Pickup a Canon 18-135mm?

I've been going back and forth about a good mix of lenses for my SL1 and which combos would work best especially when I want to pack light? My current lenses are:

-Canon 10-18mm STM

-Canon 18-55mm STM

-Canon 55-250mm STM

-Canon 24mm STM

The idea of rolling with just the 10-18 and a 18-135 at times is appealing. Anyone have the 18-135 with a SL1/2? It's only about .8" longer than my 18-55 so I can pack it in about the same space in my bag. I've read it can be a front heavy combo with the SL1 though?

Can I benefit from that combo or stick with what I have for better results and make it work when I pack my bag to head out. I'm mostly doing some hiking in FL and taking outdoors/wildlife type shots. Basically, can I replace my 18-55 with an 18-135 to give me more flexibility?

Thanks for any input.

The 18-135STM lives on my SL-1. It's a great walk around lens. I haven't found the weight to be a problem, if anything it adds a bit of steadiness to a light camera.

Thanks for the input,

One other thing that would be a plus is that it is 67mm like my 10-18mm so I can use the same filter(s). Can I use the 67mm EW-73C hood too or is the 73B needed? I already have the 73C.

It takes the 73b, but aftermarket ones work well.

I thought the 73C was shorter than the 73B so it would work on both as opposed to the longer 73B on both (73B being too long on the 10-18 in some situations)? I'm sure it's not optimal with the 73C on both but is it still effective enough so I can limit carrying around two hoods?

MrWasabi wrote:

I've been going back and forth about a good mix of lenses for my SL1 and which combos would work best especially when I want to pack light? My current lenses are:

-Canon 10-18mm STM

-Canon 18-55mm STM

-Canon 55-250mm STM

-Canon 24mm STM

The idea of rolling with just the 10-18 and a 18-135 at times is appealing. Anyone have the 18-135 with a SL1/2? It's only about .8" longer than my 18-55 so I can pack it in about the same space in my bag. I've read it can be a front heavy combo with the SL1 though?

Can I benefit from that combo or stick with what I have for better results and make it work when I pack my bag to head out. I'm mostly doing some hiking in FL and taking outdoors/wildlife type shots. Basically, can I replace my 18-55 with an 18-135 to give me more flexibility?

Thanks for any input.

I don't have the SL1, but I do have the 18-135 STM and find it to be a great lens.  I can't find much to fault on it, and would highly recommend it for the verstility.  I'll stick that on my 7D2 for times I want a minimal kit and still have lots of flexibility.

MrWasabi wrote:

I've been going back and forth about a good mix of lenses for my SL1 and which combos would work best especially when I want to pack light? My current lenses are:

-Canon 10-18mm STM

-Canon 18-55mm STM

-Canon 55-250mm STM

-Canon 24mm STM

The idea of rolling with just the 10-18 and a 18-135 at times is appealing. Anyone have the 18-135 with a SL1/2? It's only about .8" longer than my 18-55 so I can pack it in about the same space in my bag. I've read it can be a front heavy combo with the SL1 though?

Can I benefit from that combo or stick with what I have for better results and make it work when I pack my bag to head out. I'm mostly doing some hiking in FL and taking outdoors/wildlife type shots. Basically, can I replace my 18-55 with an 18-135 to give me more flexibility?

Thanks for any input.

I personally find the 18-135 quite large on my SL2.  I am also not thrilled with the IQ of the 18-135.  My SL2 kit is the 10-18, 22 STM, and 60mm macro.

The EW-73B from the 18-135 STM just happens to fit the 10-18 STM perfectly. The only problem is the side petals show up in the photos at the sides at 10mm.

I trimmed down my extra EW-73B hood until the sides were no longer visible when you take a photo at 10mm. I started with a small drum sander in a Dremel tool and finished with some hand sanding to the final shape. The whole process took about 10 minutes. It is just the side "petals" that need to be trimmed down a bit as seen in these photos.

I have 18-135 on my SL-1 and it is a perfect walking around lens.  I used this combo in Europe and found that it provided a nice light combo with good images.  Bab

Thanks for the excellent replies everyone,

I'm keeping my eyes open for one now. I think it's definitely worth a try.

msowsun, yes, I saw your earlier thread on trimming the 73B. It was very helpful. That's how I figured out the size difference. I already have the shorter 73C though so I'd be going the other way. I guess I'd just give up a little shade ability on the 18-135 but it may be worth it to only need one hood for both the 10-18 and 18-135. Overall I could possibly carry one less lens and hood?

Yes, using the EW-73C hood on the 18-135 STM will be fine.  Canon often designates the same hood to be used on different lens models.

When the 18-135 STM was released, there was no hood designed for it. They used the old EW-73B which was actually designed for the 17-85 USM. If the 10-18 was designed first, they may have used the EW-73C hood on the 18-135 as they are very close in size.

MrWasabi wrote:

I've been going back and forth about a good mix of lenses for my SL1 and which combos would work best especially when I want to pack light? My current lenses are:

-Canon 10-18mm STM

-Canon 18-55mm STM

-Canon 55-250mm STM

-Canon 24mm STM

The idea of rolling with just the 10-18 and a 18-135 at times is appealing. Anyone have the 18-135 with a SL1/2? It's only about .8" longer than my 18-55 so I can pack it in about the same space in my bag. I've read it can be a front heavy combo with the SL1 though?

Can I benefit from that combo or stick with what I have for better results and make it work when I pack my bag to head out. I'm mostly doing some hiking in FL and taking outdoors/wildlife type shots. Basically, can I replace my 18-55 with an 18-135 to give me more flexibility?

Thanks for any input.

We use the bigger 1D and 5D-series cameras for our work, but for travel, we love the SL1 with EF-S lenses.

First, the SL1 is fabulous for travel for those who enjoy a traditional SLR experience, but don't want the hassle of too much size and weight. The low light performance of a full-frame DSLR simply isn't necessary for general travel photography.

Our combo for travel is similar to yours. My wife and I use the same bag. We each have our own white body SL1, and the we share the lenses.

The 18-55 is my least favorite Canon lens. Recent versions are optically ok, but the focal range is thoroughly unspectacular, and the f5.6 aperture doesn't do it any favors. My wife strongly favors the 18-135 (NOT the original version, however... only the STM and USM versions). It's all about the focal range, of course, and what a range it is! In effect, it's a really good super-zoom. Sharp, stabilized, and fast to focus. How isn't it a great travel lens?

I personally favor the 15-85, and it's the lens that stays on my SL1 for travel pretty much by default. I love the wider end, which is actually quite dramatic. And the 85mm (135 equiv) telephoto end is still extremely useful. It's not a bright lens, but the versatility and focal quality (which is the best of any EFS zoom Canon makes) make up for it.

We both love the 55-250 STM. It's like having a 100-400 L on a full-frame body, but at a mere fraction of the size, weight and cost. Love the IQ. And focus is very fast.

The 10-18 is obligatory for travel, though I admit to using it less when the 15-85 is mounted than with either the 18-55 or 18-135. It's size, weight, and cost, too, make it a no-brainer.

The 24 pancake is just a cool and useful lens to have for travel. And it's all the better with the diminutive SL1. It's too small not to carry.

There is one other lens I enjoy traveling with, though it's hard to squeeze in the bag without going bigger: the Rokinon 8mm fisheye. It's not for everyone. But I love it.

We bought all refurb (except the fisheye) from Canon. Everything cost less than just my 70-200/2.8 II IS L. We've just booked a cruise for October. My camera back is already packed.

Thanks Michael,

That's excellent input and I agree the SL1's versatility has given me the photography bug again after many years. I'm actually looking for a SL2 as well and I'll probably keep the SL1 as a backup or for another family member to use.

Another question for the group. Should I be targeting the 18-135 STM or the USM relative to the deal I can find? I just missed a STM for $185 and it looks like I can find either in the low $200s range most of the time.

Anyone have any success using a 1.4 extender with the 18-135?  If so, which one?

Tried it, it works. You can read the writing on the mailbox. Kenko 1.4 dxg hd. It's the only one that will work on EF-S lenses. Using the 2.x version you will lose autofocus. This was with SL2 and 18-135 STM.  From my front porch to across the street, roughly 150 feet.

MrWasabi wrote:

Thanks Michael,

That's excellent input and I agree the SL1's versatility has given me the photography bug again after many years. I'm actually looking for a SL2 as well and I'll probably keep the SL1 as a backup or for another family member to use.

The big appeal of the SL2 is the move to a full dual-pixel sensor for super-fast Live
View AF. In practical terms, it means a big step up in video AF performance. For travel, the SL1 is fine with us, but it's not my first camera of choice when capturing video of our three 2-6 year old grandchildren!

Another question for the group. Should I be targeting the 18-135 STM or the USM relative to the deal I can find? I just missed a STM for $185 and it looks like I can find either in the low $200s range most of the time.

The STM version is extremely fast and very good, optically, where the original version was largely ho-hum. The USM version is supposed to improve still photography speed. I haven't use it. However, there's LOTS of reviews and comparisons on Youtube. My takeaway was that it might be helpful for action photography, but most found of the reviews I saw said that the improvements are minimal. My wife came back from 2 weeks in Europe with nearly 1500 photographs, and focus was not an issue. Given how inexpensive (and still good) the STM model is, it would probably remain my first choice for travel. Her copy was the one EFS lens we didn't buy refurbished, instead part of a local kit that included a 70D, 50/STM, and 2 128GB SD cards for $600 total, making it difficult to itemize for just the zoom, but about $200 is not only consistent with what I've seen regularly, but also a pretty good price for such a capable general zoom.