Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 - A Parfocal Lens?

F

FatBird19

Well-known member
Hey everyone,

I've read nothing but great reviews for the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM.


In this post from Cinema5D, one person states that in his experience this lens is parfocal.
http://www.cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=5987


Does anyone have experience with this lens? Is it really parfocal?!
If it is, I might just have to go out and buy it today.


Thanks,
-Justin
 
That would be awesome. I'm considering this lens as well. If you buy it, can you let me know how you like it? I'll do the same for you if I end up with it before you. I won't have the money for it until next week and I live on the opposite coast from B&H, so I most likely won't see it for another 10 days or so.
 
stock said:
If it is parfocal, i might have to pass on the tamron 17-50 and go for this.
Click to expand...

After thinking about it, I think that it doesn't really matter because of the variable aperture the lens has. What goes does keeping focus when zooming have when you'll ruin the shot with aperture "clicks"? The aperture will have two or three distinct and very noticeable changes through the zoom. It's not a smooth aperture transition, more like steps than a slope.
 
wildfly said:
That would be awesome. I'm considering this lens as well. If you buy it, can you let me know how you like it? I'll do the same for you if I end up with it before you. I won't have the money for it until next week and I live on the opposite coast from B&H, so I most likely won't see it for another 10 days or so.
Click to expand...

Hey man,

I just tested this lens in a Best Buy and it's not parfocal. Kinda disappointing.
At some focus distances it does seem to be parfocal across the entire zoom range, but at other distances it's completely not; once I zoom in, my subject falls about a foot out of focus.

Close, but not quite the lens I'm looking for. I'll stick with my $50 kit lens until a better option presents itself.
 
I ended up buying it. It's not parfocal, but it's a very nice lens. Autofocus is amazing compared to the kit lens, and the photos out of it are really nice. Haven't shot any video yet.
 
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