Canon 1380C005, Standard zoom, 17/12, 24 - 105 mm, Bildestabilisator, EF

so ar, just on landscapes and fungi.... will also be used during necropsies, along with 180 macro

Well worth the upgrade from my Mk1, other than the new type lense cap feels very vulnerable,it's fell off twice now. May be having to order another soon.

Good Points: An excellent versatile standard zoom lens with great optical cabability and range of zoom from wide angle landscape to portrait. Great results through the entire focal range. A very good all round lens that suits most photographic situations and subjects. Every serious photographer should have this lens in their kit bag. Expensive but like everything else in life. You get what you pay for

Good Points: Very versatile lens. Improvement Points: None

I bought this three years ago and thought the images were soft but never really tested until today. With a 5D Mk IV on a tripod I zoomed the lens out and made sure the range was such that there was a narrow depth-of-field so I could check front-focus or back-focus issues (which is what I expectex). Using a Spyder LensCal target I could clearly see that it just wasn't focusing very well most of the time. In Live View, which uses an entirely different focusing technology, it yielded a sharp image almost equal to the Canon EF100 L Macro I was comparing it too. That's a famously sharp lens, so for a zoom lens to come close is impressive. Obviously the glass is OK--but something about the through-the-lens focusing mechanism is defective. Be sure to check your lens before 3 years go by! Maybe it can be repaired under warranty. Mine's going off to the Canon repair facility and I cringe to think what it'll cost.