The Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens was announced on 21-February-2006.

One item Canon deliberately left out from the package is the EW-83J lens hood which is absolutely necessary to prevent flare from appearing in photos when shooting with the lens facing in the general direction of the sun.

The weight of the lens is 645g (22.75oz.) while dimensions (diameter x length) are 83.5mm x 110.6mm (3.3 in. x 4.4 in.).

Refer to Canon USA for the official specifications, full description, MTF charts, technical details and other data.

Bear in mind that the 17-55mm, being an EF-S optic, can only be used on the newer 1.6x crop Canon digital SLR bodies such as the Canon 7D, Canon T2i / 550D, Canon T1i / 500D, Canon 50D.

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cubsfan61 forum thread starts off with downsized high ISO shots (ISO1600, ISO3200 and ISO6400, taken with the T2i / 550D) of the T1i / 500D. These photos are out-of-camera JPGs with no post-processing. Next, a comparison of high ISO photos pitting the T1i against the new T2i, followed by full-resolution images. The Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens used for the images.

Professional reviews, user opinions, tests, ratings, conclusions and feedback

Since the 17-55 is not an L lens, how's the build quality?

Granted, the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens does not have the metal exterior that the L-designated Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM has.

But David Tomic is of the opinion that the overall build quality is VERY good.

Having a metal barrel will make the 17-55 even heavier, and it already weighs in the same as the 24-105 lens.

Additionally, what percentage of Canon shooters actually need the weight and durability of a metal construction?

Therefore, it can be concluded that the 17-55 is more than adequately built to be put through the rigors of normal lens use.

David also shares a portrait taken with the 17-55 at 24mm, f/2.8, 1/13sec, flash used, handheld, and says that optically, the 17-55mm easily meets, and often exceeds the output of any L lens in the same range.

Canon 17-55mm sample photos

1. Official portrait sample taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T1i / 500D / Kiss X3 digital SLR camera.
2. Night portrait, photographed with a Canon 50D.
3. Random images from user galleries on PBase.com.
   Don't forget to hit the refresh button on your browser to serve up another set of random pictures. You'll also find user reviews there. Just one example, this interior photo (shot with a Canon 30D) is a great example of the kind of wide-angle, indoor image you can get at 17mm with this lens.
4. Check out the link in this forum post to a very impressive, full-sized, ISO3200 night scene image taken * hand-held * at 1/4 sec (the image stabilization seems to have been effective here), f/2.8, with the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens mounted on a Canon 20D digital SLR camera.

Accessories

The filter thread size on the 17-55 IS is 77mm, which means you'll want to be looking at 77mm filters.

Related Posts

1. Canon 17-55mm vs Canon 17-40mm lenses
2. Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC Portraits

A summary of the comparison thread at Dpreview.com is presented below.

Canon 17-55mm pros

1. Much sharper than the 17-40mm
2. More accurate colour rendition than from the 17-40
3. Image Stabilization (IS), plus a wider maximum aperture at f/2.8 gives the 17-55 a 4-stop handholding advantage over the 17-40 – 1/3 sec shots at 17mm are a cinch with the 17-55mm
4. The additional 15mm at the long end makes the 17-55 lens a more suitable optic for portraiture than the 17-40

17-55mm cons

1. A noticeable light falloff (vignetting) not only at the corners, but along the edges (remember that the 17-55mm is an EF-S lens, designed for Canon digital SLR cameras with 1.6-crop sensors, unlike the 17-40 which can be used on full-frame cameras such as the Canon 5D and Canon 1Ds MkII). However, Blueuser points out that stopping down to f/3.5 mitigates the problem, and shares a full-sized image.
2. The 17-55 is significantly heavier than the 17-40
3. Build quality seems better on the 17-40, with a smoother zoom action and solid feel and sound. The lens also physically extends when zooming, which might suck in dust.
4. The 17-40mm handles flare somewhat better than the 17-55
5. The hood is an optional optional extra for the 17-55, which increases the relatively hefty cost of ownership of this lens – and you'll need the hood to minimize the flare issue
6. Not being an L lens, the 17-55 does not have weather sealing nor metal exterior

Other points brought up

1. Tomm has also posted some sample images from both lenses, and you'll be able to get a better picture of what "flare" looks like
2. Elan Remford points out that the 17-55 is a terrific lens for what it offers that no other Canon EF lens offers, and that is fast, wide-aperture, image-stabilized zoom, making it suitable for available light event and portraiture photography, something the Canon 16-35, 24-70 and 24-105 cannot match.
3. Speculation on the cause of flare: Despite the use of Super Spectra coatings on the 17-55, the flare issue isn't solved, probably due to the large number of lens groups
4. Speculation on why the 17-55 has flare issues, unlike the flare-resistant 17-40L and Canon 10-22mm lenses: Comparison images show that the construction and design of the 17-55 probably causes more light to bounce around inside the lens
5. The 17-55 has very low barrel distortion, especially when compared against the Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS lens. It is also easier to correct for the 17-55mm vignetting in Photoshop than for corner softness that one gets from the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM lens.
6. Kasoulis shows an example of Chromatic Aberration (CA) distortion produced by the 17-55 when shooting high contrast scenes at f/2.8, 55mm. If you shoot a RAW image, Photoshop's Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) does a good job of removing both red/cyan and blue/yellow color fringing aka CA.
7. Lee encountered the flare problem with the 17-55 when shooting weddings, especially from light sources such as spot lights and dancing lights
8. A hood might help to reduce flare when there's strong sunlight, but might not do much for shooting at night with street lamps, which the 17-40 handles better in this regard than the 17-55
9. Light falloff and flare seems to occur even at f/5.6 and f/8, which might make shooting panoramas with the 17-55 a bit challenging.

Related Posts

1. Canon 17-55mm Reviews, Samples, Accessories and References
2. Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC Portraits
3. Images from Historic Charleston, South Carolina
4. Canon 17-40 Review, Samples and Tips

What's even more amazing is that these shots were not postprocessed in any way, except for minor white balance adjustments to the RAW file in the Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software prior to being output as JPG files.

More information:

1. Grab your coffee first, because it might take a while before the huge images finish loading. The second set of images are here.
2. Summarizing Ben's thoughts on the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 lens:
• Pretty good for indoor portraiture
• According to the MTF chart for the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8, f5.6 is the peak sharpness of this lens across the entire focal range, and it's sufficient to keep her face in focus
• Color and contrast is excellent with a slightly more yellow cast than Canon lenses
• Autofocus speed is faster than the Canon 50mm f/1.4 and doesn't hunt in low light. AF performance is generally good even without any focus assist from the 580EX flash.
• It's extremely cheap, currently going for about $400 in the US, especially when compared against the $1000 Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens
• The Sigma is not as sharp in the corners vs the Canon 17-55mm or the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lenses
• The 18mm end of the Sigma is good enough for group shots during birthday parties and events
3. Camera settings used:
• Canon 30D in AV (aperture priority) mode
• Center focus point selected
• Spot metering enabled
• Canon 580EX flash with difuser bounced to the ceiling
• Flash exposure compensation set to +1 and locked to synchronize to 1/250 (that is, the shutter speed was set to 1/250 sec)
4. Enjoy more excellent Canon 30D photography at Ben's PBase gallery

In the end, Ben found that the Sigma didn't fare too well with outdoor group and landscape photography, exhibiting corner softness and high levels of chromatic aberration, so he returned it for the Canon 17-55mm.

Related Posts

1. Concert Photography with the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens
2. Canon 17-55mm Reviews, Samples, Accessories and References
3. Canon 17-55mm vs Canon 17-40mm lenses
4. Best Price for the Canon EOS 30D Body
5. More Reasons to Upgrade to the 20D from the 30D
6. Canon EOS 30D vs Canon Rebel XTi / 400D – More Considerations
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8. Should you buy the Canon 20D or the 30D?
9. Fantastic portraits taken in natural light
10. Portraits straight out of the camera
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12. Should I upgrade from the Canon 10D to the EOS 30D?
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14. Olympus E-1 user shoots birds and flowers with the Canon 30D + Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM lens
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