I love it when I'm proven wrong (regarding the 18-150)...

OK - so I didn't intend for the title to be misleading. You see, although the 18-150 has been out for quite awhile now, I've never warmed up to these all-in-one super-zooms that begin at normal wide angle focal lengths and end at the 200-300 MM equivalents on the long end.

Ohhhh, I've been through close to a dozen of these standard super zoom lenses from a variety of brands over past 15 years or so - for both mirrorless and DSLR cameras. Granted, they are convenient - albeit some of them are huge - but in the end, I was always left wanting for better IQ. And even though I realized that there are many trade-offs involved with these types of lenses (after all, look at all that glass trying to do everything), I still "kept looking" for that one super-zoom standard lens that would give one a measurable degree of great image clarity at most focal lengths. A strong measuring stick for me personally, is to be able to look at an image and then be drawn into the scene thanks to the strong optical clarities of the lens(es) used. I often refer to it as experiencing a "palpable, you are there in the scene" feeling. As time went on however, I became discouraged with these types of lenses.

Now, with regard to the EOS M series of cameras, awhile back I invested in the Tamron 18-200 F3.5-6.3 Di III VC lens for the EOS M mount. It was a larger lens - exceptionally well constructed - and it seemingly ticked off most of the boxes I was looking for. Image clarity was fine - but not exceptional - and I was enamored with the weight, build, and appearance of that particular kit. But as time went on, I found myself using it less and less. I was just looking for more image clarity.

In the meantime I read post after post about the Canon EF-M 18-150. Initially, I didn't like the way it looked - that is, slender and overly long in appearance. Heck, when viewing the lens on various M bodies, it gave me the impression that the camera had a "woody...."

Even recently, I started a thread asking folks about their opinions about the 18-150 because in the back of my mind I was curious. But even then I didn't budge, with the main caveat being that the 29 MM equivalent on the wide end was just not wide enough for me.

However, a few weeks ago, I found new ones on eBay for less than $350 USD. Yes, they are separated from the kit and come in a white box (not from an individual, but from a business - they had a dozen or so left). So my GAS got the best of me and I decided to pounce (see eBay link below).

When the lens arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see it is exceptionally well constructed and has some heft to it. Sure, it's a plastic lens mount - although with this superb construction quality, one would assume that Canon should have added a metal lens mount. But what the heck.... I found it shorter and lighter than the Tamron 18-200 also.

So OK - now to the IQ. I'm not going to post any samples, because like many folks, we tend to initially capture a series of shots around our homes or neighborhood (or cats or dogs) - which I'm not going to do at this time. I will say that I am very, very impressed with this lens - in particular, in the optical clarity department. As an aside, I currently have two excellent copies of the 15-45 (after battling through 4 of them in order to get 2 great replacements. But this 18-150 that I received is sharper from corner to corner than my good 15-45's - now go figure? And this came as a pleasant shock to me because of my past experiences with various standard super zoom lenses from a variety of brands.

So although I'm a very late comer to this EF-M 18-150, I want to lend a very strong endorsement towards the optical qualities of this lens. It's as sharp (or sharper) than some of the better standard kit lenses out there (among all brands) - which is saying quite a lot considering the 29-240 MM focal lengths it tries to achieve. For anyone, who like me, were sitting on the fence, or never gave this lens a chance, I most strongly recommend jumping in. I can honestly say (at least with the copy I received) that this EF-M 18-150 is sharper than most of its equivalents among the various brands of cameras out there. And I don't say that lightly. So now I keep the 18-150 on my M3 and I have the 11-22 on my M50. I'm set in the focal reach department and I have both of those setups in one bag together.

Here's who I purchased the 18-150 from. I've purchased a half dozen items from this vendor in the past and have been totally happy. These are new lenses, separated from kits and sold separately. He ships quickly (via UPS - not mail). I tend not to make vendor recommendations lightly, but this I can recommend strongly.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-EF-M-18-150mm-f-3-5-6-3-IS-STM-Lens-Graphite/232231245611?epid=230369118&hash=item36120f972b:g:87QAAOSw9OFZJyZW:rk:1:pf:0

Life can be good - if you allow it!
Bernd ("Ben") Herrmann
Fuquay Varina, North Carolina USA