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The Canon 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 USM is a beautifully made lens  with instant USM focusing and smooth controls. This would lead you to expect a very high level of performance. Unfortunately results with the Canon EOS 20D were disappointing with very poor edge performance. So how does it fare with the Canon EOS 5D, which seems to give less sharpness at wide apertures with most lenses? I have to say I expected the worst, but the results were something of a surprise.
Performance at full aperture, apart from very obvious vignetting, especially at 24mm, was actually better with the Canon 5D than with the Canon 20D. Although edges are still a little soft at all focal lengths they’re not terrible. Stopping down to f5.6 cures the problem except at 85mm where they’re still a bit soft even at f8. Central performance at f5.6 and on is excellent.
This is a lovely lens to use which would be fine with the Canon EOS 5D as a cheaper alternative to the Canon 24-105mm f4 IS supplied as the Canon EOS 5D’s kit lens. However even here it’s not the best choice - just cheaper, and smaller - so it’s hard to recommend, especially as many Canon 5D owners will have an APS-C sensor body in their bag too.
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