 a fantastic all-function-function lense |
| Review Date: July 17, 2004 |
| Reviewer: T. Hladish, Evanston, IL USA |
| I bought this lens four years ago and have shot around 6,000 photos with it (4000 digital, 2000 35mm). Autofocus is very quick and silent, which is predictable of the Canon USM lenses. I would not recommend a Canon lens that does not have the ultrasonic motor (USM) focusing. Optics are sharp throughout the focusing range. The lens is honestly heavy and after a few months of use, you will likely find that the weight of the glass is enough to make the lens telescope out when it's around your neck. If you want a compact lens that will let you take fantastic pictures in a wide range of settings, this is doubtless the best lens you could get for a Canon camera. If you're a pro, you'll doubtless have a backpack full of lenses and you're not conception this anyway, so I'm not talking to you. If you want something you can sling over your shoulder and not reckon about when you take the kids to Disney World, get a cheaper, lighter lens. The Image Stabilizer (IS) makes the lens a lot more expensive (some lenses are offered with and lacking it), so you should know what you're paying for. Some notes about the Image Stabilizer: - The image stabilizer itself is in the end a spinning lens element (piece of glass) that acts as a gyroscope. When the lens moves slightly, such as camera shake caused by your pulse, the gyroscopic element stays place while the other elements go. Since the gyroscopic element is no longer in line with the other elements, it effectively bends the light just enough to compensate for the lens moving. - Having the IS feature does not mean that you can take crisp photos with a 1/20 sec exposure while jumping on a trampoline. What it means is that you can often get away with not carrying a tripod in normal lighting, and in low light when your photos would be very blurry (assuming you're not using really quick film), the IS will make the images significantly less blurry. An evident corollary is that you can avoid using a flash in many situations when a flash is undesirable or prohibited. - The rule of thumb to get crisp photos lacking image stabilization is that your shutter speed should not be longer than 1 over your focal length. So if you are taking a picture zoomed in at 135mm, your shutter speed needs to be 1/135 sec or quicker, and since no camera I know of has a 1/135 setting, that means going up to 1/160 sec (on cameras with stops in 1/3 increments) or quicker. The image stabilizer means that you can go 2 f-stops slower than you naturally could using the rule I just clarified. So if you're shooting at 135mm and you have the IS switched on, you can shoot at 1/40 sec instead of 1/160 sec. That means four times as much light goes past the shutter, or that you can get the same feature results with 1/4 of the ambient light you would naturally need. - There are some times when you SHOULD NOT use the IS feature. You should certainly not use it if you are in a car, on a roller coaster, if you are walking, or in any other circumstances where the camera is moving or vibrating a lot. You will get blurrier than normal images since the gyroscopic element is constantly moving all over the place, trying to preclude the image from moving. Only have IS switched on when you are using the camera in a normal, stationary, handheld manner. You should also not use IS when you are using a tripod, or when you have the camera resting on a trembling-less surface for an image. The reason is that the gyroscopic element will be spinning even though it's not needed, and while this isn't really terrible, the motion could fall photo feature (I've never noticed this, but this is what Canon claims), and it is pointlessly using array power. - Finally, not all of Canon's IS lenses use the same IS technology; many of the more expensive and newer lenses are better, but it was hard enough for me to come up with what this lens cost--it'll be awhile before I can rationalize three times as much for an upgrade. One last note about third-party lenses, in case you're thinking about it. I know the price may be compelling but there genuinely does seem to be major feature differences, and while all Canon EOS lenses work will all Canon EOS cameras, no matter how many years apart they are in design, it has happened numerous times that even the best of the third party lenses (Sigma, some others) do not function properly with new Canon cameras. I happily buy knock-offs with other things, but not with lenses, flashes, or other camera components that really communicate with my camera. |
Exceptional Walkabout Lens
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| Review Date: June 20, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Andrew Simmons, Fresno, CA USA |
While I considered purchasing a Canon 10D, I also ongoing looking for a excellent first lens. Most of the reviewers and Canonites on the various forums suggested this lens as a excellent starting point.
The 28-135mm IS USM Zoom is the one I use all the time now on the Canon 10D, and that will be the case until I get over the sticker shock of the 10D/28--135mm combo and start adding other lenses to my kit.
In the meantime, this lens gets the job done very well. It gives you excellent range for a variety of of shots, from portraits to telephotos. There is even a macro mode, which gives you the opportunity to do close-ups--not really a right macro, but okay for shots of Plants, your kitty cat's face, etc. It is the flexibility of this lens that makes it so appealing if all you have is just one lens. And dredge up that if you mount this lens on a digital camera, like the 10D, the range is really total by a factor of 1.6.
The USM focuses quick, and the Image Stabilization (IS) really works. In fact, I've been spoiled by it, and IS is now a must for any of the longer lenses I might buy in the future.
The IS system "locks" on target so that camera shake is eliminated or at least from the bottom of your heart minimized. This means fewer shots ruined by camera shake, and the IS system allows the user to shoot handheld at slower shutter speeds. This isn't just advertising hype. It works.
The image feature is quite excellent. I get excellent color saturation, contrast, and serration. After tweaking some shots in Photoshop, I was able to turn out some exceptional 13x19 inch prints.
As others have keen out, if you are just starting out with a Canon DSLR or SLR and want one excellent all-function function lens, this is it.
As of August 2008 I have sold this lens since I have went on to Canon "L" glass, but the EF 28-135 is still a fantastic lens to start with if you are just commencement to learn photography. |
THE Consumer-Grade Canon Lens to Get
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| Review Date: May 30, 2005 |
| Reviewer: A. Johnston, San Francisco, CA USA |
Dollar-for-dollar, this is the best consumer-grade Canon lens available. The focal-length makes it a fantastic walk-around lens. The onboard Image Stabilization allow for crisp zoom shots lacking a tripod. If your hands shake a lot, this lens will help overcome that.
On the flip side, I found the Macro option provides a really startling level of detail up close. I also found the combination of the f3.5 and Image Stabilization to be of fantastic use in low-light, indoor shooting where flash is prohibited. It's a honestly quick-focusing lens, too.
Even though I have upgraded to an L-series lens, the 28-135 is still a personal pet. Taking into account it is 1/3 the price of an L-series lens, I cannot find a single fault with it. Anyone looking for a all-function-function lens for under $500 to compliment their Canon Digital Rebel, Rebel XT, 10D or 20D has found it here. |
A Fantastic All-Function Lens for a SLR Camera
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| Review Date: December 23, 2005 |
| Reviewer: James Koenig, Minnesota |
I bought this lens for my Canon 20D digital camera and have found it to be a fantastic all-function, everyday-use lens. Here are the best facial appearance from my perspective:
1. The range of telephoto zoom is adequate for 90% of photo opportunites. 28-135 mm telephoto in digital photography translates into 48-230 mm in SLR film photography. Since a standard camera lens is 50-55 mm, the starting range of this zoom lens equals that and then has the added usefulness of zooming up to 135 mm (or 230mm in ancient style camera figures). In my opinion, this added range of framing a shot gives the photographer so much more creativity, as well as being able to bring objects into closer, more intimate range. I mentioned that this lens is excellent for 90% of all all-function camera shots; the missing 10% are those pictures that require a better zoom (more telephoto zoom), and those pics that need a wider field of view. You may find that for group photos in close proximity, you want to take a step backwards to get everybody in the frame. This is not a riddle unless you simply don't have the room to take that step back. I solved this riddle by switching back to the first 18-55mm lens that came with the camera. For the more unsociable shots that can't be drawn into the 135mm zoom of this lens I bought a better telephoto zoom.
2. The lens has autofocus and IS stabilization technology. For one used to manual focus lenses in SLR film photography, the addition of a quick autofocus lens is a terrific feature! I used to miss those spur of the moment shots since I was trying to achieve focus. With this lens, you make those shots, since within a milisecond of depressing the shutter down halfway, the picture snaps into focus! I absolutely like this feature! The focuser has many points of potential focus, so it adapts easily to virtually all focusing situations. For the really hard focusing shots, there is the option of manual focusing. While nice to have, I rarely use this option. The Image Stabilization feature is a handy one in the longer shots. "IS" lets one get away with a bit of camera shake lacking too much out-of-focus smear on the picture. Canon does not recommend using the IS feature on tripod shots, so there is a switch to turn off the IS if desired.
3. The lens takes sharp clear pictures. I have not been disappointed with the feature of the lens at all.
Drawbacks
1. While there are not too many drawbacks to this lens, I reckon the major one is that the lens is larger and heavier, in fact, much larger and heavier than the standard 17-55 mm lenses that come with SLR cameras. For me this is not a riddle, though, for one that wants to have a lighter-weight camera, this could be considered a honest drawback. On the other hand, a SLR camera like the Canon 20D or digital Rebel is not designed to be a smaller pocket-sized camera. It is a larger format camera and of course the lenses will be larger (and heavier) as well.
2. Cost. At just over 400 dollars, this lens is an investment. Again, one has to weigh the evident fiscal outlay, but the 28-135 mm lens is so superior to the cheaper 18-55 mm lens, that in my opinion, it is well worth the cost to upgrade.
With this product, Canon made a fantastic everyday camera lens. From my perspective, the compensation far outweigh the disadvantages and I do recommend this lens to be your everyday standard camera lens.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig |
Fantastic All Function Lens
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| Review Date: August 8, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Glen A. Sansoucie, South Berwick, ME United States |
I bought this lens last year for my first Rebel (300D). I used it a lot to take indoor shots with and lacking a flash (the 420EX Speedlight works well with this lens). I've been able to photograph my daughters' (both) at various school events (band, chorus, etc) with and lacking a flash.
I just upgraded my Rebel to the Rebel XT (350) and this lens works even better at the higher pledge!
I just ongoing using it for more block out things like nature closeups. The lens is a dream in this capacity as you sometimes have to hunt around a lot to find your "target" and only have a few shots before it is gone again. The IS helps ensure that one of those few shots work out well.
If I have a complaint, it is the size. It is rather long, and was a pain in the neck before I bought a new bag. I took a leap of faith and chose to exchange this lens with the new Tamron 18-200mm Di II Zoom. Well, after about a week & half the Tamron was packaged up and is heading back. There is no struggle! Should Canon choose to go the "DO" route and shrink this lens (like they did with the 70-300) I might exchange this one, until then it is "stuck" on my Rebel XT.
Oh yeah, vital stuff: The IS feature uses power from the camera array. On the behemoth of a array on the first Rebel, I could go on and on. With the XT, though, I seem to get about 300 - 400 photos before having to recharge the array (even then it is about 1/2 full). So far this is not a very huge issue.
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