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Update: The manual focus ring has a tricky behavior -- at one point I thought it was broken and called Canon tech support. If you turn past the 'stops' at either end (infinity and closest) it keeps sliding. Basically the ring is simply a rubber sliding strip that's read by a sensor; it's not the direct mechanical interface geezers like me recall. So what appears to be a defect is not.
With ongoing use I'm more annoyed by the bulk of this lens. If at all possibly I recommend weighting for a lens designed for the APS sized sensor, not a lens like this that's built for a full frame sensor. It's a nuisance to pay the "full frame tax" of excess bulk on a lens that one would prefer to use quite often.
I bought this for my birthday and I'm happy with it. So why the snarky seeming title? It's because about 30% of this lens is wasted for most dSLR users. I knew that when I bought it, but I was tired of waiting for a better solution. If you are able to wait until Feb 2007 it might be worth sitting things out.
-- ORIGINAL --
For the good news see all the other reviews. The one thing I'll add is that you need to think about when and how to use the image stabilization. Unlike IS products that sacrifice pixel resolution, this is an optico-mechanical solution, a spinning lens -- presumably in air or magnetic bearings. Move the camera slightly, the lens remains immobile.
If you remember your physics, you can think of times when this won't work. If the camera is accelerating or decelerating too much, the lens will bounce around -- blurring the image. Point the camera straight down or straight up and the bearings may not suffice. Rapidly panning to track a nearby fast moving object may not work. The manual says you should press the button and wait 1 SECOND before shooting. That's conservative (it takes probably 1/5 second) but it's a good guideline. If you need to do rapid panning, use a tripod and turn off the IS (it should never be used if you're on a tripod). If you're focusing on your daughter 100 yards away dribbling a soccer ball you should be ok -- as long as she's not rocketing along. It works quite well indoors and I don't notice it blocking the flash on my Rebel XT.
Now the wasted bit. This lens is made for a full-frame 35 mm size sensor -- the kind that's on Canon's higher end pro digital dSLR and their legacy film camera. The APS sized sensor on almost all of Canon's popular dSLRs (and ALL of Nikon's dSLRs for that matter) is 2/3 of the size of a 35mm sensor. So about 1/3 of the light output of this lens is scattered about the innards of the camera.
The result is a magnification effect and wasted glass. The magnification effect is not all bad. A "normal" lens for a Rebel XT is about 32mm, so this is basically a normal to zoomy lens. Pretty much the range I wanted. The wasted glass means the lens is 1/3 heavier and bigger than it should be, and the scattered light is sometimes said to cause image degradation (I wouldn't notice).
The lens most of us really want is a 28-200mm IS USM Zoom built for an APS sensor for under $500. In other words, the next version of this lens. It would weigh about the same and have about the same f stop and size, but it would have 50% more magnification at the top end. That lens is not available for Canon cameras from any manufacturer. Alas, Nikon has committed to APS sized sensors fully so they DO make something like that.
Canon will eventually crack and make the lens we want, or someone else will. So you can try waiting them out. In the meantime, this is a very nice lens and if you're a Canon amateur it's likely a quite good choice. Be prepared, however, to sell it for half-price next year and buy a new one ...
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Compare with similar items
 | Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras - White Box | Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras | Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is STM | Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is Standard Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras | Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Lens White Box | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | (893) | (124) | (4197) | (702) | (583) | (1110) |
| Price | $135.00 | $446.99 | $199.00 | $435.99 | $416.54 | $99.00 |
| Sold By | Michigan Camera | Global Camera USA | Focus Camera LLC | Electronics Basket | PORTABLE GUY | Al's Variety |
| Item Dimensions | 3.81 x 3.09 x 3.09 inches | 5 x 4 x 3.5 inches | 4.8 x 2.8 x 2.8 inches | 4.09 x 3.27 x 3.27 inches | 3.98 x 2.95 x 2.95 inches | 2.8 x 2.7 x 2.7 inches |
| Item Weight | 1.19 lbs | 1.60 lbs | 1.06 lbs | 1.16 lbs | 1.00 lbs | 7.05 ounces |
| Lens Type | Standard | Standard | Telephoto | Telephoto | Telephoto | Standard |
| Maximum Aperture | 3.5 | f/3.50 | f/4 | 38 | f/5.6 | f/5.6 |
| Maximum Focal Length | 135 millimeters | 135 millimeters | 300 millimeters | 135 millimeters | 135 millimeters | 55 |
| Maximum Aperture Range | F3.5 - F5.6 | F/3.5-5.6 | F4.0 - F5.6 | F3.5 - F5.6 | F3.5 - F5.6 | — |
| Maximum Format Size | 35mm full frame | — | 35mm full frame | 35mm full frame | APS-C / DX | APS-C |
| Minimum Aperture | 36 | — | f/45 | 32 | 38 | 38 |
| Minimum Focal Length | 28 millimeters | 28 millimeters | 75 millimeters | 18 millimeters | 18 millimeters | 18 |
| Minimum Operating Distance | 0.5 meters | — | 1.5 meters | 0.4 meters | 0.45 meters | — |
| Photo Filter Thread Size | 72 millimeters | — | 58 millimeters | 77 millimeters | 67 millimeters | 58 millimeters |
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 2, 2006
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 20, 2012
First off, this isn't an L lens. Let's make it clear that I am rating it in it's class, in that odd in-between area between the basic lenses and the pro gear.
I've been using this as my primary lens on a Canon T2i for 3 months now, and am starting to find where I like it and how to get it to work with my behavior. The IS (image stabilization) is single mode for four axis (up down left right) and works REALLY well, and doesn't seem to be much of a battery drainer as I can fill a 32Gb card (1000 RAW shots approx.) and half of another before I need to change my batteries (using a 2-cell grip); with IS turned off I still can't fill that second card before the camera goes into low-power standby. Not having any 2-axis mode can make IS panning shots a bit of a pain as you have to turn the whole thing off, so it really turns into how smoothly you can hold the camera... no cheating here, folks!
While an f/3.5 isn't great, shooting in low light such as stage photography works fairly well as long as your camera has good noise reduction; however stepping up to the f/5.6 when pushed out to 135mm ISO becomes somewhat more tricky, in finding proper light without filling the shot with noise. The aperture is a step and a half down from better quality parts like the 24-105mm f/4L at full zoom, and while the f/4 allowed me to keep at ISO 1600, in the end shooting stage at ISO 3200 with a better quality sensor and a much cheaper lens turned out to be the route for me, and the 28-135mm has been pretty much my given choice for most of my photography.
Sharpness is artistically good wide open at f/3.5 through f/5.6, but you will see some softness, especially towards the edge (will be more apparent on full-frame cameras), but sharpens up nicely as you approach f/8, and then softens up again as you push up towards the minimum at f/22, but isn't problematic at all anywhere, largely the reason why I chose this lens. A lot of the other (cheaper) options see a narrower band of "really good sharpness" where here I often shoot with the aperture wide open because it just produces cleaner images.
The fact that this lens has full-time manual focus is a joy that you will not get with the basic options, and is something I really recommend to anyone who is chasing the subject and can't make them pose. If the camera locks focus while they are in motion, it is almost constant that it will be off, because the camera's focus intelligence just isn't up to that level, and being able to manually adjust focus at a whim can save you from taking pictures of out-of-focus blur.
Placement of the zoom and focus rings is very neat, making the lens easy to work while your eyeball is stuck to the viewfinder. The distance scale is an excellent resource for fixed point shooting as you can easily dial it in after you've found your focal point. And the switches for auto-focus and IS are placed neatly on the left facing surface so again you can easily make adjustments without interrupting your shooting.
This lens is an internal zoom, so the end ring does not rotate, which makes it ideal for using polarizing filters. The ultra-sonic motor is quick and quiet, far faster than cheaper lenses, but again an L lens will embarrass it on both factors.
In general, if you are looking to build a good rig without spending yourself dry, this is a great way to go. If you are spending the money to buy a higher-grade camera than my T2i, then perhaps you are outside of the class for this lens, and the L series would treat you better, but in general this particular part will treat you right.
I've been using this as my primary lens on a Canon T2i for 3 months now, and am starting to find where I like it and how to get it to work with my behavior. The IS (image stabilization) is single mode for four axis (up down left right) and works REALLY well, and doesn't seem to be much of a battery drainer as I can fill a 32Gb card (1000 RAW shots approx.) and half of another before I need to change my batteries (using a 2-cell grip); with IS turned off I still can't fill that second card before the camera goes into low-power standby. Not having any 2-axis mode can make IS panning shots a bit of a pain as you have to turn the whole thing off, so it really turns into how smoothly you can hold the camera... no cheating here, folks!
While an f/3.5 isn't great, shooting in low light such as stage photography works fairly well as long as your camera has good noise reduction; however stepping up to the f/5.6 when pushed out to 135mm ISO becomes somewhat more tricky, in finding proper light without filling the shot with noise. The aperture is a step and a half down from better quality parts like the 24-105mm f/4L at full zoom, and while the f/4 allowed me to keep at ISO 1600, in the end shooting stage at ISO 3200 with a better quality sensor and a much cheaper lens turned out to be the route for me, and the 28-135mm has been pretty much my given choice for most of my photography.
Sharpness is artistically good wide open at f/3.5 through f/5.6, but you will see some softness, especially towards the edge (will be more apparent on full-frame cameras), but sharpens up nicely as you approach f/8, and then softens up again as you push up towards the minimum at f/22, but isn't problematic at all anywhere, largely the reason why I chose this lens. A lot of the other (cheaper) options see a narrower band of "really good sharpness" where here I often shoot with the aperture wide open because it just produces cleaner images.
The fact that this lens has full-time manual focus is a joy that you will not get with the basic options, and is something I really recommend to anyone who is chasing the subject and can't make them pose. If the camera locks focus while they are in motion, it is almost constant that it will be off, because the camera's focus intelligence just isn't up to that level, and being able to manually adjust focus at a whim can save you from taking pictures of out-of-focus blur.
Placement of the zoom and focus rings is very neat, making the lens easy to work while your eyeball is stuck to the viewfinder. The distance scale is an excellent resource for fixed point shooting as you can easily dial it in after you've found your focal point. And the switches for auto-focus and IS are placed neatly on the left facing surface so again you can easily make adjustments without interrupting your shooting.
This lens is an internal zoom, so the end ring does not rotate, which makes it ideal for using polarizing filters. The ultra-sonic motor is quick and quiet, far faster than cheaper lenses, but again an L lens will embarrass it on both factors.
In general, if you are looking to build a good rig without spending yourself dry, this is a great way to go. If you are spending the money to buy a higher-grade camera than my T2i, then perhaps you are outside of the class for this lens, and the L series would treat you better, but in general this particular part will treat you right.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Sharon Condie
Great lens - have only taken a few shots so ...
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 26, 2015
manolo
Esta bastante bien por precio y calidad
Reviewed in Spain 🇪🇸 on August 1, 2013
Timothy Chu
but this is a good as an all-around lens
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 29, 2015Kindle Customer
Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 13, 2016
