I had not been familiar with this lens prior to this purchase. I am more familiar with higher end Canon lenses, including their L line. Given my experience, I was very happy with this lens on Canon Rebel camera bodies. The quality and build, vis-a-vis the price point, is very good. And is perfect for either average users or new/young photographers. Enjoy the images for what they are, as opposed to what they are not (like super sharp or saturated with color), and it will serve you well. Plus in this day and age, you can add a bit of sharpening and saturation in post and most users will never know the difference. And hence never have reason to spend hundreds more.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Canon´s mid-range zoom lens which has a reasonable price. But if you´re sick´n tired of deterioration of the image while zooming, perhaps you buy some better model. However, this is a great lens for portraits, statues with bokey skies, flowers etc...kinda like a semi macro lens. If you wanna boost that macro feature, attach one extension tube ring (that thinnest one) between the lens and the camera and you´re all set for decent macros! This lens works brilliantly with one tube, like 12 or 13mm. Those who prefer to shoot landscape photos esp in challenging conditions like dense fog and sun together or a lot of city lights in dim light the lens may cause difficulties, like color fading ( sin and fog) and lens flares. I´m not an expert, just typed this based on my own experiences on this lens. I apologize for grammatical errors. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I will grant you that most professionals won't care much for this lense, as most have bashed it. But, then again most of us aren't professionals. I moved from Minolta to Cannon and this was the kit lense with the Rebel XT I purchased. This lenses does as well, or better, then most people will ever ask of it. It takes great close up shots, and provides you with a little distance as well. The photos are sharp and clear and focus is right on every time. The focusing is also fast and quiet, as well. I have purcahsed two additional lenses for the camera, one a Canon and the other a third party lense (filled the gap between my two Canon lenses), and this one out produces both the others, in my opinion. I read the reviews before purchasing the camera, but as I had no Canon lenses I went ahead and paid the extra ($50) for the kit lenses, and I could not be more then happier with it. Where else are you going to find a quality lense at this price? I am currently a Assistant Scout Leader for the local Boy Scout troop and we recently had a Court of Honor for the boys awards and I used this lense to shoot it. The photos came out remarkably better then I had hoped for (wished it had a little more length for the further away shots - as I was behing the parents and didn't want to get in their way). So yes most of the reviews on this lense are not that great, and I can see not purchasing it if you already have Canon lenses. But for someone like myself making a switch from another system to Canon, or someone moving from a point and shoot to an SLR, the I highly recommend spending the little extra and getting this in the kit, you will be glad you did. I am rating it as good, but if it was a little longer (say a 18mm to maybe a 70mm) then it would have had an Excellent.Read full review
I was hesitant to purchase this lens due to it not being listed as having the ultrasonic focus motor drive, but, after using it for a short period, my concerns were unwarranted. This is one great little lens! It's quick to focus, light, and has very clear images. It's made my camera (50D) very useful for indoor and close-up shots, and can still reach out a bit at the 55mm end. Don't think this is merely an entry-level piece of junk that they throw in the box just to sell the camera. I highly recommend this lens for anyone who does a lot of near and portrait shooting. I have yet to use it for action shots, but, based on how quickly it focuses, I have no concerns. You'll find comments of people who've sold theirs and later regretted doing so; now I see why. Get one while you can! NathanRead full review
Update: This lens has been redesigned in a new "kit" lens that now has image stabilizaton. The reviews all indicate that whatever its virtues in the older form, the new one is clearly better. So - if you are buying a kit lens, make sure you get the newer one with "IS" in the name. The price new is essentially the same and image stabilization is a real plus. The English mag, Digital Camera Magazine, has decided this is a soft, worthless lens compared to the Nikon equivalent. Yet in the most recent issue (in the US, as of March 9. 2006) at least three of their "winning" photographs were taken with this lens. Popular Photography magazine's review of this lens (available at their website)concluded 'Excellent ... performance at all focal lengths'. Is it equivalent to a Canon 'L' lens? No, of course not, but it is surely the lightest lens available for the Canon Rebel, 20D and 30D digital cameras. It is essentially weightless, certainly by comparison to the IS lenses that would probably replace it. Its one real flaw is that the front lens element rotates making polarizing filter use problematical. After a year, I bought a better Canon lens, but I'm keeping this one for the times when I want an small, light outfit to just carry around. At the wide angle end, f3.5 is not too bad even for available light, given the Canon ability to capture decent images up to ISO 1600 and even 3200. I've done a fair amount of hand-held interior work with this little gem.Read full review
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