Fernando Chaves's reviews

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

For over a month or so, I spent reading reviews on wide angle zoom Canon lenses to make an upgrade to my EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS kit Lens. My intension was to buy a good walk around lens for all purposes. And after reading and analyzing each review over and over I drew a simple conclusion: there is no perfect lens in the optical world, especially regarding to wide angle zoom lenses. When it is quite sharp in the frame center, then comes softness in the corners along with vignette. By stopping down, you’ll see a better performance, but to spoil the party, going to tele-end suddenly appears slight chromatic aberration or barrel distortion or both, depending on the aperture you select.
I don’t care much about vignette, because it sometimes helps me make good image composition. As to CA and barrel distortion, they’re easily corrected in post processing with specific software like DPP or CS5.
I also considered third party lenses like Tamron’s and Sigma’s. They make good lenses, too. Eventually, after making up my mind, I purchased the Canon EF-S 15-85mm IS USM. I’m very impressed by the image quality this lens delivers. I’m not a pro, but I think the EF-S 15-85mm IS USM is a top-tier lens and it can perfectly be compared to the high lineup of “L” Canon lenses.
I highly recommend this amazing 15-85mm IS USM. It’s a general purpose lens, once it expands very quickly from wide angle (15mm) to mid telephoto (85mm). The image Stabilization works perfectly well. The only cons I find in it is its high price you have to pay for.
My camera:
Rebel XTi (400D)

My lenses:
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5,6 IS
EF 50mm f/1.8 II
EF 70-300mm f/4-5,6 IS USM
And now EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5,6