TLDR:
- Shipping was relatively fast considering it came from Japan to the U.S.
- Lens was packaged adequately, functions perfectly, and is in mostly great condition.
- Well worth the savings for some minor imperfections.
- A fantastic replacement for the standard 18-55mm kit lens, and a perfect travel/vlogging lens, particularly for the Rebel series (especially the SL3).
-A bit of vignetting. Fine for single shots and video, but makes photo-stitching near impossible.
IN DEPTH
Packaging:
- Arrived wrapped in a single-layer bubble-wrap bag inside a cardboard box with additional packing paper inside the box to hold it more or less in place.
- Would have liked to see more protective packaging, but there doesn't seem to be any damage from shipping.
- Box was in pretty good shape - all corners intact, no holes or tearing.
Lens Condition:
- Oem lens cap and hood were included and installed properly on the lens for shipment, however there was no rear cap.
- Hood has an "anti-reflective" velvet-like coating around the inside that was coated pretty heavily with lint and dust - this cleaned up nicely using some strips of duct tape as a lint roller.
- Rear element was pretty filthy with fingerprints, but after cleaning appears immaculate.
- Front element has a few minor scratches, but do not appear in photos/footage.
- A few small particles inside the lens, but again not visible in photos/footage.
- Hood, cap, and lens all have some very minor dings/scrapes, but overall in very good condition.
- The lens creep is unfortunately pretty severe and zoom feels a bit free and loose toward the tight end of the range (after about 50mm) - not sure if this is due to use over time or just characteristics of the lens, but has not yet been a problem. It would become a problem when trying to shoot at a severe angle (>45° up or down) somewhere in the middle of the zoom range, if not holding the zoom ring in place, though it seems to stay put just fine at either far end of the range. Using a lens band between the zoom and focus rings fixes this issue as the focus ring is much stiffer and will hold the zoom in place. ('full-time manual focusing' makes this possible. Focus ring can be moved while in af.) But this makes manual focusing a hassle. (A trade-off to consider. Relying on autofocus has been just fine for me. Certainly the better option over allowing it to creep, in my experience.)
The Lens Itself:
- Very USEFUL zoom range. Approximately 24-136mm full-frame equivalent.
- Excellent wide angle for vlogging/selfies, with a decent zoom for tighter shots or distant subjects.
- Surprisingly weighty at about 1.27 pounds (0.56kg), but not overly cumbersome by any means.
- Nicely compact. A great option for an "all-around" or single-lens travel system.
- Ultrasonic motor is very fast, very smooth, and very quiet. Excellent for photo AND video.
- Zoom ring is smooth, but again, a little loose toward the tight end.
- Focus ring is also very smooth, and this lens offers full-time manual focus. (Focus can be manually adjusted while in Autofocus mode)
- No weather sealing, but it is a metal mount. (I use a large nitrile O-Ring from Uxcell to keep moisture off the exposed metal mount. Seems to work well in a light drizzle. 62mm ID, 67.3mm OD, 2.65mm Width)
-Significant vignetting, but automated lens corrections fix this fairly well for single shots and video. Vignetting unfortunately makes it near impossible to do any stitching, even with lens corrections.
-Image quality is overall more than adequate for the average user. Single photos are clear and crisp. Fringing and aberration are mostly mild, and very manageable. Just don't expect to do a lot of stitching.
For a more in depth technical review, especially of the image quality, search "Christopher Frost 15-85" on YouTube. He has reviewed just about every Canon lens out there, and is slowly starting to do others, and his channel is an amazing resource for selecting your next lens.
-I'm under no obligation to promote this channel, it's simply a resource I use regularly and wanted to share.
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