sanblas wrote:
got mine at pro photo supply in portland oregon


you got the lens, or the 7D, or both? if you got the 7D, what kind of deal did you get? i'm just curious if i missed out on getting a body only.

it was 1999 for the kit with the lens and the 2nd battery
since the bodies were going for 1700 and the batteries are 70ish
I figure I got the lens for 200 or so
probably could have waited for a better deal...but I couldn't wait

I used the lens for a few minutes, seems ok and focuses fast despite not being usm, I actually didn't know it wasnt usm until I read it here

I have a lot of glass so I will probably try to trade it or sell it for something else, but who knows

Tom_W wrote:
I'd be interested in seeing how the lens performs. I've not seen much on the web yet



Sample crops from a lab test have been posted at The Digital Picture website. Based on their results, it looks like the EF-S 18-135 IS lens has excellent control over geometric distortion, particularly for a 7.5x zoom lens. Vignetting is also well controlled. Center sharpness looks great at all focal lengths, even when shooting wide open. But sharpness along the edges look pretty bad. Even worse than the 18-200 IS lens.

I didn't find the samples on The Digital Picture compelling. They show that the Canon 18-135 isn't any better (and in some respects worse) than the Sigma 18-125OS, which costs $350 or less.

stargazer78 wrote:

Sample crops from a lab test have been posted at The Digital Picture website. Based on their results, it looks like the EF-S 18-135 IS lens has excellent control over geometric distortion, particularly for a 7.5x zoom lens. Vignetting is also well controlled. Center sharpness looks great at all focal lengths, even when shooting wide open. But sharpness along the edges look pretty bad. Even worse than the 18-200 IS lens.



I would definately wait for a second opinion on that one. Sharpness doesn't look good on their review, though.

I got this lens with my 7D (It was only slightly more then the body only) I will use it for my walkabout lens, or just sell it if I don't end up using it much.

Seems like a decent lens though, my copy seems sharp on my 7D (Just from the few tests I've done since my camera arrived). It has a decent build quality, it's just a shame it doesn't have full time manual focusing (At least it has a manual focus ring) and USM would have been nice.

I went out and done a bit of a walkabout with my 7D and 18-135 IS combo today, and the lens is actually not that bad! It's great to see these new kit lenses actually have some decent performance compared to the junk that was available a few years ago.

The lens Seems sharp enough on the 7D with plenty of detail and good colour/contrast. It makes a great light weight travel/walkabout lens if you don't want to pay the premium for the 15-85 IS kit. I got a very good deal on my kit, and I couldn't find the 15-85 IS kit (I still haven't seen it anywhere) but this lens will do for now, I might eventually replace it with the 15-85 if there is a significant proven difference in IQ between the two lenses to make it worthwhile.

A couple photos I took on my first day out with my 7D and 18-135 IS combo. Nothing to serious, just out enjoying the Spring weather and trying out the combo.

Thanks for the pics, EOS20. Do you by chance have any larger versions of the above images handy? I'm interested in a relatively inexpensive "walkaround/vacation" lens for the 7D. This 28-135 USM kit lens, while not a bad lens, doesn't do wide angle on the 7.

Photozone has just reviewed this lens. Not quite a great performer, with very weaks corners at the short and long end, here is the review and the verdict :

"The Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS may be somewhat better than the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS but it's not exactly a good lens either. The resolution makes a rather wild roller coaster ride through the different quality levels. Large aperture settings should be generally avoided at 18mm and beyond the middle range - the borders/corners are plain soft here. However, to be fair the lens is actually quite usable at f/8 (18mm) and f/11 (70mm+). It's also a good idea to stop down a little in order to overcome the rather heavy vignetting problems at max. aperture. Lateral CAs are somewhat more obvious at 18mm, especially in the corners, but this is a general problem in this lens class. The level of barrel distortions is extreme at 18mm, less so at other focal lengths.
There's little to complain about the build quality which is about average, no more and no less. The AF is pretty fast despite relying on a conventional DC motor rather than USM. This applies to phase-detection AF mode - it's much worse (slow) in LiveView (contrast AF). All-in-all it's not one of the more desirable lenses on the market and it's really surprising to see that this lens is bundled with the EOS 7D which is even more demanding in terms of required lens quality than the EOS 50D used for this test."

If you have to stop down to f11 on a crop body, I'm not sure how useful that 70+mm is. I think I would pass on this lens.

This kit lens is one reason (among others) that I won't be buying a 7D; it is pathetic for Canon to offer this mediocre lens on an otherwise decent body. It would be a different story if the lens offered in the kit could make use of the extra resolution the 7D offers, but as it stands only THE best lenses will eke out what the 7D can offer for detail resolution IMHO.

Bmeister wrote:
This kit lens is one reason (among others) that I won't be buying a 7D; it is pathetic for Canon to offer this mediocre lens on an otherwise decent body. It would be a different story if the lens offered in the kit could make use of the extra resolution the 7D offers, but as it stands only THE best lenses will eke out what the 7D can offer for detail resolution IMHO.

This lens is being offered as a "Affordable kit lens" if you want a better quality kit lens, you can always buy the 15-85 IS kit. I would take the 18-135 IS over the 28-135 IS kit that's being offered over in the US any day on a crop camera!

Here in Australia, the 7D is available in 3 kits, 18-135 IS, 15-85 IS and 18-200 IS. I've even seen the 7D available with the 18-55 IS and 55-250 IS twin lens kit in some of the Asian markets.

I wouldn't be to quick to pass judgement on a lens you haven't even used! I've had the lens for a week now with my 7D, and it's not that bad really, sure it's not a "L" lens, but it is still very capable of producing some great photos paired up with the 7D (Or any other APS-C camera). My copy is sharp, and I and I only paid a bit extra to get the kit over the body only price and will be keeping the lens to use as my walkabout lens.

EOS20 wrote:
I wouldn't be to quick to pass judgement on a lens you haven't even used! I've had the lens for a week now with my 7D, and it's not that bad really, sure it's not a "L" lens, but it is still very capable of producing some great photos paired up with the 7D.....


Excuse me, but I certainly have shot the 7D with both kit lenses you mention and I also shot the 7D with my 135/f2 (L lens if you're keeping score). My 135/f2 and 200/f1.8 can make acceptable use of the resolution on its crammed sensor, but the kit lenses in no way make use of the resolution offered by the 7D; they are a waste unless you have nothing else.

Getting a 7D and using their kit lenses does not utilize the full capabilities of the 7D unless, of course, you don't need the detail from its full resolution. That isn't to say the lenses won't make "acceptable" photos, but if the extra resolution is required, then I say pass on any of Canon's kit lenses ESPECIALLY for the 7D. The 7D is going to require the very best glass to get the most out of what the sensor offers unless you aren't as picky with detail rendering from a camera with that much potential resolution.

The only reason I can see to get a 7D with a kit lens short of a 24-105L (and even that wonderful lens may fall short on the 7D...I'll have to try that) would be if you want the HD video or are replacing a worn out 50D or older xxD body or just don't care about how much detail that you miss when using inferior glass. To add to my pontificating, I don't see a vast AF improvement worth the price of the 7D either as it approaches used 1dmkIII pricing. Looking at things through my pro glass eyes and with consideration to the value of the package, it falls short, IMHO.

My colleague brought his new 18-135 couple days ago and I used his 50D made some casual test during the lunch hour, the build and handling of the lens is awesome, the PQ is good too, if I recall correctly the PQ is a bit better than the 18-200 which I tested it long time ago (friend's also)


100% crop, Sharpness in DPP set as default (3)

I have to chime back in here now that I've been given a 7D as a gift; it is a very good and capable body in the work I've thrown at it in the past week. When I get some time to shoot for pleasure, I'll show what I'm talking about when I said kit lenses can't utilize the resolution the 7D offers. The 70-200/f2.8 shows poorly against the 200/f1.8 and 135/f2 when used on the 7D when all are shot wide open; kit lenses only look worse from there but then again, I'm quite picky as I crop tight very often.

Not too bad!

Anyone have recent info on this lens? Not much posted on this over the past month. I'm a semi-advanced amateur looking for a good general-purpose lens under $500 for my 40D.

The Digital Picture have their 18-135 IS Review up:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-S-18-135mm-f-3.5-5.6-IS-Lens-Review.aspx