Most helpful client reviews
410 of 426 people found the following review helpful.
Great travel/ walk around lens.
By B. Stubblefield
I was more than a little apprehensive with regards to purchasing this lens before a great deal of official reviews came out, but I’m in truth glad I did. I have an 18-55 kit, 70-300, 60mm f/2.8 Macro, and 50 prime (all great beginner lenses, BTW) but I necessitated something I could stick on my camera and forget regarding when going out around town. As a young lady that likes little purses, this is a uninterrupted internal struggle- hang my awful camera around my neck like an “I’m on a project and shouldn’t be hit on” necklace, or stuff it in a huge camera bag with my other lenses in a “I don’t have kids but I might as well cause this looks like a diaper bag” fashion. I deflect male advances either way. It’s just a matter of how light I travel when I do it. And if I may leave a lot of highly-stealable stuff at home, I will.
150 of 153 people found the following review helpful.
Good multipurpose zoom lens for Canon T1i/500D.
By Ivan Barakumba
Week after buying Canon T1i camera I went to Mt St Helens National Park and realized how much I need extra zoom. So I ordered the new Canon 18-135IS. My firstborn impressions are very positive:
- The build quality is beauteous decent.
- The lens is comparatively light and feels beauteous balanced on the T1i body.
- Front of the lens doesn’t turn for the duration of automati focus which is a plus if you use a polarized filter.
- AF is quick and very precise – it without apparent effort finds focus even in dark conditions.
- Image Stabilizer supports horizontal and vertical panning.
- I think sharpness is comparable with the kit 18-55IS (looks like corners are a bit softer).
- Zoom range is perfective for vacation/outdoor photography.
- There is no zoom creep (so far).
- Very smooth bokeh (background blurring)
179 of 185 people found the following review helpful.
Better Than Expected – but Still Economy Class
By P. VANDALEN
Switching from Pentax to Canon, I had to commence with no Canon lenses. Therefore, I had to go with the 7D kit. I had wanted the EF 28-135 USM kit but after waiting months on a backorder situation, I went with the 18-135 kit from a local camera store. I knew that the 28-135 was a pretty good “kit lens” whose only thoughtfulness was that the 28mm aperture is very restricting for wide angle on a crop-sensor. I had read preliminary reviews of the 18-135 that didn’t sound too encouraging (this is in contrast to working with pro-level glass from Pentax for numerous time). However, after a week of using this lens with the 7D, I found that it’s not as bad as I expected. Pictures taken with it are reasonibly sharp, have reasonible contrast and somewhat even effigy quality throughout the frame – when I follow these guidelines:
1. Avoid 18 – 24mm shots, even at stopped-down apertures due to overall scaled down effigy quality; softness, specially away from center, distortion and fringing.
2. Don’t shoot at wide-open aperture for any focal length if given the choice due to increased softness.
The lens is built reasonibly well for a kit lens. It does focus quickly without USM and is not too deafening doing so. What I don’t like is that there is no distance scale. I will ofttimes take candid shots, either with flash or without, where I introductory guess the distance to the subject and set that manually on the lens, and then take a surprise photo without any focus delays or focus-assist lighting from the flash to warn the subject that a picture is in regards to to be taken. Can’t do that with this lens.
While the 18-135 is in general a reasonible kit lens, it is not the right lens to do the capablenesses of the modern 7D justice, however. Don’t know why Canon packaged this lens with the 7D (kinda of like “putting a Fiat motor in a Ferrari?”). Based on reviews and comparisons, I believe the 28-135, on the other hand, would be the better inexpensive choice for this camera. The funny thing is that the 18-135 kit costs $100 more than the 28-135. For that extra $100 I gain a great deal of usability amongst 24 and 28mm but lose numerous effigy quality overall. While the 18-135 is commodious to have for now, I look forward to the 17-40 and 70-200 f4L lenses as possible upgrades. I’ll provide an update after more time using this lens in order to make sure I give it a reasonable chance to prove itself.
Update (11/20/09): After numerous more photographs with this lens, I have to confess that it deserves a bit more acknowledgement than I in the first place gave it. The guidelines I cited for best results still hold true: stay clear from 18-24mm when possible and stop-down all other focal lengths to regarding f7 – f8 for the best images. Comparing this lens on the 7D to the Tamron 18-250 on a Pentax K20 and the Canon lens is without doubt or question better – sharper center, sharper boarders and far less CA. It actually looks to be comparible to the Tamron 28-75 with both at f8. Stopped-down, the 18-135 is astoundingly sharp throughout the frame for a kit lens. I would increase the rating from three to four stars if it wasn’t for the in truth poor performance amid 18-24mm. I also just purchased the Canon 70-200 f4L and the effigy quality of the 70-200 is surely in an exclusively dissimilar league. However, you may still get gorgeous decent pictures with the 18-135 when you work around it is weaknesses.
See all 45 client reviews…
