Help, please!: Canon 15-85mm IS USM or Canon 18-200mm?

[Sheiky]

Hi Lynx!


Welcome to the forum and obviously... Congratulations to you and your wife!![Y]


To be honest, everyone can tell you that the image-quality of the 15-85 is better than the 18-200. But as I see it, I'm missing a few vital details before anyone could give you a good personal advice.


- What kind of photographer are you? occasional shooter or more serious plans?


- What are the subjects you'd like to take photos of?


- What do you expect from a lens? Sharpness? Zoom and versatility? Strong back- and foreground differentiation? (wide aperture) etc etc


- Have you got problems with post-processing and editing your photos(cropping etc)? Or do you expect clear results straight from the camera? (speaking of composition, not image quality)





Jan

[lynx]

Hi Jan,


Thanks for your reply and kind words!


You have asked very pertinent questions for background that I should have included in the original post, but left out because I thought I was already saying too much!


- What kind of photographer are you? occasional shooter or more
serious plans?
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"]For all intents I am a newbie. Back in high school I had a Pentax K1000 and then a Minolta XG-7 (am I dating myself?) and had an active interest in photography. I even had my own dark room. After college I switched to point and shoots, and didn't look back at SLR's until recently. Let's say I am an ambitious amateur who has basic knowledge of how SLR's work and wants to grow.


- What are the subjects you'd like to take photos of?
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"]At this point, mainly be a recreational photography (vacations, landscapes, my kid's ballgames, etc.)


- What do you expect from a lens? Sharpness? Zoom and versatility?
Strong back- and foreground differentiation? (wide aperture) etc etc
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"]Sharpness is important, but I don't have a L level budget. I'd like to have a fairly strong zoom capability (hence the 18-200mm), but might be willing to sacrifice the longer range, knowing that I could do some decent cropping with 18mp images (is that right?).
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"]At this point in my development, I don't really want to carry multiple lenses such as a 15-85mm and a 70-200mm. From what I understand though, the 18-200mm is not very good at producing sharp images at the full 200mm. Also, as I mentioned before, the angle of view change from 135-200mm, isn't that dramatic to my eyes.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"]I really like the idea of strong back and foreground differentiation, as I've been learning about bokeh and how when done properly, with a good lens, you can get beautiful results. I may at some point get a fast 50mm prime.


- Have you got problems with post-processing and editing your
photos(cropping etc)? Or do you expect clear results straight from the
camera? (speaking of composition, not image quality)
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"]I have a basic knowledge of post-processing. I don't trust myself at this point with adjusting color, sharpness, vignetting and such, but don't have a problem with cropping. Ultimately, I'd like to develop my composition skills so that minimal cropping is needed to get a nice result.


I hope that provides a bit more context on my situation. I'm feeling a strong pull toward the 15-85mm for the better quality build, USM, and sharper images, but I'm concerned about loosing the extra focal length that the 18-200mm provides. Currently my budget is for only one lens (in addition to the kit lens).


Thanks again for any suggestions or thoughts!


Randy

[Sheiky]

Hey Randy,


thatks for your detailed reply.


I must say I have never used the 15-85 nor the 18-200 and so my knowledge of these lenses comes from reading reviews, so at that point I'm just as far as you are.


I can put some general thoughts into the equation though []


From reading your answers I can get a lot of information regarding lens choice. For me it doesn't seem like you'd really need a long focal length. I'd really doubt it that you would miss the 85-200mm range when choosing the 15-85. You've got the ability to crop and you're willing to use it. 18MP is more than plenty to crop quite a bit I can tell you.


Of course there will be times when you wish you have the 200mm, but when you do have 200mm there will also be times you want even longer. It's a non-stop road. If you shoot a lot of wildlife for instance, the 200mm will be a benefit. But then the f5.6 won't help you out a lot since wildlife is often seen in the less brightened times of days. (Not to mention you'd have to stop your lens down to f8 to achieve best results...) Also for your kids ballgames, you'd probably like something faster with a fast auto-focus.


In my eyes you could do great with a decent general lens (like the 15-85) A lens with a nice wideangle to a good portrait focal length.


I don't know a lot of people who buy the 15-85, mainly because normally the Canon 17-55 f2.8 is just a little more expensive and has a constant maximum aperture of f2.8. That being said, normally I would advise you to look at the Canon 17-55, but after rebates I'm not sure what the differences are.


My conclusion, from what I've read the Canon 15-85 delivers very good image quality, a very nice IS implementation and good use for you. The only downsides to that lens is the variable and slow aperture. Not really an issue for normal outdoor snapshots, but the f5.6 maximum aperture is very often too little for inside.


Also f5.6 minimum makes it hard to create that desired foreground/background blur.


But when you're willing to buy a fast prime, this won't be much of a problem I think. (for instance: 50mm 1.8/1.4 or 85mm 1.8)

I hope that provides a bit more context on my situation. I'm feeling a strong pull toward the 15-85mm for the better quality build, USM, and sharper images

Good points for choosing the 15-85. You could also look at the more expensive Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS(L-quality images, constant aperture, IS) or the Tamron 17-50 f2.8(cheaper, great image quality, no IS and no USM) perhaps with another lens?

but I'm concerned about loosing the extra focal length that the 18-200mm provides

The Canon 18-200 proves to be more versatile, but at the expense of some, in my eyes very important, qualities. With that 18MP, you can crop a lot. Also if you can try it out, just put the 18-200 on your camera and start shooting and limit yourself to 85mm. See what the real life difference is between 85 and 200mm and how it affects your photos.
<div>

I keep seeing the term IQ, but I'm not sure I understand what it means as applied to lenses

IQ stands for Image Quality. It's defined by things like sharpness, colors and contrast of the pictures.


I hope I didn't miss anything.


Good luck,


Jan
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[lynx]

Hi Jan,


Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I took your advice and put the 18-200 on the camera and started shooting. What I learned was that I do appreciate having the broad focal length range that the lens affords.


As mentioned in another reply to John, I think I'm going to stick with this lens for now, and as I develop some experience and am better able to discern lens limitations I'm sure I'll want to upgrade to better quality lenses. At that point, the 18-200 will simply become my travel lens. For now, I need to learn how to compose better shots, and as I've used a point and shoot for so long, to master the manual controls.


Thanks again.


Regards,


Randy

[Sheiky]

I took your advice and put the 18-200 on the camera and started shooting. What I learned was that I do appreciate having the broad focal length range that the lens affords.

That's the most important factor.

I think I'm going to stick with this lens for now, and as I develop some experience and am better able to discern lens limitations I'm sure I'll want to upgrade to better quality lenses

Sounds like a good choice to me. As long as your happy with it, it's good right? After a while you'll figure out what matters most to you and you get a better idea of what you might want to upgrade later on.

For now, I need to learn how to compose better shots, and as I've used a point and shoot for so long, to master the manual controls.

Just practice and practice a lot! Memory is cheap and photos are erasable, use that in your advantage. When you start experimenting(I personally shot beer-bottles at different distances on the kitchen table to learn the meaning of aperture) it's no big deal if you shoot 200 photos and you'll delete them all. Just make sure you'll learn from it.


Have fun and good luck with photographing and in your marriage of course...Randy! [Y]


Jan

[dragonmojo]

I just pulled the trigger on the 15-85mm, mainly because Canon is promoting a $100 discount (until 7/10/2010). I already have a zoom to cover the longer end out to 200mm, so this makes sense for me (and I generally shoot outdoors). The 17-55mm with a fixed f/2.8 would be nicer, but that lens would be roughly 70% more expensive.


Looks like the 18-200mm fills your needs quite wellfor a one-lens outfit. It pretty much covers the range that my two zooms will cover. Our next option will likely be a fast intermediate prime, no?


As Sheiky stated, memory is cheap and erasable... something I must also keep in mind since I come from the old days of film SLRs. Good film was not cheap, reusable, nor did it offer instant results (required processing).


Enjoy!