Canon EFS 17-55 F2.8

I have a chance to buy one of these used from a friend for approx. $800.

I have a Canon Rebel XTi

I know it is a great lens but for some of you more experienced photogs, is this a good lens for this camera and is this a good price. New ones from B&H are about $1100

Thanks

I can't speak for the Canon line, but in all honesty, it's only a good deal if you're looking for that range in focal length. If you find yourself shooting a lot of building interiors, needing wide panorama type shots, or shooting a lot of people in close quarters/lower light situations, then that could be a lens for that application. If you're shooting sporting events like racing where distance is extreme, probably not so much.

With the crop sensor, it's effective focal length as it relates to 35mm would be 27-88mm. The image stabilization is always nice to have, but at that short of a focal length, in reality probably wouldn't be used much as it's fairly fast at f/2.8 to begin with.

On 434 reviews, it broke down like this:
Pros

* Fast / accurate auto-focus (426)
* Consistent output (287)
* Easily interchangeable (168)
* Strong construction (154)
* Durable (151)


Cons

* Heavy (121)
* Weak casing (19)
* Difficult to clean (15)
* Pricey / poor value (15)
* Lens creep (13)


Best Uses

* Night photography (182)
* Landscape/scenery (162)
* Low light (155)
* General purpose (152)
* Weddings (126)


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MD11Pilot said:

I have a chance to buy one of these used from a friend for approx. $800.

I have a Canon Rebel XTi

I know it is a great lens but for some of you more experienced photogs, is this a good lens for this camera and is this a good price. New ones from B&H are about $1100

Thanks

Click to expand...

$800 is a good price assuming it's in great condition. I see these go for $900 or so.

MD11Pilot,

The 17-55 focal length was basically designed and built as a general purpose lens for cameras like the XTi that have a smaller sensor (Called a crop sensor. Also known as the APS-C size sensor).

Echoing M38AI comments, many owners with crop cameras, like the XTi, recommend the 17-55 lens as a reasonable everyday, walk-around, lens. At 17mm it's wide enough to be pretty good for landscape photography and other situations that require a wide angle lens. The 50-55mm end is long enough to be good at people/portrait shots (i.e. no distortion of facial features as would occur if you used a wide angle to take a head-and-shoulder picture of someone). This why most crop cameras come with a 17-55 category lens as the kit lens and why all the top lens manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Tamron, Sigma) sell a lens in this category.

While the 17-55 class is a very common kit lens for crop cameras, most of the kit lens are variable apertures of f/3.5 - 5.6. A constant aperture of f/2.8 makes the lens a much improved choice for shooting indoors and in other low light situations and for creating photographs with considerably more background blur.

$800 seems a fair price for that lens.

As a point of comparison both Tamron and Sigma make competing lenses - the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 vc and the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 os - that are both generally rated equal to the Canon lens (some even claim they are better than the Canon lens) at a significantly lower costs. You can get the Tamron new from Amazon for $650 and the Sigma for $670.

Here's my 2cents on the subject.
1. Is 17-55 a focal length you will use often enough to justify the purchase?
2. If yes to 1, then is f2.8 worth the extra cost to you? If yes to 1 but no to 2, then buy a 17-55 with a variable aperture of 3.5-5.6 for about $100
3. If yes to 1 and 2, then is the extra cost of the Canon lens worth it to you over the Tamron or Sigma lens? If yes, buy the Canon. If not, then go for the Tamron or Sigma.