Most photographers want an all-purpose zoom encompassing wide, normal
and
short
telephoto
ranges, i.e., a normal zoom. Mount
such an optic
on your DSLR and you're good for landscapes, group
shots, candids and portraits.
Morning Dew | EOS 7D, EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM | 85mm, F8, 1/125, ISO 100
This review consists of my opinions and observations as a hobbyist. No measurements, MFT charts or pixel peeking comparisons are found here.
Introduced
Fall 2009 with the EOS 7D, the 15-85 falls into Canon's normal zoom niche. It features three aspherical and one UD element, Image
Stabilizer (IS),
ring-type USM, 5.6x zoom range, 72mm filter size, and compact size for the zoom range. The size reduction over similar zoom ratio full frame lenses is due to the smaller image circle of APS-C format. The main compromise is aperture size: F5.6 at the long end. Everything else is top notch for consumerville.
Compatibility
The EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM lens works on APS-C (1.6X) Canon EOS DSLR cameras such as the Rebel SL3 and 90D (EF-s mount). It will also work on EOS R and M series mirrorless cameras with a mount adapter. This lens cannot be used on full frame Canon EOS DSLRs with an EF mount and non-Canon cameras such as Pentax, Nikon, Fuji, etc.
El Cortez | EOS 70D and EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM
Construction
Although predominantly plastic, the 15-85 has a metal mount and stands 87.5mm at the 15mm setting (retracted). At 574g, it's on the heavy side for a normal APS-s zoom. In contrast, the EF-S 17-85 4.0-5.6 IS USM is 465g and the EF-S 18-135 3.5-5.6 IS USM, 515g. However, that extra two or three millimeter at the wide end make a big difference in coverage for landscapes and building interiors.
Canon EF-S 15-85
3.5-5.6 IS USM (photo courtesy Canon)
Build
quality is excellent
but not L series standards: no weather
seals and cosmetics aren't as attractive as the
EF 24-105 4L IS USM. However it feels better made than the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM.
Styling is understated and post-industrial Gothic: lightly textured flat black paint; ribbed rubber zoom and focus rings; and white sans serif lettering. With lens cap installed, it resembles a plastic travel mug. Gone is the flashy gold USM stripe of earlier premium EF-S designs such as the EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM. The 15-85, like other recent EF-S designs, sports a silver ring near the front.
Auto Focus
A ring-type
USM (Ultrasonic Motor) achieves focus by driving an
internal lens
group.
AF is extremely fast
and sure-footed on my EOS 7D, 70D and 80D.
The front element doesn't rotate and the barrel doesn't expand
or
contract
during
focusing.
Being an USM lens, it is silent during AF.
It has FTM, allowing manual focus without switching out
of
AF mode. The focus ring is narrow,
coarse in pitch and ribbed.
Nevertheless it's smooth turning, improving on the EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM.
Selfie | EOS 70D and EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM
If
you prefocus manually, the distance window in meters and feet is
useful. Although not a macro
lens, it focuses close enough for head shots and moderately
small details (35cm/.21x).
The
twist zoom action is smooth, damped and does not creep, again a tad better than the EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM.
Zooming is accomplished by expanding and contracting two nested barrels. The barrel extends considerably—nearly
doubling in length—when zoomed to 85 mm. The zoom ring is large and covered with a ribbed rubber surface.
Wired Sky Las Vegas | EOS 70D and EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM
The EF-S 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM has a variable maximum aperture. Thus, as you zoom, the maximum aperture changes. From 15-17mm, maximum aperture is F3.5. At 18-26mm it slips down to F 4.0. By 27-37mm it's touching F4.5. From 38-60mm only F5.0. Finally, the remaining 61-85 range is a pokey F5.6.
Unfortunately
a lens hood is not included and will cost you extra--a lot extra. Like the lens, the hood sports textured flat black paint, and is more scratch resistant than the smooth satin black finishes of older Canon hoods.
Image
Quality
This
is among the best normal range zooms I've used.
I
have no second thoughts about shooting wide
open as it's
sharp and contrasty edge to edge at all focal lengths from macro focus to
infinity. At the same focal length and F-stop, it's the equal of the EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM, often slightly better around the edges, and a notch better than the EF-S 17-85 4.0-5.6 IS USM. It's so good wide open, there is little improvement stopped down!
Racked out to 85mm and shot wide open it's a good
portrait lens. Of course, not comparable to the creamy bokeh of the EF 85 1.8 USM wide open, but a pleasant look. Plus,
the circular
7-blade diaphragm produces
attractive blurred highlights when stopped
down.
Bokeh Sample | EOS 7D and EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM: 63mm, F5.6
The contrast and snap
of this lens is apparent through the viewfinder. After all,
there's
plenty of
exotic glass in that petite barrel: 17 elements with three aspherical lens (AL)
and an ultra-low dispersion (UD)
element. Despite all those elements, this is a fairly flare resistant free zoom, thanks to excellent lens coatings and barrel flocking. It certainly bests the EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM and EF 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS USM in flare control. Hawaiian
sunsets, stage spot lights and night scenes with street lamps are no problem!
The
short end, like all wide
zooms, suffers from barrel
distortion. In this case, the barrel
distortion is stronger than average, e.g., worse than my EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM. You'll see it in images with long horizontal lines. Such distortion is easily corrected in DPP or Photoshop.
The middle range is virtually distortion free. The long end has a tiny amount of pincushion distortion. For
most types of images, distortion
isn't apparent.
Berceuse (Albéniz) | Leeward Coast Guitars | An EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM is used on an 80D while a 70D and EF-s 10-18 4.5-5.6 IS STM cover the wide view.
Like
all wide zooms, the 15-85 exhibits some light fall-off wide open, but less pronounced than that
of the EF
24-105 4L IS USM (with FF). In
night scenes and portraits, light
fall-off is unnoticeable since edges are naturally dark or deemphasized.
Stop down a little
and light fall-off is gone. Only
those shooting blue skies or white walls wide open will
notice the slight darkening of corners. Light fall-off is easily removed in DPP or LR or with the Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction function in recent EOS DSLRs.
Finally, my 15-18 is well calibrated and AFMA (Auto focus Micro adjustment) was not needed on my 7D, 70D and 90D cameras. My 80D required +2 at the wide end whereas the tele end was tack sharp at default (0).
Romero Creations Baritone 6 String | Canon EOS 90D and EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM
Image Stabilizer
Papa Canon claims this Image Stabilization (IS) has a 4-stop hand held advantage over non-IS lenses. Unlike earlier designs, it's able to compensate for movement in all directions and, thus, is effective for both static subjects and panning moving objects. I spend lots of time shooting at twilight and in dark casinos and bars, and my experience agrees with Canon's claims. This is the best IS yet and one stop better than the EF-S 17-55 2.8 IS USM. It's a good thing too: F5.6 at the long end is slow!
Red Goose Shoes | EOS 7D, EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6: 85mm, F5.6, 1/15, ISO 400
Of course, Image Stabilization does
nothing for subject
movement and will not replace a large aperture prime for action
shooters. However, IS is a Godsend for general hand held photography.
Sunflowers at Bellagio | EOS 70D and EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM
One caution: turn IS off when using a tripod. A rock steady tripod often befuddles IS, resulting in blurry images or sudden jerks in video! Although I've forgotten to disable IS on other lenses I suffered only a handful of blurry images. For some reason, the 15-85 is less forgiving in this regard. In a product shoot with 7D/15-85 and tripod, only 2 among 63 images were critically sharp. I re-shot with IS off and all images were sharp.
Popup Flash Blocked?
The popup flash of the 7D is 100% usable with this lens. From 1 meter
out there is no lens shadow from the lens at any focal length. It vignettes a little with the 70D and 60D due to the lower placement of the popup flash.
As expected, with the EW-78E hood installed, there is a lens shadow from the 7D popup flash from 15-24. It's not a big deal for fill flash but is distracting when the flash is the main light. From 28-85 there is no lens shadow whatsoever with EW-78E installed. I've not tried XXD series cameras, but I assume performance is similar.
Grace | EOS 70D & EF-s 15-85 3.5-5.6 IS USM
Video
The 15-85 performs reasonably well with Movie Servo on the 70D and SL1: smooth, accurate focus albeit a little too fast. It's even smoother on the 80D. My other USM lenses focus fast and but jerky and emit high pitched chattering. I initially planned to buy a STM lens for Movie Servo but have been happy with this lens on the 70D and 80D. In fact, many of the videos on this website and my YouTube Channel were shot with this zoom. I only use outboard audio for music videos so the small about of focus noise is not a problem. The 15-85 clips below were shot using Movie Servo on a 70D or 80D.
Frary Guitar Duo | Duo in G Major Op. 34, Largo (Carulli)
Frary Guitar Duo | Echo (Pilkington)
Peter Kun Frary | Rosita (Tarréga)
Final Blurb
I
love the range, AF speed, sharpness, IS
and small size of this lens. The Goth styling warrants no kudos for beauty but it's well made, sharp,
contrasty and surprisingly flare resistant.
Optical quality and mechanical precision approach L zooms such as the EF 24-105 4L IS USM. It falls down due to barrel distortion at the wide end. Moreover, it lacks the cosmetic detail and weather sealing of its L siblings. After squeezing seven or eight benjamins out of you, Canon should toss in a
lens hood.
The high optical quality and petite statue of the EF-S 15-85
3.5-5.6 IS USM make it a great travel
and hiking lens. Due to the slow aperture, it's not the best lens for dark bars or European churches. However, 4-stop IS almost makes up for the slow aperture. Luckily, optical quality wide open is top drawer.
Highly recommended
for serious amateurs and world trekkers.
Finally, please help support this website by purchasing this lens at Amazon.
EF-S 15-85
3.5-5.6 IS USM images (click
to enlarge)
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Compatibility
Construction
Auto Focus
Image
Quality 
Image Stabilizer
Source Materials