Thoughts on 17-85 is?

[bobandcar]

My tokina 12-24 is out for repair and I'm going away at the end of the month and need something wider than my 50 1.4 and a 70-200 4

Found a 17-85 on cl for 200 semi local, how is this particular lens?

Also if anyone has a wide to normal lens for crop I could barrow or buy for my trip hat would be nice to.

 

[lambertpix]

That's a decent lens - a step up from the 18-55 in build and IQ. It's got USM w/ FTM, and it feels reasonably solid. This lens was essentially replaced by the 15-85, which is my normal walkaround now. I had a 17-85 for a while, but sold it for the 15-85. $200 for that lens sounds like about the right ballpark. If you can try it before buying, be sure to try it zoomed to both extremes -- mine broke a ribbon cable inside the lens, which required complete dis-assembly to fix. I think this is somewhat common for this lens.

 

[bobandcar]

The ribbon cable is what's wrong with my tokina.

So try the extremes and check all aperture at each extreme. Got it

 

[Big Mike]

For $200, I'd go for it.

I had the 17-85mm IS for a long time, it was great. It's better than the typical kit lens, both in quality and range. Even when I bought a Tamron 18-50mm F2.8, I kept the 17-85mm around as my casual 'walk around' lens. The only think I didn't like about this lens, was the max aperture.

Some example shots from my 17-85mm...
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/professional-gallery/161139-hair-models.html

 

[bobandcar]

Anyone else?

 

[Big Mike]

I have heard people complain about this lens having too much barrel distortion...but was never something that stood out to me.