Canon 17-85mm USM IS lens advice

[jimsloan]

Looking for some advice i have a canon 400d and currently have a sigma 17-70mm 2.8 have been looking at buying the canon 17-85mm EFS USM IS lens

will this work fine on my 400d ? and whats the image quality like compared to the sigma

any advice welcome

thanks in advance

Jim

[Gidders]

Have a look at the reviews on www.slrgear.com and www.photozone.de - they both test both lenses. I'm not sure what you think your getting moving to the Canon lens ... another 15 mm & IS but its slower in terms of maximum aperture.

I used to have the Canon lens a while ago ... and its not a stellar performer in their range particularly at the wide end where it suffered from severe barrel distortion & CA. Their newer 15-85 is a much better performer - I hired one last year to go on holiday rather than take my 24-105 &10-22 and was very happy with the results... although it is more expensive

[miketoll]

I concur with what Clive says. I do have one and the barrel distortion at the 17mm end is the main downside to my mind. Not a bad lens mind you but by al accounts nowhere near as good as the new, more expensive, 15-85 but I cannot justify the upgrade myself.