Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is STM

I finally received my copy of the 18-135 STM lens. I went back and forth for a while deciding between this lens, the 15-85 and the 24-105. I eventually opted for this lens for three reasons. First, the lens is the newest available and I assumed Canon fixed the shortcomings of the previous 18-135 optically (along with the new stepping motor). Second, I really didn't need the extra 3mm on the wide end but I truly did need the extra 50mm on the tele end. Third, as a general walk-around lens, the weight was about 20% less than the 15-85 and about 30% less than the 24-105 which really does make a difference around your neck. Onto my experience(s). From what little I could read from the sparse reviews out there, this lens was suppose to be very close optically to the 15-85 (since I don't have a copy of the 15-85, I have to rely on MTF charts). There is some barrel distortion at 18mm, appox. the same as the 15-85 at 15mm, but it goes away very quickly on my copy between the 18-24 range. One thing I do like about this lens is there's plenty of space between the 18 and 24, it's not crammed together like other lenses on the wide end. The lens is a 3.5-5.6 aperture. In its progression you'll hit 4.0 in the 25-35mm range, 4.5 40-50mm range, 5.0 in the 55-80mm range and 5.6 from 85-135. On the 60D, be sure to load the peripheral illumination correction and chromatic aberration profile from Canon to eliminate any fall-off. Physically, this lens is bigger than I thought it would be (I don't know why I was expecting anything different really). It's about a 1/4 of an inch shorter than the previous 18-135 and about a 1/2 inch longer than the 15-85. Weight is about 1 oz more than the previous 18-135 and about 3 1/2 oz less than the 15-85. Diameter is roughly the same for all these lenses. The overall feel of this lens is superb. You really feel like it has enough heft to not be considered a plastic piece of junk but not so much that it creates a "boat anchor" feeling around your neck. The zoom ring is very nice and smooth along with the electronic manual focus ring. Both feel extremely upscale with the ribbing and ease of use. About the manual focus ring, you can over-ride AF anytime by half-pressing the shutter and rotating the MF ring (negating the need to flip the switch to MF each time you want to focus yourself). Performance (in my opinion) is stellar. The lens is EXTREMELY quiet while focusing and zooming (I would say audibly non-existent). Fluid is the best way to describe it. Everything flows in a way that makes you appreciate what the lens is doing, it's really a very refined, artistic, sensory appealing and tactile accomplishment (again, in my opinion). Zooming is fast. Focus is fast and spot-on. This lens focuses almost instantaneously. One thing that surprised me was the bokeh of this lens. I was expecting a kit lens 18-55 type of bokeh but I have to say this lens is VERY good (when I say VERY, I mean VERY close to prime). I am truly impressed! This lens is extremely sharp in the center, I have found it is sharp throughout the focal range and exceedingly sharp in the 35-85mm range. The lens profile will correct for any fall-off you might get in the corners. I have not found any color fringes yet although I haven't "pixel-peeped" a lot of the close-ups and I haven't had it for that long to begin with. Color balance is VERY good. I truly enjoy the warm/vivid colors this lens captures. In closing, this lens has exceeded my expectations in every way. I think this lens is a bargain in the $400-$500 price range (although the MSRP is $549.00). With the optics, build quality, and performance I believe it is probably the best value for a lens with it's focus range. Obviously prime lenses and L glass are going to trump this lens but for the price/performance/ergonomic ratios, good luck. Canon really has produced a winner here. Feel free to comment or ask if you have any specific questions about the lens...

I am really happy I purchased this Cannon Lens. Its awesome! Shipping - this unit came in less than a week as indicated when I purchased the lens, so I was happy about that. Quality- The Quality on the lens is really nice, its a solid lens and just a bit heavier than my 55-250. However it feels better in the hand. The downside if any would be it can get heavy for taking pictures for a long period of time, though, I have not experienced this. But I also do not have to carry as many lens' with me, since this has a sweet range from 18-135. Used - Yes I did purchase a used lens, however this thing looks brand new! It was packaged so very carefully with bubble wrap and It takes some really nice photos which you can look up youtube. The factory Canon boxes are not packaged with as much protection. Though they're not being shipped across the country... or are they? Bottom line is I would definitely purchase from this seller again, and I recommend you do the same. Also this lens Does have a lock on it, to prevent creeping. Focusing at 3 feet or less does take a while to focus, I usually had to take a step back - the 55-250 is better at 3 feet range. But it doesn't matter if you have room to take a step back.

The short version: If you plan on shooting any video with the Rebel T4i, this is the lens you want to buy first. The long version: While the new video autofocus feature on the Rebel T4i will work with any Canon autofocus lens, the 18-135mm STM focuses quickly and silently, unlike the 18-55mm lens in the other kit. The 18-55 has a noisy, slow focus motor that constantly 'hunts' for focus while taking video, and the whirring of the non-STM motor is easily picked up by the built-in microphones. It doesn't sound so bad in the field, but once you playback your video clips, it's magnified a great deal, making the audio nearly useless for any serious work. But even with recording Audio separately, the constant focus blur makes the video completely useless anyway, so you may ask yourself why the T4i has any video capability at all. Enter the 18-135mm STM. Not only is the STM motor virtually silent, it's fast enough to keep focus while you shoot (well, depending on the speed of the target, of course. No lens can work miracles.) This is the lens all those gorgeous sample videos on the Canon website were taken with, and with good reason. Now, there are certainly better Canon lenses for still photography--this isn't even an "L" series lens--but for video work on the T4i, it's hard to beat. It is also both quicker to focus and quieter than the other STM lens currently on the market, the 40mm STM pancake. (I can barely hear the 40mm focus, but the 18-135mm really is next to silent.) My recommendation for anyone looking to purchase the Rebel T4i/650D is to insist on the 18-135mm kit and forget the 18-55mm kit. I wish I had. Not that the 18-55 is a horrible lens--it's a decent starter kit lens for still shots. But at the time of this writing, the 18-135mm STM lens is nearly impossible to find by itself--and it lists on the Canon site for $549 when they do have it in stock. So you can either pay the $250 premium for the 18-135 kit over the 18-55 kit, or pay $550 later when you realize the 18-55 won't "do for now" until you can afford the 18-135 STM lens, if you want to take advantage of the video autofocus of the T4i. I suggest the 18-135 kit, plus another $199 for the 40mm STM pancake. That will give you a good solid pair of lenses to get started with, while you save up for an L-series telephoto.

I bought this lens for my Canon 60d. My choice was between this lens and the EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 USM IS. EF-S 15-85mm can go 3mm wider but stops at 85mm. The most it can open at 85mm is f5.6. It is big and heavy at almost 600g. It is expensive at 600 new and 530 gently used (at the moment of my review). EF-S 18-135mm STM has much longer reach. I do not think I will ever need anything longer than 135mm (equivalent of 216mm on a FF). I can cover wide angle by purchasing a wide zoom (like a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8), which I intend to do anyway. EF-S 18-135mm STM is not as heavy (at about 450-500g) and is a little brighter (f4.5 at 85mm). It is also more affordable at 550 new and 400 gently used (at the moment of my review). Also, I personally think that EF-S 18-135mm STM is a little sharper. Therefore, I decided in favor of longer reach, newer design, lighter weight, and (subjectively) better image quality. And saved some $$ in the process. I have had this lens for about 3 months now. I can tell that it is not a small or unnoticeable lens (especially with a hood). However, it is not too large or too heavy and does not feel like a burden. Just very solid and reassuring quality feeling. It is definitely lighter than a full-frame zoom. The lens extends quite a lot when zoomed out. The front element is not rotating (good for using filters). The filter size is 67mm. The lens is sharp, silent, and focuses very fast. The color rendition is good. The lens looks good and has a premium feel. Zoom and manual focus are smooth. There is some distortion, but most Canon bodies can auto-correct for that. All you need to do is download the lens profile from the Canon site and then set your camera to use this profile. It is also easily correctable in post-processing if you shoot RAW. To protect the lens, I bought Fotodiox Lens Hood and AGFA Lens Cap (much more convenient than the original one). They both are very cheap, look good, and serve me well. Long story short - I am very happy with my choice. Warning: This is a dedicated APS-C lens. It will not work on a Full-Frame body!

I previously had an EFS 18 - 105 that was damaged during a fall, and bought this as a replacement. It has slightly better optics than my previous lens, and the extended range has been a real plus. It is an EFS lens, and won't work on full frame cameras, but it's fine for my Canon 50D and subsequently for my Canon 70D. This is my primary "walking around lens" and has served me well on 3 continents and for over 5,000 photos. I have an assortment of Canon L lenses, and this is not in the same ballpark for quality, but the convenience of this lens, decent optics and size make it perfect for typical snapshots. I also carry my 17-40 L and my 70-200 L for more professional shots, but this lens is fine 80% of the time.

I got the EF-S 18-135mm STM to use with my EOS M. It really is an awesome lens -- super quiet AF, great focal length range, good size and weight, and superb quality even compared to my heavier/more expensive "L" glass. It's got good contrast and color, and I haven't run into any distortion, fringing, or vignette issues that couldn't be fixed via Camera Raw. One thing I've been having trouble finding online is information on performance of various lenses when coupled with the EOS M. For that reason, I'll say that this lens performs just as well as the 22mm f/2 kit lens. That is to say the AF is still slow, but no slower than what you're used to. The picture quality is on par as well, except you of course sacrifice between 1 2/3 to 3 f-stops for the increased zoom range. Maybe I just got lucky with a good copy, but I've been able to achieve tack sharp images wide open above 35mm, and reasonably sharp images from 18mm. As others have mentioned, this lens is awesome for video. I tend to not use the continuous auto-focus feature very often, mainly because the EOS M AF isn't very speedy. But the IS, zoom range, sharpness, and color reproduction of this lens lead to some great video. I mount the EOS M with this lens in my car when driving on the freeway, and you wouldn't know how bumpy the ride was by watching.

Im a professional photographer, I paid 460.00 for a new Nikon Len it died after only 3 Months the company that sold it, told me it have only a 30 day warranty, so they don't sell a dependable product nor do they stand behind their product ... never buy from this compant again

So, I now own two new EF-S 18-135 US nano USM lenses.....and one new EF-S 18-135 IS STM. (long story, another time) These models are very confusing since the nano USM is often more expensive and marketed as the upgrade. Both lenses seem to weight the same, with the STM being a tad lighter. The STM is slightly smaller in barrel diameter, though the lens/optic parts are the same size. Both have metal mount rings, manual zoom locks, IS, and AF. They both seem comparable in image quality. So which one to buy? What's the difference? The Nano USM also has the option of attaching a (sold separately) zoom module. It has the nano USM motor which is a hybrid of the STM/USM tech. It focuses about half a second faster for action or fast shooting, but with a less smoother motion that the STM. Also, the motor is very quiet, but does make a slight bit more noise than the STM. Opinion: the NANO USM is probably better for photographers sticking to still pictures or action shots. And who may want the zoom module. The STM is very quiet, and you have to put your ear near to hear it. It focuses slightly slower than the USM, but with a VERY SMOOTH transition for VIDEO. This lens will still serve you well for still photography and action, but is slightly slower to focus because of the smoother transition time. Opinion: If your going to do video blogging or shoot a lot of video primarily, and want a lens for stills too... You can't go wrong with this one.