Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens full review Cameralabs corner sharpness results

Outdoor / Resolution / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

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Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM corner sharpness comparison

To measure and compare the Canon 17-55mm's corner sharpness we photographed the Enhanced Digital Camera Resolution Chart with it and a number of lenses using a Canon EOS-400D / XTi. The 400D / XTi was set to Large Fine JPEG mode and Parameter 1.

Each lens was tested at its widest and longest focal lengths and with various apertures using Aperture Priority mode. The crops are taken from the lower left corner of the chart and presented here at 100%. The wide angle crops show a slightly larger area of the chart because the minimum focusing distances forced us to shoot from a little further away. No crops have been resized.

Zoomed-out to 17mm, the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 lens performs well in the corners, delivering good results even with the aperture wide open. Once stopped to f4, it comfortably out-performs the EF-S 17-85mm and EF-S 18-55mm in the corners when they’re wide open, and delivers similar results to the EF 17-40mm L lens throughout its aperture range. The EF-S 17-85mm exhibits quite noticeable colour fringing in comparison.

Zoomed-into 55mm, the 17-55mm f/2.8 lens again performs very well, showing only slight softness in the corners with the aperture wide open and sharpening up nicely as the aperture’s closed. The EF-S 17-85mm also performs well once zoomed-in, even with its aperture wide open, although interestingly the EF 17-40mm L is slightly soft in the corners at 40mm with its widest aperture. Note the lower contrast of the budget EF-S 18-55mm lens at 55mm with its wider apertures.

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM	Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM	Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6	Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

17-55mm EF-S at 17mm f2.8	f2.8 not available	f2.8 not available	f2.8 not available


17-55mm EF-S at 17mm f4	17-85mm EF-S at 17mm f4	18-55mm EF-S at 18mm f3.5	17-40mm EF L at 17mm f4


17-55mm EF-S at 17mm f8	17-85mm EF-S at 17mm f8	18-55mm EF-S at 18mm f8	17-40mm EF L at 17mm f8


17-55mm EF-S at 17mm f16	17-85mm EF-S at 17mm f16	18-55mm EF-S at 18mm at f16	17-40mm EF L at 17mm f16

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM	Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM	Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6	Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

17-55mm EF-S at 55mm f2.8	f2.8 not available	f2.8 not available	f2.8 not available


17-55mm EF-S at 55mm f5.6	17-85mm EF-S at 85mm f5.6	18-55mm EF-S at 55mm f5-6	17-40mm EF L at 40mm f4


17-55mm EF-S at 55mm f8	17-85mm EF-S at 85mm f8	18-55mm EF-S at 55mm f8	17-40mm EF L at 40mm f8


17-55mm EF-S at 55mm f16	17-85mm EF-S at 85mm f16	18-55mm EF-S at 55mm f16	17-40mm EF L at 40mm f16