Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16999 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Canon
• Model: 2562A014AA
• Dimensions: 4.40" h x 4.60" w x 6.40" l, 2.00 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Zoom lenses are very convenient. The equivalent of two or more fixed focal length lenses in one unit. The maximum aperture of some zoom lenses changes as you alter the focal length, but through-the-lens (TTL) metering takes this into account to give correct exposure.

Canon offers a high-magnification standard zoom lens with 5X zoom ratio, ranging from wide-angle of 28mm to medium-telephoto of 135mm. This lens features a built-in compact Image Stabilizer (IS) unit, which is newly developed for this lens.

This compact IS unit and a compact optical system with multi-lens-group zoom design achieves compact and lightweight design of high-magnification zoom lens. The IS system is the same as other IS lenses.

The image stabilizing effect is equivalent to about two steps of shutter speed. The optical system uses a molded glass (GMo) aspherical lens element (14th) to provide sharp definition throughout the entire zoom range. A ring USM (Ultrasonic Motor) and inner focusing system assures silent and high-speed AF and full-time manual focusing.

Box Contains

Customer Reviews

Space in your camera bag!
This is a fantastic lens, I'm new to serious photography but even I can tell this has been a good choice after 2 weeks. All the other lenses have felt seriously underused since this has turned up in the camera bag, perhaps apart from the 50mm Canon, which gives you a slight advantage in low light levels. If like me you feel a little hesitiation in buying a lens nearly as expensive as the original camera (400 EOS), grit your teeth and go for it, it is well worth the painful credit card bill.

Superb must-have mid-range lens for any photographer
Although a photographer will generally accept having to spend a little more for a good wide angle or zoom lens, many will make do with the standard mid-range zoom lens which comes with their camera. This lens in my view proves that to be a less than brilliant choice, as it is a superbly specified and well-built built mid-range lens which is quite affordable (particularly against the L-series offerings) and therefore a great lens for anyone's collection.

So what does this lens deliver which others do not? Well, for one thing it has a wide zoom range - 28mm at its widest and 135mm at maximum zoom. This means that for much of the time you do not need to keep on changing the lens with other lenses in your arsenal. Certainly architecture and portrait shots are perfectly covered with this lens and even landscapes and wildlife subject to what you are trying to frame tend to be handled fairly well.

It uses Canon's USM technology making focus incredibly fast - very useful when following fast moving objects. This was the first lens I bought with USM and is something I would not go without for any other lens from now on.

The Image Stabiliser allows you to take photos at slower shutter speeds than would normally be possible due to camera shakes (as a rough guide it seems to allow an extra 2 fstops on your aperture). This works by in essence floating the glass elements with the lens body to counter camera shake... it does sound a little odd but works remarkably well and from my experience Canon has done a better job on this than any other lens provider for the Canon EF mount.

The build quality of the lens is also something to be admired. It feels like a professional lens (in part due to it being quite large and heavy, a result of its wide range and high glass quality) and I like the fact that I can manually adjust the focus ring on the lens without being forced to switch the lens from auto to manual.

For my own use. I have tended to use this on a digital camera (300D / Digital Rebel) with a 1.6x optical magnification making it equivalent to a 40mm - 215mm lens. Although this might seem slightly on the high side of an ideal mid-range the fact that it works for both my digital camera (with an EF-S mount) and my film camera (EF mount) means that I would not consider any EF-S equivalent.

That said, the only downside is that I do sometimes wish the wide angle of the lens reached to 24, as with a digital camera I often find myself wanting to shoot in the 24-28mm range which allowing for optical magnification is equivalent to circa 40mm in old money.

So to conclude... well, just buy it - for me it provides a superb quality lens offering a great optical range, high quality glass and the various other features essential for everyday photography for the professional and amateur alike.

A must-have addition to your kit
I'm relatively new to amateur photography, and bought this lens after TRAWLING through (i think) every single review available. Three months down the line, and I'm unbelievably glad I spent the time I did researching a lens that I wanted as a decent 'walkaround'.

Focus lock is very quick and accurate - only a couple of times photographing very similar tones in low light has the lens lens suffered, but any lens in the same situation would do the same. The lens actually focuses a second time after the initial lock to get very sharp pictures. It also features FTM (Full Time Manual) focusing which I've found particularly useful.

The lens is certainly heavier than the standard 18-55 EF-S kit lens, but more than light enough to carry around all day. The construction feels very solid - the lens barrel is plastic, while the metal mount gives the lens a hugely firm and professional feel.

I've found one of the two great things about this lens is the Image Stabilisation (IS). I've used the lens a few times to photograph bands where flash photography is banned (or frowned upon), and it's come up trumps. Anywhere in even slightly low light and it has proven invaluable in keeping my handheld images sharp. Go into a camera shop, find any Canon lens with IS and take comparison shots with it turned on and off. Honestly; you'll see what I mean.

The other is the focal length. 28mm is more than handy for landscape shots (in any case you can stitch together the shots on your computer after), and having the zoom go through to 135mm is perfect for portraits and places where you need that extra reach. I think it's best suited as a walkaround lens - especially when taken travelling.

One of the downsides I've found to the lens, though, is the lack of lock on the lens barrel itself. When the camera is pointing in a downward position, the lens can creep which is frustrating. Especially annoying when I have the lens on my tripod pointing to the floor. Grr.

Other than that, I can really see nothing to complain about the 28-135 IS USM. The IS is a dream; the images are sharper than I think the price tag warrants; the USM is silent as a mouse; focusing is quick; the focal range is excellent (but then of course that depends on what you want the lens for!!); and the variable aperture range (f/3.5-5.6) is decent enough for the majority of uses.

I'm not a professional, so distortion and vignetting etc are beyond me. There are some very good review of this lens splattered all over the Web for that kind of detail.

I'm fantastically happy with this lens, and firmly believe it'll always be a part of my camera bag as my years and experience roll on! Happy buying...