Should I purchase the 15-85mm f/3.5-5.0?

[Synomis192]

After about 3 years of shooting, I've been looking to upgrade my kit lens for my T1i, but I haven't been able to find a good lens for it. At first I wanted to upgrade to the 15-85mm f/3.5-5.0, but after getting my hands on the 24-105mm f/4 L, I fell in love.

The 15-85mm fits well in my price range, and it's also great for my camera since it's a cropped sensor camera.

The 24-105mm f/4 L is extremely expensive if purchased new, but I don't plan on upgrading to a full framed body.

So, my question is, Should I buy the 15-85mm or a used 24-105mm?

[foobar]

On a crop sensor: 15-85, unless you don't need/want wide-angle or plan to upgrade to FF soon.

[HughHowey]

It's 5.6 on the long end, and it's a marvelous piece of glass. I shy away from zooms and really prefer my primes, but when I need just one lens and a wide variety of shots (and I have the light), this is the lens I pop on. You'll be surprised at how much bokeh you can get out of such a "slow" lens, especially zoomed and with a lot of distance between your foreground and background.

The weight and quality of construction remind me of my "L" lenses. In fact, it feels a whole lot sturdier than my 100mm "L" Macro.

Highly recommended for all crop bodies.

[briansquibb]

The simple answer is:

If you want wa
     buy 15-85
If you want telphoto
     buy 24-105
If you want f/4 throughout the range
     buy the 24-105
If budget is an issue
     buy the 15-85

[merrymarian]

Hi!
I own this lens since 2010. It is a great walk-around lens. BUT the zoom creep is just awful. The lens extends/retracts wayyy too easily. If you plan on timelapsing with this lens tilted up or down, you need to consider duct-taping the zoom-ring so the focal length doesnt slowly change.
cheers

[foobar]

Hi!
I own this lens since 2010. It is a great walk-around lens. BUT the zoom creep is just awful. The lens extends/retracts wayyy too easily. If you plan on timelapsing with this lens tilted up or down, you need to consider duct-taping the zoom-ring so the focal length doesnt slowly change.
cheers

Don't ruin your lens with duct tape. Use a rubber band (or one of those "lens bands" if you're looking for something a little more fancy).

But I completely agree: The lens creep is the only real complaint I have with the 15-85.
Unfortunately, some 24-105s are affected by lens creep as well.

[LuCoOc]

What other lenses do you currently own? If you have a good wideangle zoom ( eg EF-s 10-22, Tokina 11-16 or Sigma 8-16) I'd go for the 24-105. I'd also choose the L If you want to upgrade to FF. You said you wanted to stay with APS-C so the 15-85 would be my choice.
It felt a little bit frontheavy ob my 1000D but that might be the same with the L. On my 7D it's just perfect.

[bainsybike]

The extra 9mm at the wide end of the 15-85 counts for a lot more than the missing 20 at the long end, IMO. I'd get the 15-85.

[sawsedge]

Depends on what you are going to do with the lens.  For outdoor shooting, I'd say get the 15-85. 

Unless, you think you will want superwide, in which case you might consider pairing the 10-22 with the 24-105.

If you don't quite need the extra width of 15mm, you might consider the 17-55. 

I went for the 15-85 myself. 

[neuroanatomist]

The extra 9mm at the wide end of the 15-85 counts for a lot more than the missing 20 at the long end, IMO. I'd get the 15-85.

+1

24mm on a crop body is equivalent to 38mm on FF, so it's not wide angle.  You can always crop the image a bit, but sometimes you can't back up.  You can't just look at the numbers - even though with the 24-105mm you're giving up 9mm on the wide end for 20mm on the long end, the 9mm is much more significant.

Personally, I find 24mm on APS-C can often be too narrow indoors.  As stated, if you have an ultrawide zoom for crop (10-22mm, etc.), that makes a nice combination with the 24-105mm, as long as you don't mind switching lenses. I also used the 24-105mm as an outdoor walkaround lens on my 7D when it's raining, because the 24-105mm is sealed - not a benefit when using a T1i.

Personally, I'd recommend the 15-85mm - it's definitely a more versatile lens on APS-C.  I actually prefer the faster aperture of the 17-55mm f/2.8 myself.

I'd also suggest that you can answer this question yourself - I presume your kit lens is the 18-55mm (or some other 18- zoom), and you've shot for three years. Look back at the EXIF for your images and see how many were shot wider than 24mm; if it's a lot, get the 15-85mm, and if it's few, get the 24-105mm and keep your current kit lens for times you need wider than 24mm.

[squarebox]

I'd also suggest that you can answer this question yourself - I presume your kit lens is the 18-55mm (or some other 18- zoom), and you've shot for three years. Look back at the EXIF for your images and see how many were shot wider than 24mm; if it's a lot, get the 15-85mm, and if it's few, get the 24-105mm and keep your current kit lens for times you need wider than 24mm.

This is great advice.  Getting the 24-105 would also allow you to pick up the 10-22mm later without overlap as that lens is just amazing for landscapes and buildings.

[elflord]

So, my question is, Should I buy the 15-85mm or a used 24-105mm?

The main strength of these lenses on APS-C is to have a useful general purpose focal length range for outdoor shooting or indoor shooting with a flash.

Both have good image quality, but (on APS-C) 15-85mm is a much more useful focal length range -- you get wide angle capability without compromising zoom range (actually the 15-85 has the greater zoom range of the two at the expense of a stop at the tele end)

[katwil]

As stated in earlier posts, it really depends on what you plan to shoot.  Having just returned from a vacation where I took my T3i along with my 24-105 and a Tamron 18-270 PZD super zoom, I found myself wishing that I had something better than the Tamron and wider than the 24-105.  The 24-105 fits much better with FF cameras, as 24mm on an aps-c body is equivalent to 38mm, and that’s not really a wide angle lens.

I did a good bit of research on the 15-85 before making the jump to a 5D Mk II, which made the 15-85 superfluous.  You may want to have a look at photozone and cameralabs websites if you haven’t already.  For someone staying in the aps-c world and shooting wide angles outside, the 15-85 is probably a good choice.

[Synomis192]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. everyone on this site is extremely helpful.

I have made the decision to save up a ton of money and get the 10-22mm and 24-105mmL combo. I forgot to mention that I was planning on upgrading to the 7D by the end of the year. Haha. Thank you to everyone for helping me out. And thanks to neuroanatomist for the tip of taking a look at my EXIF data. I noticed that i tend to zoom a lot when taking pictures. After doing an evaluative average of 20 pictures, the Average was 25mm.

[AprilForever]

I use the 24-105 on my 7D as a walk around lens... I love it@ I really don't miss the wider angle of my 17-85; rather, I've found myself liking less and less the wide angle look for most most walk-around shots; my pictures seem better this way.