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Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lensCanon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
 

APS-C sized image

Lenses that create APS-C sized image are designed for digital only. They cannot be used on cameras that have image sensor larger than the APS-C format. These lenses are not suitable for film cameras either.

 

No Ultrasonic AF

Lenses with ultrasonic focusing mechanism tend to be quiter and faster than traditionally focusing lenses.

 

Built-in image stabilizer

Image stabilization helps to reduce blur caused by hand shake, especially at high focal length or in low light situations. Image stabilization can give 1 to 3 stop advantage over none stabilized lens, based on the reciprocal rule.

 

Plastic mount

Cheaper lenses are usually equipped with plastic mount, while more expensive, professional lenses have metal mount. In general, metal mounts are more durable, and a good thing to have when lenses are changed a lot. When a camera is used mainly with one lens, the material of the lens mount is not that important.

 

No Internal Focusing

Internally focusing lenses don't change their size while setting focus.

 

No Internal Zoom

Internally zooming lenses don't change their size while focal length is changing.

 

The front lens is rotating

The fixed front lens is not rotating during zoom and/or focusing. This allows the photographer to use petal shaped lens hood. Fixed front lenses also make the use of polarization filters a lot easier.

 

Not Sealed

Weather sealed lenses are protected from dust and water. While they are not water proof, these lenses can be used in rain and other humid environments. Some sealings only provide protection against dust or water, not both. Sealing is only available when the lens is used on a similarly weather sealed camera body.

 

No drop-in filter support

Drop-in filters are used in those lenses where either the front lens is too large, or the field of view doesn't permit the use of traditional filters at the front of the lens. Usually bright tele and ultra-wide angle lenses support this filter type.
The EF-S 18-55MM f/3.5-5.6 IS is a lightweight general-purpose zoom lens that is
ideal for handheld photography in a wide range of lighting conditions. Offering high
optical quality, the lens has an 11 element, 9 group construction, including one
aspherical element for crisp corner-to-corner detail.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Specification

Available mount(s) Canon EF-S
Application(s) Interiors, Architecture
Category(s) Standard zoom
Multiplier 1.5×
Stabilizer yes (4 f-stop advantage, supports panning )
Focal length 18 - 55 mm (3.1× zoom)
Lens construction 11 elements in 9 groups
Angle of view 35mm: N/A
digital: N/A
Number of blades 6
Maximum aperture wide: f/3.5 tele: f/5.6
Minimum aperture wide: f/22 tele: f/38
Minimum focusing distance 25 cm
Magnification 0.34×
Filter size 58 mm
Size ∅ 68,5 × 70 mm
Weight 200 g
Notes Super Spectra coatings. Circular aperture for appealing background blur.
AF speed N/A
AF sound
Internal focusing no
Internal zoom no
Fix front lens no
Mount type plastic
Weather sealed no
Drop in filter no
Ultrasonic AF no
APS-C sized circle yes
Low dispersion lens element N/A
Hard case N/A
Soft case LP814 (not included)
Lens hood EW-60C (not included)
Tripod adapter N/A
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Specification

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Reviews

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS in the news

Other reviews

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Owner Reviews

Most useful owner reviews from Amazon

Great lens, especially for the very low price

Jan 19, 2008

PROS
* Very sharp across the image, even wide open.
* Low Chroma. I read a test ([...]) that found higher than normal amounts of CA in this lens at some apertures, but I don't see it. My standard test is to shoot bare tree limbs on bright sunny days & look for purple fringing, especially at the edges. I'm not seeing anywhere near the level of fringing shown in some of their test shots.If anything, I'd call it "low" I read elsewhere that one of Canon's goals in adding the aspherical element to this lens was to reduce CA, so I'm thinking maybe the lens tested in photozon.de was just a bad apple.
* Image Shake control works. I can't attest to how often it provides a full 4 stops worth of shake reduction, but I can see a very clear result when using it.
* Fast accurate focusing. One of the reasons I purchased this lens was because I was dissatisfied with the performance of my (more expensive) Sigma 17-35 EX (the newer model), which while sharp, is just too slow and inaccurate a focuser for close work in action sports. The new Canon solved that problem.
* Compact, light weight & unobtrusive. Not much bigger than a normal lens.
CONS
* Barrel Distortion at 18mm (28mm) While not exsessive for an inexpensive lens, this is one area where you will see benefit from spending hundreds of dollars for a much more expensive Canon "IS" or "L," or buying a fixed focal length lens. In most real world situations, it wasn't all that noticeable. I could usually correct for it in Photoshop, but this is not a lens for critical architectural work etc. I have taken hundreds of photos with this lens and barrel distortion has only called attention to itself a few times. I suspect this is one price paid for the very compact design.
* Not very fast. Another area where an "L" has an edge. At F3.5 28mm equivalent and F5.6 85mm this lens is relatively slow compared to a pro lens. This effects stopping the action in low light. OTH, you will have to spend hundreds more to get a usable top speed of F 2.8 and that is *only* one stop faster at 28mm equiv. I think both this lens' sharpness and the IS system mitigate this "Con." It took me a while to learn that I could shoot wide open at all focal lengths without having the outer third of the image turn to mush.That's pretty amazing for a zoom at this price. You don't have a stop or two you almost never use because it is too soft. And the IS system works well in low light, though that doesn't figure in in stopping the action.
* Does not have that red stripe. Sad to say, some will never buy this sharp, handy little lens because in is not an "L" and/or doesn't cost $[...]. Yes, it does does look a little "plasticy," probably doesn't have the build quality for heavy, everyday use by a real working pro, and does not look massive mounted on your camera body, like a "fast" pro lens that's squeezing out that last F stop. But IMO, it looks very similar to Canon's newer IS lenses, so there is no scarlet letter immediately identifying you as "cheap." In other words, "Get over it."

So, why did Canon produce such a good lens at such a bargain price? I'd say that it's because Nikon announced their intention to do the same a little while ago. Also, Canon's old non IS 18-55mm lens had the rep of being something of a dog. Finally, several competing cameras now have IS built into the body. Canon had to respond with a sharp IS lens that they could put on the Rebels & the 40D. In terms of sales, the low end of the DSLR market is both hot and very competitive. We're the beneficiaries.

Maggot Colony

Aug 2, 2008

This lens has caused a mild stir on the internet in the last few months. To my mind, it's the zoom equivalent of Canon's 50mm f1.8, in the sense that it's very cheap but performs very well. On an optical level it has no obvious deficits apart from a bit of bulge at the wider settings. Physically it is small and light, and the image stabilisation works well. As a package, at this price level, it's hard to resist if you want a cheap decent walkaround lens. The only obvious competition I can think of is the Sigma 18-50mm, but that doesn't have image stabilisation, and from what I have seen it's blurry around the edges; at the very least, it offers nothing over the Canon 18-55mm IS and it's no cheaper.

This is the third version of Canon's 18-55mm camera kit lens. The first two editions of the lens were regularly derided on the internet for poor sharpness at the corners, chromatic aberrations, and general naff build quality. I can't confirm any of that, because I haven't used the older versions, although the samples I have seen were unimpressive. You can find these lenses going cheaply on eBay, because no-one wants them. In contrast, the 18-55mm IS has exceeded expectations, and has received good reviews, notably from Digital Photography Review and Photozone.de. They go into a lot of detail about the image sharpness and so forth, I will not try to duplicate their work.

I've had mine for a week or so now, and I've tested it and used it generally out and about. I like it, with some reservations. It's smaller and less conspicuous than my Sigma 18-125mm. It has far less distortion than my Canon 24-85mm. It's more versatile than my old Super Takumar f1.4, although in most other respects the Takumar squashes it like a bug, not least because it is made of metal. The 18-55mm's big drawback is its physical design. It's has a nice rubber zoom ring, and it feels tougher than my Canon 50mm f1.8. However, the front part of the lens, with the manual zoom ring, wobbles a bit. As the reviews have pointed out, the front of the lens rotates as it focusses (and moves back and forth a surprising amount), which makes it a bother to use polarising filters. It's a shame Canon didn't enlarge the body slightly, and completely enclose the front of the lens.

The motor whines a bit as it focuses, about the same level as my Sigma 18-125mm. There's one thing in particular that irritates me - most zoom lenses are physically shortest at the widest zoom level, and so it's easy to store the lens away. You just rotate the zoom collar until it stops, and stick on the lens cap. In contrast, the 18-55mm is shortest about half-way through its travel, and there's no way to lock it in place, which means that I have to pack it away partially-zoomed; my worry is that the manual focussing ring will catch on something, and break the whole front of the lens off.

Still, gripes over. The image quality pleased me. I wasn't being systematic, but there was nothing in the pictures I took that stood out as being particularly bad. There was some barrel distortion at the widest setting, but it was mild. At the rest of the zoom range I could not easily tell if there was distortion of not. It's nice and sharp in the middle, and sharpens up very well with software. The corners are slightly less sharp, but not noticeably so unless you're really looking for it. Having said that, my copy of the lens was blurrier in the left and bottom-left edge of the image, and had more purple and red fringing in that corner. Otherwise, even with a classic "tree against overexposed sky" shot, I could see only the tiniest amount of purple fringing. The out-of-focus bokeh is nice and smooth. The closest focusing distance is only a couple of inches or so, which is useful if you want to take semi-pseudo macro shots.

The image stabilisation is the icing on the cake. I managed to squeeze out shots at 1/10th, 1/5th that were usable. Alternatively, I could shoot stopped down at f5.6 or f8.0 in moderately dim light, for maximum sharpness. The lens benefits greatly from image stabilisation, because f5.6 at 55mm (88mm equivalent) is very slow indeed. Canon argues that IS turns this into f2.0 at 55mm. I'm not sure of that, but it isn't far off. Still, I was pleasantly surprised with the IS. It's of a type whereby there is one option - on or off - and you don't have to set a special mode if it's on a tripod, or if you're panning. Given the short telephoto zoom I can't see this being a useful sports lens, but within its limits the IS works well.

You don't get a lens hood. There is a lens hood available, but it's about twenty quid. It looks like a tea saucer with a hole in the middle. In fact it looks about as useful as a tea saucer with a hole in the middle, either for shading the lens, or for holding a cup of tea. I would be wary of fitting it onto the lens, for fear of nudging the hood and breaking off the front part of the lens. I haven't tested the lens for flare - the weather hasn't been very good - but I can imagine this being a weakness.

One other thing. The lens was dust-free when I took it out of the box, unlike my Sigma lens, which had some dust inside it. I suspect that over time the 18-55mm will become a dust trap, because it doesn't look very well sealed. Mind you, in five years it'll be worth pennies, not because there's anything wrong with it, but because it's so cheap (in fact it's notable that the lens is actually more expensive on eBay than it is here - perhaps Canon is finding it hard to make them fast enough). That's also how I feel about it being an EF-S lens; perhaps one day Canon will ditch EF-S, but by that time the 18-55mm will cost nothing to replace.

What a value!

Mar 27, 2008

I only got this lens, vowing to only do "L" glass since using my 50mm f/1.2, because it got a sizzling review in PopPhoto. It's clarity was just under a $2,000 Nikon lens reviewed on the same page.

I opened the box, and got just what I expected for under $200-a small, cheap feeling lens. It is the first EF-S I've owned, and the white mark for aligning it to mount matched up on my Canon 40D, instead of the red mark I usually use.

I haven't had time to put it through the paces, but I will say that I am really impressed with the clarity of the pictures. I have a crappy Canon 28-135mm that is just pitiful in the clarity department-and that set me back $400! I put a shot of one of my dogs up for this product in the customer images. It's the one shot portrait of just her head (German Shepherd). Handheld this thing is as clear as my 50mm f/1.2-I swear!

Another thing I didn't realize is that you can get close to your subject with this lens. No, I mean REALLY close. I can open it up to 17mm and be 4" from my subject!

As a portrait photographer, I am really thankful to have a killer IS lens to let me play with wide shots of buildings, scenery, and maybe some fun people/pet portraits that differ from my more "sensible" lenses to date.

Thanks, Canon!

P.S. Now fix my stupid 28-135!!! :)

Excellent lens - Sharp pics, great value. Highly recommended!

Mar 8, 2008

I bought this lens to replace the kit lens that came with my Rebel XTi and I am thoroughly impressed by its performance. The kit lens simply pales in comparison. The image stabilizer does its job very well, and the image quality is excellent.

There are many people and reviewers who compare this lens unfavorably with Canon's acclaimed L-Series lenses. I think those folks are way too picky - one can't expect a $200 lens to perform as well as a $1,000 lens. That's like comparing a little Honda Civic to perform as well as BMW M3. Not gonna happen, but for the price the Civic is an excellent little car. Likewise, this lens is a worthwhile investment towards getting excellent pictures. Pay no heed to the people who rate this lens poorly because it doesn't zoom as far (you should have bought a longer lens) or those who claim its build quality is not as solid (you should have spent a lot more money).

I've read the tech reviews containing information about vignetting, barrel distortion, bokeh, etc. The reality is, I am not a professional photographer (i.e., I don't put food on my family's table by taking pictures) so those things don't matter so much. All I care about is that the pictures come out crisp and the colors accurate. I take pics of my wife and baby, often in low light conditions without a flash. I shoot in JPEG high compression to save disk space and to make it easier to email the photos to our parents and extended family. If this is what you'll be doing, then buy this lens right away; you won't be disappointed.

Perhaps someday I will want to buy a camera with a longer zoom (which is why I got a DSLR camera) or I'll buy a faster computer so I can switch to shooting in RAW (thus necessitating an L series lens). Until then, I expect this lens will be on my XTi for a long, long time.

First Impressions of the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens

Nov 19, 2007

I pre-ordered the lens and only paid as much for it as the non-IS, USM version and I think it was a good buy. The build is light and noticeably plastic ... and while it doesn't feel cheap, it does feel like a $150 lens. The good thing is the lens is very light in weight, the bad thing is the inner zoom ring may not be sealed very well.

I have taken a number of shots over the past two days but the light has been very overcast grey. As such, I have been unable to shoot outside subjects to really gauge contrast. The lens seems sharp and the colors are good (even in the grey light). The IS works differently than the IS in my 70-200. It is interesting to see images that were shot hand-held at speeds slow enough for a moving subject to blur yet have sharp backgrounds courtesy of the IS. I'll post a link to some images when I get a good sampling. I'll also update the review as needed. So far I would give the lens four stars for its value. It's priced right but the f/3.5-5.6 aperture, inexpensive build, and non USM drive are drawbacks.

For a comparison, I would give my EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM five stars for build, image quality, and value. I would also give my EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM five stars because it is simply an awesome lens in spite of the EF-S.

When I think about buying the EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS USM over the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (non-USM) I have to weigh the fact that I would be spending $1k for for a lens that will only work with a few Canon models, but it would be well spent on a lens that would probably always be mounted on the camera.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Sample Photos

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Accessories

Lens hoods for Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

58 mm Filters

58 mm Polarizer Filters

58 mm UV Filters

58 mm Skylight Filters

58 mm Lens Caps

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