Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Opinion: This lens is at the cheap end of the spectrum but seems to work fine and covers a very seful range in one lens.

It won't satisfy the pro's but fundamentally the pictures are fine and it is worth the extra over the 18-55mm kit lens for the extra zoom.

Opinion: My Canon EOS550D came with the 18-55mm IS kit lens. I have to confess I didn't quite like the picture quality obtained from it. For want of a better word pictures turned out soft and lacking in contrast. Even the cheap and plasticky Canon 50mm f/1.8 produced better pictures for me. Furthermore the zoom range of the 18-55mm wasn't long enough so I began looking around on the Internet for a substitute. I wanted it to be a Canon lens.

I came across the Canon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS and read a lot of reviews about it, mostly on Amazon. Based on this, I went to my Camera dealer and tested it (that's the advantage of DSLRs) My God, the pictures were so much BETTER than the 18-55mm kit lens. I traded my kit lens in and have never regretted it. The 18-135mm stays permanently attached to my 550D. It's twice as heavy as the kit lens, but feels solid. I don't mind. The front element also doesn't rotate (unlike the 18-55mm) so circular polarizers pose no problems. The filter thread is a reasonable 67mm and zooming is smooth.

PROS:
Good picture quality
Solid, well constructed
Zooming is very smooth
Generous zoom range
Filter size is a reasonable 67mm
Front element doesn't rotate (great for circular polarizers)

CONS:
Some distortion is very apparent towards the wide angle end.
The lens is twice as heavy (455g) compared to the 18-55mm IS lens.

Opinion: This lens came as the kit lens on my 60D. I made the mistake of reading the mixed (at best) reviews of this lens, which initially negatively biased my opinion. After having used this lens now for several months, my opinion of this lens has improved.

This is a very versatile lens, and a definite step up from the basic 18-55mm kit lens. The focal range of this 18-135mm covers most of what you need in a do-everything walk-around lens. You could go with an 18-200 or even an 18-270mm lens, but you would run into even more compromises in size, weight, speed (aperture) and image quality. The 18-135mm range seems to be "just right".

Besides having a very usable focal range, the general construction of this is good (for a kit lens) and the controls work well. I have found the image quality to be "good enough" for most uses. The lens seems flare-resistant (it doesn't come with a hood, and you probably won't need one), and the bokeh quality is good (for a not-so-fast lens). The zoom control is smooth and nice to use, and manual focusing is smooth (although a bit light). The auto-focus motor is smooth enough, fast enough and quiet enough (although obviously not as fast/quiet as a USM lens), and the front element doesn't rotate, so you can use a polarizer.

The image stabilization is Canon's latest generation, and works very well, and is very quiet. It is definitely a strength of this lens.

All in all, this is a lens that you can live with for everyday use, especially if you're on a limited budget.

Opinion: I have recently bought a 17-55 f/2.8 after I sold the 18-135, I thought that I was upgrading from a kit lens to a pro lens, honestly I really, truly, madly regret selling it!!!! After extensive research, both personal and outsiders opinions, it lies somewhere over the 17-85, over the 28-135 and under the 15-85 in terms of IQ, in terms of value for money, I think it's sitting there on top of all with a cape!!!

It never let me down, it even has less aberration than the 17-55. Believe it or not!

I rated as per value for money.

If you don't consider money I would give it a 4!