Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM Standard Zoom Lens

Good budget lens

Strengths: Inexpensive, capable of producing excellent images

Weakness: Cheap feel/build quality, slow focusing in low-light

Many peope underestimate the capability of this lens. It can produce beautiful pictures. I am using this lens with my Rebel XTI (400D) and I am satisfied with the results. It is not Canon "L" lens quality, but it is worth paying the extra to get it bundled with the Rebel or 30D. The weaknesses of the lens is the build quality. The whole body is plastic and does not feel solid. Also, the focusing...
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Many peope underestimate the capability of this lens. It can produce beautiful pictures.


I am using this lens with my Rebel XTI (400D) and I am satisfied with the results. It is not Canon "L" lens quality, but it is worth paying the extra to get it bundled with the Rebel or 30D.


The weaknesses of the lens is the build quality. The whole body is plastic and does not feel solid. Also, the focusing can be slow in low-light conditions.


Overall, I would recommend this lens to any beginner in DSLR photography. Learn how to use the manual controls and then move up to more expensive lenses.

By joysmahal - Jan 29, 2007

Canon EF-S 18-55mm (USM) LENS

Strengths: Inexpensive, lightweight

Weakness: Plastic mount, EF-S

I bought this lens for my Canon 20D and to go with my 28-105mm and 70-210mm lenses. Because of the cropping factor on the 20D, I needed a wide angle lens to cover what I had lost. This is the faster and more expensive USM version. It's cheap, small and lightweight. For the price, it takes fairly decent photos. The other Canon lenses covering the zoom range I needed were too expensive. I figured...
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I bought this lens for my Canon 20D and to go with my 28-105mm and 70-210mm lenses. Because of the cropping factor on the 20D, I needed a wide angle lens to cover what I had lost. This is the faster and more expensive USM version. It's cheap, small and lightweight. For the price, it takes fairly decent photos. The other Canon lenses covering the zoom range I needed were too expensive. I figured this lens is better than nothing in case I ever need to get a wide angle shot. It's an EF-S so it can only be used on the digital Rebel and 20D bodies.

By islandgirl437 - Mar 7, 2006

Good only for day time photos

Strengths: 18-55mm is a good feature

Weakness: Plastic mounted, Manual focus is probamatic, cannot be used for night and low light photography.

It gives lot of flare during night photography. Also during sunsets it forms a circular ring against the light. Even using Neutral density filter or a poralizer do not help much. Usually this lense comes with the kit. For the new users who are planning to buy a Canon Digital SLR should try some other options for the lense rather than buying this one. I am not sure why canon is selling this lense...
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It gives lot of flare during night photography. Also during sunsets it forms a circular ring against the light. Even using Neutral density filter or a poralizer do not help much.

Usually this lense comes with the kit. For the new users who are planning to buy a Canon Digital SLR should try some other options for the lense rather than buying this one.

I am not sure why canon is selling this lense $100+ as it not worth more than $50.

By Vishal Sharma - Jan 4, 2006

I have bought this lens in the EOS...

Strengths: A cheap resolution for wide-angle with a fair picture quality and decent price

Weakness: Plastic build body, little soft picture quality

I have bought this lens in the EOS Digital Rebel SLR kits for more than half a year. I use this lens for scenery shot with it's 18 mm end. In my opinion, the 50/1.4 some times is too long for taking certain photos - such as those of buildings; same of the 28-135, which are the other 2 lens I have. In photography, it is far better to get the photo even if the quality is lower, than to not get the...
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I have bought this lens in the EOS Digital Rebel SLR kits for more than half a year. I use this lens for scenery shot with it's 18 mm end. In my opinion, the 50/1.4 some times is too long for taking certain photos - such as those of buildings; same of the 28-135, which are the other 2 lens I have. In photography, it is far better to get the photo even if the quality is lower, than to not get the photo at all. With this lens, even if the picture it take is not as sharp as I would like, at least I can get the photo in the first place. I can apply sharpening in post processing in Photoshop. And, I will shoot in RAW, if I want to keep the most quality. Actually, to my surprise, most of the pictures I took with this lens are fairly good. Believe it or not, few people even the expert can separate the 18-55 or 17-40L lens when taking look at the printed out 4X6 real picture. That why I'm happy to keep using this lens.
In addition, this lens is cheap, especially buy it with the camera kits, and light. This gives you the best compromise, highest flexibility in a single lens, without breaking the bank or having to carry a heavy lens while walking about town.
Overall, I think the Canon 18-55 lens is decent. It's sharp enough to get the job done and just fast enough not to be annoying. Focusing speed is very respectable. For $100 it's an awesome lens. I recommend getting the kit since a comparable lens would be very costly. It is a cheap resolution for wide-angle with a fair picture quality, especially for the D-SLR beginner who plan to buy the Canon EOS-20D, Digital Rebel (300D) or Rebel XT (350D).

By bioltb - Jun 5, 2005

so-so lems

Strengths: It's cheap, lightweight and takes a reasonable photo

Weakness: Needs to be stopped down. No lens cap included.

It's not a bad walk around lens. Optically, the quality is fair - not good - It's light and has a plastic bayonet mount. Personally, having used I'd have gone for the body-only option and bought a separate lens.

By Himmler - Jul 29, 2005