focal Length 85mm, Shutter Speed 1/160, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 250
Focal Length 85mm, Shutter Speed 1/100, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 1000
Portraits and Groups
Focal Length 50mm, Shutter Speed 1/1000, Aperture f/5, ISO 100
Focal Length 24mm, Shutter Speed 1/240, Aperture f/4, ISO 100
Architecture
Focal Length 42mm, Shutter Speed 1/200, Aperture f/5, ISO 100
Focal Length 85mm, Shutter Speed 1/30, Aperture f/5.6, ISO 100
The last photo is a great example of the benefits of image stabilization. Although I was shooting at 85mm focal length, IS allowed me to use a shutter speed of 1/30 with no camera shake blur, quite a bit slower than would have been possible without IS.
Most of the weaknesses of this lens – chromatic aberration, vignetting, distortion – are easily fixed with post-processing software.
The biggest weakness of this lens is its variable max aperture of f/3.5-5.6. This is a standard variable zoom aperture; this lens is not considered “fast.” It isn’t good for stopping motion in low-light settings. For motionless subjects in low-light, this lens can perform quite well because of IS (as illustrated in the above architecture shot). But, if you are shooting an indoor event where you need to capture constantly moving subjects without flash, this lens will not be a good fit. The EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, with a wider and fixed aperture, is a much better option. Also, even though this lens does a good job of taking portraits of a varying number of subjects, its rather small and variable max aperture means that the bokeh / background blur is not the best. The ideal portrait lens is a short-to-medium telephoto prime (fixed focal length lens) at f/2.8 or wider.
However, for practically everything else, this lens excels. For the photographer that wants a solid general-purpose zoom on a APS-C body, this is the top choice. For myself, I use it in all outdoor situations where I need the flexibility of range between a wide-angle and medium telephoto: whether I’m walking around taking photos in the city, on a mountain hike, at a beach, or at events. I also take it with me inside if I can use flash or when I cannot carry a tripod and I am shooting non-moving subjects (for example at a museum or church).
A few other things about this lens that I like:
- I’ve never had any problems with autofocus (which I’ve had on some consistency issues other Canon mid-range zooms).
- It’s sharp at all focal lengths (even at the long end), whereas most mid-range zooms have an area where it gets soft.
- The lens’ diaphragm is made up of 7 blades, in contrast to many of Canon’s lenses which have 8 blades. This impacts the way that sunstars appear. While 8-bladed lenses make 8-pointed sunstars, 7-bladed lenses can make 14-pointed sunstars. The result looks brilliant in images.
Focal Length 15mm, Shutter Speed 1/500, Aperture f/22, ISO 100
Focal Length 15mm, Shutter Speed 1/125, Aperture f/22, ISO 100
For the exceptional price, this lens is a phenomenal value and one of the best lens investments a photographer with an APS-C camera body can make.
Purchase Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM from:
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