Customer reviews from usa.canon.com
EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Optical Zoom Lens for Canon EF-S - Black
Average customer rating
4.1
(57 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 57 reviews
5 Stars
23
4 Stars
20
3 Stars
9
2 Stars
4
1 Star
1
78%of customers recommend this product.
(
38 out of
49)
Customer Reviews for EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Optical Zoom Lens for Canon EF-S - Black
Customer Rating
3
So so...
on December 21, 2009
Posted by: Osva
from Berkeley, Ca
I have used this lens in my 7d camera because is included in my pack and I`m very disappointed. The focus is not so fast but is not the main problem. The images are, in fact, sharp when you have ideal conditions and if you use in a nonfull- frame you no get hi distortions. The big problem is very very hi levels of chromatic aberrations!! It kills a lot of pictures and you must run on RAW to fix the problems.. I`m a landscape photographer and when I try to use it in a forest or a nat park I get always purple shaped trees very traditional in C.A. problems. Probably I`ll run to a 17-40L lenses because I know the powers and low distortion levels.
Cons: Semi-sharp images, hi levels of chromatic aberrations
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
2
An Average Lens, Barely, Barely Acceptable
on November 9, 2012
Posted by: Emily Jane
from Chicago, IL
I purchased this lens to use with my 50D. I wanted a lens that had a good zoom range, which this lens has. However, the lens has issues which doesn't make it a good buy for the price Canon is asking.
First of all, I'm not at all happy with the sharpness of this lens; it just isn't there, no matter what shutter speed/f-stop you use. The first one I received was returned for not being sharp, and the second one I received wasn't any better. There just absolutely isn't any 'snap' to the images. When taking portraits, it looks like a mild soft focus filter was used, with facial features not being very well detailed.
Various images taken with both lenses, never rendered colors very accurately at all. This was still showing to be the case even with camera settings at their defaults. I tried all the white balance settings, and still nothing reproduced colors accurately as was showing in my original scene.
I could go on about the terrible auto focus and its noisy working mechanisms constantly heard inside the barrel while focusing, and the jerky image shifting that occasionally occurs while focusing. The barrel also drops constantly on its own when pointed downwards, very annoying. Bottom line, don't buy this lens. You'd think Canon would make a better lens, considering the popularity of this zoom range!
Pros: none
Cons: Slow auto-focus, Poor build quality, auto focus mechanism jerky, not sharp, Poor Color Reproduction
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
5
Complete all around lens
on November 1, 2009
Posted by: MNWII
from Minneapolis, MN
I bought this lens off a friend who got it as a kit set with his 7D. Awesome lens, great stability, prevents you from having to change lenses all the time, no cons except it's new and thus hard to find used.
Pros: Super-sharp images, Superior build quality, great range, excellent is
Cons: it's hard to find used!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
4
A balanced, allround lens
on September 28, 2010
Posted by: An007
from US
First of all, this is not an L; so didnt had very high expectations, when i picked it up for my new T2i. After a few weeks of usage, this changed the thoughts - all the pics taken were real sharp, no quality issues, no vignetting.
Once this is attached, it gives sufficient range - from 18,, till 135, which is versatile. For APSC this range is still good. The images taken - portraits, landscapes, a bit of wiled life - all rendered sharp, crisp images. This lens is a good addon and the key advantage is it is a good walk-around / multipurpose lens.
If canon release an L version of this lens, it will bet many - including 24-70 or 24-105 L (I love them- just thoughts..!! )
If canon release an L version of this lens, it will bet many - including 24-70 or 24-105 L (I love them- just thoughts..!! )
Pros: great range
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
4
Excellent for focus pulls in moviemaking!
on September 4, 2017
Posted by: Anonymous
from San Francisco Bay Area
If you shoot video, this 'kit' lens from the 60D enables focus pulls due to having a hard stop to the focus ring at infinity & closest focus. Obviously, pulling focus is a skill - that's why in moviemaking, one person may do this job exclusively.
The auto focus on this 18-135mm IS lens in video mode (image on LCD) is very slow; it's slow to focus even when viewing through the viewfinder - whereas the later STM version of the 18-135mm is unbelievably fast. But if you want to learn how to focus pull - meaning changing focus from one subject to another at a different distance from the camera, this is a great lens. Very few of the Canon lenses - at any price - can be used for focus pulls, because the focus ring rotates without any stops, so repeatable focus changes are impossible. For this, you need a true manual focus ring, and this inexpensive kit lens has it!
I've got three 18-135mm STM lenses, but I won't sell my (older) 18-135mm IS that came with my 60D, for the reason stated above.
Apologies if you only shoot stills - the above may not be of interest, but if you are selling this lens, do pitch it to aspiring moviemakers,or anyone who prefers manual focus; they will love it!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
3
Vignetting when a polarizer is used!
on June 28, 2010
Posted by: Gengineer
from NJ
It is a nice, general purpose lens. BUT, when I added a polarizer (yes, I removed the haze filter first) there was noticeable vignetting in the corners, so much so that I had to remove the polarizer.
I would also be nice if Canon would update the T1i for correction of this lens.
Cons: vignetting when a polarizer is used
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
4
darn good lens
on August 21, 2011
Posted by: Steve-O
from Minneapolis
This is one of the best kit lenses I have ever used. I would not hesitate in recommending it.
Pros: Fast auto-focus, Superior build quality, Super-sharp images
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com
Customer Rating
4
Great lens but not an L lens
on November 6, 2009
Posted by: My7d
from Tacoma Wa
I got this lens on my new 7D camera. It does take sharp images and I love the 18-135mm It is the perfect everyday lens. Focus is really fast
cons it has lens Creep and I wonder how sealed it is. I would love this exact lens in an L version.
I called canon to see if I could get some more info on this lens. ie) does it have L glass, is it sealed, etc. but they were not much help
I am looking at the 17-55 as it has great reviews for a really sharp image but has dust problems so the jury is still out
I would really like to know how this lens stacks up to the 17-55 for image quality. Maybe I don't need a new lens
For a kit lens I think it is a great lens.
Pros: Fast auto-focus, sharp images
Cons: lens creep, how well it is seaaled
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting usa.canon.com