Great value in kit with DSLR!

The 28-135 has gotten a lot of both good and bad press over the years. People either like it or they don't. There's little middle ground.

It's often available in kit with a DSLR body, where it usually only costs an additional $200. That's a great value! The lens normally retails for over $400.

I've used two of these lenses over the years and currently keep one as a backup to L-series. Image quality is excellent... On par with 24-70/2.8L and 24-105/4L, both of which cost a whole lot more! Build quality is pretty typical Canon mid-grade... Some plastic, not as well sealed against dust as most L-series... but with USM (Ultrasonic Motor focusing: fast, quiet and allowing full time manual override or FTM) and I.S. (Image Stabilization). Do not that with the type of IS on this lens it's recommended you turn it off when using the lens on a tripod. It doesn't detect lack of movement and turn itself off, the way some I.S. does on far more expensive lenses.

I do recommend getting the accessory lens hood and using it faithfully. It's large and will partly block most cameras' built in flash (but those are wimpy little redeye producers anyway, so of pretty limited usefulness IMO). But it will protect the lens. Don't bother with a "protection" filter. Cheap ones can cause focus errors, image softness, flare and loss of contrast. Quality, mutli-coated ones are less likely to cause problems, but are pretty pricey. Besides, just how much "protection" can you really expect from a thin piece of glass, anyway?

One minor gripe about the 28-135 is that they often tend to have "zoom creep". This is where the lens extends all on its own, while carrying it around mounted on your camera. It's usually just a bit irritating.

As an EF lens (not an EF-S), the 28-135 is usable on both crop sensor and full frame Canon cameras of all types.

28-135 is a nice "normal to moderate telephoto" focal length range on the crop sensor DSLRs most of us use these days. This isn't everyone's cup of tea, but can be very useful. It pairs up nicely with a wide angle zoom - such as Canon EF-S 10-22 or Tokina 12-24/4. In fact, this makes for a very versatile two lens kit that on a crop sensor camera (such as Canon Rebel/xxxD series or 20/30/40/50D, 7D) actually covers a wider range of focal lengths than most film shooters ever owned in their entire lifetimes, back in the days when 35mm was king.

As an f3.5 to f5.6 lens, the 28-135 isn't terribly fast (i.e., doesn't have large max aperture). I.S. helps it overcome lower light situations by allowing you to use a bit slower shutter speeds, as do the higher ISO capablities of many more recent DSLRs. Still, for portraits it can be nice to have a larger aperture lens that allows one to blur out busy backgrounds. The 24-104 is only one stop faster at it's long end. A 24-70/2.8 is only two stops faster. A prime lens such as Canon 28/1.8, 50/1.8, 50/1.4, 85/1.8 or Sigma 30/1.4, 50/1.4, 85/1.4 can give three to four stops more light and control over bokeh. And, slower shutter speeds made possible by I.S. cannot help with motion blur from a moving subject, only with camera shake.

Cheers!

Good universal lens

If you need universal lens, and have canon SLR camera, it is good choice for you. It is not ultra-zoom, and photo is good on any angle. Lens provides good, not extremely sharp picture, and some softness is good for portraits, but not gives problems for other kinds of pictures. USM motor is good way to focus lens. It is accurate, fast and silent, and if you want, you can rotate focus ring in AF mode to. Image stabilizer gives you about 2 stops of exposure, where you can shoot sharp picture, but be careful, sometimes you can shoot sharp background, but peoples on top will be blurred because of motion.
I shoot with this lens mostly outdoor, and can say, that it is very reliable lens. Sometimes I'm was caughted in the rain, and can't stop shooting, but lens work great and under rain, and now.

Good universal lens!

Wonderful everyday lens. Especially for the price.

I love this lens. This is not your ordinary kit lens. I chose this over the 18-135mm because of the quality, build, and performance of this lens. This thing is made of steel, you really feel its worth. Picture quality top notch. GREAT Macro shots. Many lens elements.

I would definitely suggest anyone to buy this lens. this is basically a step down from the 24-105L lens, but delivers superb pictures. I purchased this lens twice, and i am extremely happy with it. Perfect for everyday jobs, especially portraits. Great bokeh and the latter focal points.

***
minor flaws to the lens are:

-Lens creep. at first it's no problem, but after zooming in and out a lot, it eventually happens, but there really isn't a problem for me. it always stays in place on the job.

-It's *NOT* really a wide-angle lens for a cropped sensor DSLR (rebel series/10D-60D/7D and certain others). Group shots are definitely possible, but from a distance compared to the 18-55mm.

Overall a great walk-around/Everyday lens. Stays on my camera body 80% of the time depending on the job.

I Like it

Bought for the telephoto range, Put on backup 30D camera.
Not as well built as 17-85 no USM, but Very acceptable.
Been using it for Street photography and its been ideal.

Ok you can pixel peep and put grids up that shows up faults, but I have L glass I can fault too.

Pros: range, price, weight, Good IS, center sharpness.

Cons no FTM, bit of barrel distortion at wide end, CA if not careful

DPP can auto fix most of the problems though.

Love the price, its marriage saving money

Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 I

In most ways this is an excellent lens. I like the sharpness and color, the focal range is very convenient although it is a bit lacking on the wide end due to the 1.6 cropping factor of Canon digital SLR's. This may be a problem for those that shoot lots of wide angle shots but not that much of a factor for my personal use. The image stabilization is a great feature that saved me many a picture in low light. The lens is a bit bulky but not overly so. For my experience with this lens I'll give it a solid 9 out of 10