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I wouldn't like to say that it is durable as its an optical instrument but it is well constructed and easy to use.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is my third example of these. Over time the first two developed the notorious electrical-ribbon failure. This one has a non-functioning 'Auto- Manual-focus' switch. The lens is a decent enough performer when it works but there are clearly some inherently fundamental flaws in its basic design.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought this lens in 2010 with my first DSLR body (a Canon 550D). I chose it because its reasonably wide to standard to slightly telephoto range covers most general purpose photography. In hindsight, I should have done more research! A bit of web searching will show that this lens is notorious for two faults: 1. Internal screws work loose, causing the zoom mechanism to jam, 2. An internal ribbon cable which connects to the aperture control tends to break (apparently because it has rather a sharp bend in it). My lens has suffered from both these problems and so it has been back to Canon twice. In both cases taking several weeks and costing £85 + postage a for a shot fixed price repair. If you are up to a DIY repair, the parts are readily available on eBay and there are plenty of YouTube videos detailing how to go about it (which tends to suggest these problems are quite common!). I watched the videos, on the second occasion it broke down, and thought about it, but the degree of dis-assembly required put me off trying it. More generally, this is not one of Canon's better lenses. It feels plasticky and there is quite a lot of play in both the zoom and focusing rings. Although one would expect some distortion and vignetting at the extremes of the zoom range in a lens of this type, it suffers from them to a rather extreme extent. The vignetting at 17mm wide open is about 2.5 stops at the corners and is very noticeable if you have, say a blue sky in the picture. It also suffers rather badly from chromatic aberration at the extreme ends of the zoom range with very noticeable purple fringes around contrasty subjects at 17mm. One review I found remarks that is the most extreme case of chromatic aberration they have seen in a lens from one of the major manufacturers! I also find that, whilst the auto-focus works accurately once it manages to find focus, it often struggles, especially at the wider end, and hunts backwards and forwards several times before settling. The image stabilisation appears to be effective although it is more clunky than my other Canon lenses, giving distinct clicks and whirs when it operates and causing the view through the viewfinder to jiggle. Canon have subsequently produced their EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM which is apparently a big improvement, so if you are looking for a general purpose lens, look at that one instead.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
I bought this lens for my lad to use on his 350D. Its a relatively wide angle at a reasonable price. The IS feature is a big help in low light situations. Build quality is robust, and you know you have it "on camera" but it won`t pull your arm out with prolonged use either. I would say as a walk around lens it is only bettered by its big brother 28-135 which has longer reach but is obviously narrower at the wide end.
Why did I buy it? Cost of the camera body I wanted was enough for to ask anyone to pay for a Xmas present and the body is no good without a lens. I wanted a zoom lens to make my life easier (less moving about to gat the picture I want) and felt it should be of equal quality to the camera body so I went for a Cannon (to make sure it matched the body) of similar price to the camera body. I cannot fault the quality but I am only an amateur photographer with possibly lower standards than a professional. However I doubt a professional would have gone for this camera body in the first place. All thath said, I am happy with what I bought.
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