Canon Zoom Lenses

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 first impressions are very positive:
- The build quality is pretty decent.
- The lens is relatively light and feels pretty balanced on the T1i body.
- Front of the lens doesn't turn during auto focus which is a plus if you use a polarized filter.
- AF is quick and very accurate - it easily 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 perfect for vacation/outdoor photography.
- There is no zoom creep (so far).
- Very smooth bokeh (background blurring)

Few cons:
- No zoom lock.
- Doesn't have USM/full-time manual focus - this is the feature I'd expect in the $500 lens.
- Distortions on the... Read more

I was more than a little apprehensive about purchasing this lens before many official reviews came out, but I'm really 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 needed something I could stick on my camera and forget about when going out around town. As a young lady that likes small purses, this is a constant internal struggle- hang my awesome camera around my neck like an "I'm on a project and shouldn't be hit on" necklace, or stuff it in a big 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 can leave some highly-stealable stuff at home, I will.

How does it feel?
This seems to have the same feel as my 70-300. Not a plastic-y light feeling like the 18-55, slightly rubber ridges and hefty, but not heavy, weight to it. I wouldn't... Read more

Switching from Pentax to Canon, I had to start 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 consideration 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 some 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 fairly even image quality across the frame - when I follow these guidelines:

1. Avoid 18 - 24mm shots, even at stopped-down apertures due to overall reduced image quality; softness, especially away from center, distortion and fringing... Read more