By: annon (12-Oct-08)      Experience with product: 1 Year

Strengths:	Affordable, high performance lens.Fast AF, compact size.
Weaknesses:	AF is quite noisy for me.

Full User Summary
When I bought my first DSLR (Canon XTi), it took me some time to decide on what lens should I buy. First I did some research online and found out about this sweet lens. Compact, affordable and high performance. All of my photos are really good using this lens. The only thing that disappoints me is the whirring sound when using AF mode. A must lens for first time DLSR users.

By: annon (30-Apr-08)      Experience with product: 6 Weeks

Strengths:	Sharp and fast
Weaknesses:	Not air tight

Full User Summary
The sharpness of this lens is very comparable to the Canon 17-40L; however, color and contrast are not as good, but that can be corrected via software. I am very happy with this lens, but my biggest gripe is that after only a few weeks, the lens has a good amount of dust inside, some of it being larger than a spec. It's not noticeable in photos unless you're at f/32, but I have a feeling I will need to take the lens in for cleaning sometime down the road.

By: annon (07-Apr-08)      Experience with product: Not specified

Strengths:	Very sharp, comparable to 17-40L, but faster.
Weaknesses:	Not air tight.

Full User Summary
Awesome lens. Pictures come out very sharp. Went on a camping trip and took some great nature shots and people shots. Pictures come out a little dark, but sharpness was my main concern since everything else can be adjusted via Photoshop. I am very please with how sharp the images come out and would say it is comparable to 17-40L from Canon, but cheaper and faster. Only problem I had was I noticed a small fleck of dust inside the lens. Maybe because I didn't have a filter on it.

By: spikoman (16-May-07)      Experience with product: 3

Strengths:	F2.8, 17mm, Lighter, more compact, and much better value than the Canon 17-55 L
Weaknesses:	F2.8 at 50mm is a bit soft for my taste but that's the extreme of the lens so I may be asking too much. 50mm is a bit short for crop cameras but very usable.

Full User Summary
Solid build. Image quality is very good. Well designed lens cap! 17mm is great. Surprisingly (for me), 17mm is quite useful for taking pictures in vertical format. Before getting this lens, I thought wide angle is only useful for wide landscapes. (rookie me...) Compared with the Canon 17-55 L lens. It is lighter and more compact. It costs about half the price. Some people may miss IS on the Canon. Personally, high ISO is more useful for me than IS so this lens is perfect for me.

By: wenxiaoyu (18-Apr-07)      Experience with product: 5 Months

Strengths:	Sharpness, high performance/cost ratio, nice hood.
Weaknesses:	The only problem is Auto Focus doesn?t work very well in very dark room.

Full User Summary
I bought this lens before last Christmas for my new 400D. After shooting 800-1000 pictures, this lens didn't disappoint me. The pictures are sharp. It?s a very good replacement for 400D kit lens. If you don?t have money for Canon L lens, this will be your best choice.The only problem is Auto Focus doesn?t work very well in very dark room. This may not be the lens? fault. I mean the 400D maybe responsible for it. You get what you paid for.