Canon 17-55 f2.8 and Aliasing?

G

Gene Sung

Veteran
I'm thinking about upgrading from my Tamron 17-50 VC to the Canon 17-55 f2.8.

I do like the Tamron, but I like doing rack focusing, and the mechanics on the Tamron bug the hell out me.

But one plus for the Tamron is that Aliasing isn't much of a problem (unlike my Tokina 11-16 which can alias badly at times, but I've learn to shoot around it).

How about the Canon 17-55? Does that have a relatively live-able alias factor? Anyone try both lenses and can compare the Canon to the Tamron in terms of aliasing?

Thanks again!
 
Last edited:
Try framing the tamron at 17 and the tokina at 16mm in a deep focus shot and both will probably have similar aliasing. It's a matter of fine repeating details and/or a deep focus shot that creates the aliasing. The canon is a very sharp lens and will alias as much as the next lens if you do a deep focus shot of say some buildings or whatever. The same workarounds you use for your tokina would most likely apply to any other lens.
 
Maybe because the Tokina 11-16 is really sharp or something, but when I shoot the Tamron 17-55 at the 17mm focal length, it has much LESS aliasing than shooting the Tokina at 16mm focal length (1mm difference). I know that different lenses react differently. I heard that the Canon EFS 10-22mm aliases much less than the Tokina 11-16, even though they are in the same catagory.

But whatever, I like the Tokina a lot and have learn to shoot pretty well with it to work around the Aliasing.

With that said, I am interested in the Canon 17-55 just because the mechanics are so much nicer than the Tamron; but am curious about the aliasing with it.
 
The canon is a very sharp lens and I haven't done a side by side with my tokina yet, but I think they both have similar aliasing issues due to how sharp they both are. 720p aliasing is brutal, but it's like that rgardless of the lens. 1080p most situations I've shot in it's tough to pick out the aliasing unless it's a deep focus shot. In which case I'll try to keep the camera static.
 
I just did a shoot this weekend with my newly acquired Canon 17-55 2.8 IS and needed a longer reach on a shot or two and put my Tamron 28-75 on there (what I used to use, pre-canon lens) and the rainbow aliasing was everywhere. Granted I was shooting metal weaponry that had lots of fine detail, but it definitely jumped out at me and I wasn't even looking for it.
 
you can rack focus with the 17-55 if you do it rough using your fingers
forget a follow focus because the focus ring has no hard stop, it spins to infinity
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top