[Arthur Macmillan]

I used the 17-85 for quiet a while and actually quiet liked it. Lots of distortion but a convenient focal length range.

 

With regards to the failed AF on your lens, I had a similar problem except it was with the aperture mechanism. Turns out a flexi-rigid cable had split due to fatigue. I managed to repair it myself, but its not a job for the faint hearted.

 

Understood!  I dutifully watched the You Tube videos on replacing the cable.  My god!  could they have possibly made it any more difficult?  After watching that, and a couple videos on fixing your 50/1.8, I realized something.  I am never again going to attempt a repair on a Canon lens.  I did get lucky once and repaired an EF 35-135 zoom.  But that was a combination of luck, and accepting the fact that extracting a screw that had come loose somewhere inside the camera and not replacing it was an acceptable fix.

 

The lens does work.  What do you want?