This Canon EF 28-135mm lens is often advertised as the ideal everyday standard zoom lens. I don’t fully agree

If you are looking for a quality, great versatile lens for that extensive focal area range between wide angle and long telephoto the EF 28-135mm is a great choice.  Especially with the IS and USM features.  I cannot fully agree with the ‘everyday bit’. Compared to the standard Canon kit lens (the EF-S 18-55mm zoom), the EF 28-135mm is a bit on the heavy side and on a APS-C DSLR Camera, the 28mm low end focal length becomes 44.5mm, not quite wide enough for some shots.

Get the Canon EF 28-135 IS USM Zoom Here

This is not criticism so much as a simple correction of the ‘everyday standard’ claim.

I ordered my EF28-135 mm Canon lens after studying a lot of reviews and was pleasantly surprised once it came.

My final choice was between the EF-S 18-135 mm and the EF 28-135mm.  I chose the latter because:

• I have an ambition to one day afford a full frame Canon and my EF-S lenses will not be compatible.
• I already own the EF-S 18-55mm IS USM kit lens and it truly is an ‘everyday standard’ zoom. It is light and compact and has a decent wide angle but not much of a telephoto range.  Despite the fact that the Canon EF-S 18-55mm it is not classed as one of the best lenses, it performs more than well enough for everyday use.
• I needed something with the quality for more challenging shots and a decent mid-range telephoto zoom

My surprises were as follows:

• The Canon 28-135mm IS USM came with a great macro feature that was not mentioned much, if at all, in the literature.
• Several reviews mentioned a looseness of the front element in the barrel that irritated some owners.  My copy does not have any of it.
• Some reviewers experienced lens creep on vertically downward shots.  Not my model!
• I have had the time to experiment with the lens and to my half experienced eye it performs great at both ends of the zoom Spectrum.  The IS works even in my shaky hands. The USM is dead quiet, very fast and dead accurate.  No chromatic abberation visible.
• I took many good shots with it and some bad ones.  My bad shots could be clearly identified as photographer error… wrong camera setting choices!
• An odd sized 72mm front element will require another set of filters but lets in a lot of light!
• Apart from the 44.5mm (non-wide angle ) limitation the 28-135mm does offer an extensive focal length choice and has certainly become my first choice as the second carry around lens for the convenient telephoto range which is effectively 200mm.  Just long enough to get close-up, candid, people shots without being conspicious.

Here are the features:

• The EF 28–135mm f/3.5–5.6 IS USM offers a 5x zoom range, effectively from 44.5mm to 216mm on the consumer range of Canon APS-C DSLR cameras .
• The three-stop Image Stabilizer works! and enables hand-held shooting, for me, even at the telephoto end. F3.5 to F5.6 is a decent speed at the price of this lens, and the large front lens element actually is an advantage to let in more light.  I am delighted with the low light shots.
• Macro feature for real in-your-face shots of tiny objects and creatures.
• Fast, quiet and accurate USM autofocus motor
• Super Spectra coating
• Circular aperture for pleasing background blur
• Passes distance information to E–TTL II

ACCESSORIES

• Lens Hood EW–78B II
• Soft Case LP1116
• 72mm UV Protector Filter
• 72mm Circular Polarizer PL–C B8–135mm f/3.5–5.6 IS USM WIDE EF 28–135mm f/3.5–5.6 IS USM TELE

Canon offers a number of different lenses. Each Canon Lens has strengths and limitations that every photographer should understand.  Below is a short discussion to explain the main categories: Canon EF vs EF-S lenses, Canon Prime Lenses, Canon Zoom Lenses, Canon L-Series, and Canon DO (Diffractive Optical Elements). Canon USM (Ultrasonic Motor) features, Canon IS (Image stabilisation)

Canon EF lenses vs Canon EF-S lenses

Canon 18-135 mm EF-S IS Zoom Lens

Canon EF lenses have come all the way from standard 35 mm film SLR cameras, before Digital SLR cameras, but they are as outstanding today as ever and are compatible across the Canon range.  Smart photographers know that their lens investment is much longer lasting than that of the camera bod.

Canon EF-S lenses were introduced to suit the APS-C format cameras, the very popular and exceptionally versatile consumer DSLR cameras.  APS-C format cameras have a sensor size of  22.2 x 14.7 mm.  This is approximately 2/3 the size of the original 35 mm film camera frame.  It has the following consequences:

• The APS-C sensor being 1/3 smaller than the 35 mm format means that lenses attached to a Canon APS-C camera have a cropping factor of 1.6. This means that one should multiply a lens’s specified focal length by 1.6.  For example a zoom lens specified as 28-135mm will effectively become a 45-215mm lens, because the same image is projected onto a smaller sensor and only two thirds is captured on the surface. Similarly a lens specified as 50 mm will be a 80mm prime lens on a Canon APS-C, a 100 mm Prime will be a 160 mm prime, and so on.
  This is good news if you are aiming for more telephoto coverage, but it has the opposite effect when y0u are aiming for wide angle.  To get to an effective 28 mm wide angle view, you need to attach a lens specified as 14 mm.  (14×1.6=28).
• The second and important factor of the APS-C sensor is that because the sensor is smaller, so is the mirror that flips up and allows the single lens reflex view.  Because the mirror is smaller, the lens’s nearest element can be closer to the Camera sensor.  This is the essential difference between the EF-S lenses and the EF lenses.
  The EF-S lenses therefore are incompatible with the larger sensor sizes of professional Canon Cameras. The lens element and mirror will crash!
  This is of little consequence to the APS-C camera user.  APS-C Cameras, the majority of current Canon DSLR’s are fully compatible with both EF lenses and EF-S lenses.  (Today’s APS-C range includes the Canon Rebel range, the Canon 60D and Canon 7D) known as the following in Europe: 
  • Canon EOS 1100D (Rebel T3)
  • Canon EOS 500D (Rebel T1i)
  • Canon EOS 550D(T2i)
  • Canon EOS 600D (T3i)
  • Canon EOS60d
  • Canon EOS 7d
• It is only the professional range of cameras that is affected.  Because of the larger sensor sizes (and therefore mirror sizes)  the following current range of profession Canon DSLR Cameras cannot operate with EF-S lenses:
  • Canon EOS 5d Mark II,
  • Canon EOS  1d Mark IV
  • Canon EOS 1DS Mark III
• Lens image quality is not a factor between EF and EF-S lenses

In simple terms, when would you buy an EF lens over an EF-S lens?  If you already own a full frame (professional) Canon DSLR or believe (like I do) that one day you will own one, either because you will be able to afford a new one or that technology advancement will make them affordable or that a suitable used one will come my way.

Canon Prime lenses

Prime lenses have a single, fixed focal length.  EG 50mm, or 80mm.  In other words they do not zoom.  Being fixed prime length they have less moving parts and are typically more consistently high quality across the full frame.  As such they are popular with professionals who specialise in shots suited to the focal length, such as 50mm or 80mm for protrait shots or views that take in large parts of the scene rather than a telephoto or wide angle view.  Telephoto prime lenses are fixed at the longer focal length and cannot zoom to a wider view.  Using Prime lenses, such professionals will be prepared to change lenses frequently to suit the scene.  It means that you have to specialise in a particular shot or be prepared to carry a selection of lenses.

Of course if most of your photography is in-situ or in-studio, this is practical.

It also is an expensive route because each focal length used requires a different lens.

Canon Zoom Lenses

Canon 18-135mm EF-S lens

Zoom lenses have a variable focal length.  In other words the photographer can zoom the lens in or out on a scene, to capture either a wider scene or to ‘zoom’ in on a particular small area.  Do not confuse Zoom with Telephoto.  Telephoto means enlarging a scene or bringing it closer than the normal view.  In focal length terms it means anything greater than 50mm, up to as much ass 1000mm.  Without zoom, a telephoto lens is still a prime lens.

There is of course a variety of Zoom lenses available for just about all makes of camera and expecially for Canon. Quality varies and because of the moving parts and number of elements (mirrors and internal lenses) a zoom lens often has to sacrifice a degree of quality for price and the quality can vary depending on the focal length that is being used.  That is why very high quality Zoom lenses such as the Canon L-series zooms can be very expensive.

Canon L-Series

The Canon L-Series lenses are the ultimate in quality lenses.  They are expensive, heavy, accurate and offer exceptional quality.  They can be identified either by their distinctive white bodies or a subtle but telling red line around the otherwise black body.  Serious bragging rights here!  Look out for the distinctive white lenses at major sporting events on TV.  The equipment is not a camera with a good lens attached.  It is more like a major technological marvel with some irrelevant camera body as an appendage at the back of it to capture the detail that the lens sees.

I will go into the detail of L-series lens technology in another post.

Canon USM lens features.

You will see the three letters USM in the lens description often.  It stands for Canon’s UltraSonic Motor focusing mechanism.  It means that focusing is achieved with a quiet, fast and highly accurate motor in the lens body.  The feature carries some premium on the pricing but it is worth every extra cent for focusing speed and accuracy.  It is also a highly prized feature in Movie or video mode where you do not want the focusing motor sounds spoiling the recording.

The technology is available across the range, in some EF-S lenses, in most EF lenses and is a standard Feature in all L-Series lenses.

I try to not consider a Canon lens without this feature.

DO (Diffractive Optical elements)

Occasionally you will see the letters DO as part of a lens description. It stands for multi-layered Diffractive Optical elements.

All lenses have an element of Chromatic aberration that is dealt with in different ways by lens manufacturers and, if it becomes noticeable to the expert, it can be corrected in many ways, including Photo Editing software.  The DO technology perfected by Canon uses dual lens elements whereby one element reverses the Chromatic aberration and thereby cancelling out the flaw of the other element.

This gets highly technical but it it really means that a lens with DO (Multi-Layer Diffractive Optical Element) can be made smaller and lighter than an equivalent lens manufactured with conventional optical elements.  You can see a detailed description of DO with graphics on one of Canon’s pages here: Diffractive Optical elements

IS (Image Stabilisation)

Camera shake is the bane of the amateur photographer at any level and the bane of even the pro when using shooting telephoto images.  We all shake a little. Canon says “Hands typically shake at between one and five tiny movements per second”, some more than others.  I am sure I am at the higher end of the scale and my movements are not so ‘tiny’. This can result in blurred images especially when less than perfect light demands a slower shutter speed.  IS (image stabilisation) is Canon’s term for the very clever technology that counteracts this weakness in us humans.  It allows us up to 2 to 5 F-stops slower shutter speed if we need to.  In short, it gives us our wanted sharp shots more often.

Be aware it helps with camera shake, not moving subjects!

To read the fascinating technicalities of IS read about Image Stabilisation on the previously referenced Canon site.

IS is a great technology and amazingly it is very effective.  If you can, make sure all your lenses have this feature.

As and aside, the 3/4ths Camera manufacturers like Pentax include this feature in the camera, not in the lens technology.  This makes sense to me, but I have not seen the resultant savings in the price of the lenses.

A prime lens (fixed focal lenght) is not sexy with zoom trimmings but it is possibly one of the best lens choices you can make.  It even shines as some of the Best Portrait Lenses.

One of the most useful and often overlooked lenses in the Canon and Nikon DSLR arsenal is a 50mm fast (or large aperture) Prime Camera lens.

Clear, crisp photography is often evidence of a fast DSLR Camera lens.  F1.4 or F1.8 DSLR lenses are typically very expensive and out of reach for most casual budgets. Mostly we can just dream.  But the 50mm Canon and Nikon Prime F/1.8  and F/1.4 lenses provide a way that the amateur can fit a decent aperture into his or her collection. The crop factor of the APS-C sensors in the Canon and Nikon range, makes the 50mm effectively a 75mm lens which is more versatile.   The best camera lens for any make of camera will cost 10 x as much or more than the 50mm F/1.8 Prime lens, but the higher prices will not buy better image quality for the range of applications that suits the 50mm.

A very affordable and flexible option is the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens or the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras.  For me, at the price of around the $100-$130 mark, this is by far the best Canon or Nikon lens buy for any budget conscious DSLR Camera enthusiast.

If budget is not that much of an issue, you will still get more than you pay for at the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 II Camera Lens or the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Here’s why a 50mm fast Prime DSLR lens is great:

• Crisp, clear pictures even in low light, far superior to slower zoom rivals.
• A 50 mm lens is ideally matched  to the sensor sizes of Canon and Nikon DSLR’s for the highest resolution (See later)
• Using the full DSLR sensor’s megapixel capability means you can crop any part of the picture and still get high resolution, equivalent to longer lenses.  It does indeed give you zoom flexibility when editing!
• High F-stops allow you to use fast shutter speeds virtually eliminating camera shake.
• You can limit depth of field, bringing your subject out against its surroundings.
• Simple design components make a  50mm fixed lens possible with very high quality yet very affordable.
• Here’s why I say that the 50mm Canons or Nikons are the best Portrait lenses:
  • In portraiture you do not want to crowd your subject, nor do you want them far and out of touch.
  • Ideal portrait lens focal range is  normally viewed anywhere between 50 to 100mm. (Too close, widens a person’s facial features and can create a bulbous nose!   To far, flattens the face into a poor snap shot.
  • The 50mm’s crop factor of 1.5 or 1.6 on the APS-C Canon and Nikon dSLR’s  makes it behave like a 75 mm lens.  That sits neatly in the best portrait lenses range!

Best uses for 50mm DSLR Prime lens:

• Sharp Nature scenes with wide vistas. You can choose your depth of field.
• Clear Architecture and gardens.
• Party shots where low light is often a consideration.
• Portraits of course, be it single or group subjects.
• Ideal, versatile lens for family gatherings and parties where light is not always ideal.
• You can get creative later with cropping and light and colour manipulation.
• You can easily crop a picture taken in good light by more than 80% and get the same telephoto view and equal or better picture taken with an average (F 5.6 or lower) 250mm zoom lens!

A wide view of the Isle of white

I’ve had to compress the two Pictures to shorten their load time on the web, but hopefully the point is made.  The second is a Photoshop crop from the first. About 10% height and width.

a 10% photoshop crop (1/100 area)

Who needs a telephoto Zoom?

The 50mm Fast fixed focal length lens is one of the the most versatile lenses in my bag.

A Prime 50mm lens is a great Christmas gift idea for camera enthusiasts.  In fact it is a great gift idea for a photographer at any time. Amazon will typically deliver it within 48 hours.

Looking a little into the specs of the Canon and Nikon DSLRs and the specs of a Prime 50mm lens, it becomes evident why it is the optimal for both Nikon and Canon DSLR’s:

See how the lens Aperture and the Camera Sensor sizes interact in the following graphics:

A 50mm lens on a Canon or Nikon DSLR with the APS-C sensor format:

	Canon DSLR  APS-C Format Canon Entry Level DSLR and Midrange		Nikon DSLR APS-C Format Nikon Entry Level DSLR and Midrange
	Prime 50mm Lens @ F 2=25mm	Prime 50mm Lens @ F 1.8=27.8mm	Prime 50mm Lens @ F 2=25mm	Prime 50mm Lens @ F 1.8=27.8mm
	Light area visible in the frame is reduced by only 2% to fit on the sensor	All of the sensor is used to capture more light than the visible frame.	Light area visible in the frame is reduced by only 5% to fit on the sensor	All of the sensor is used to compact more light than the visible frame

Compare the above to the capabilities or the typical Kit zoom with an F/4 or F/5.6 Maximum aperture:

Canon DSLR  APS-C FormatCanon Entry Level DSLR and Midrange		Nikon DSLR APS-C FormatNikon Entry Level DSLR and Midrange
Typical 18-55mm Kit Lens at 50mm F 4=12.5mm	Typical 18-55mm Kit Lens at 50mm F 5.6=9.9mm	Typical 18-55mm Kit Lens at 50mm F 4=12.5mm	Typical 18-55mm Kit Lens at 50mm F 5.6=8.9
123mm2 of light is dispersed over 329mm2 of sensor area=37% light capture	123mm2 of light is dispersed over 329mm2 of sensor area=19% light capture	123mm2 of light is dispersed over 390mm2 of sensor area=33% light capture	63mm2 of light is dispersed over 390mm2 of sensor area=17% light capture

All other things being equal the ‘slower’ kit lenses effectively limit the megapixel capacity of a DSLR camera to only 37% to 17% of its picture taking ability.

How do the Canon and Nikon Lenses compare?

Both Canon lens reviews and Nikon Lens reviews emphasize the image quality.

In the many Canon 50mm reviews for the Canon Prime lens hundreds of people rave about the image quality and a few comment negatively on the plastic build quality and relative noise of the autofocus motor, meaning they can hear it!  So it is not the best Canon lens ever, but at the price, I think the negative Canon 50mm reviews are overly critical.

In the Nikon lens reviews, the image quality again stands out among hundreds of reviews.  No mention of poor build quality, but some comments about the 1.5 crop factor that makes the 50mm Nikon Prime view like a 75 mm lens.  You can always buy a 35mm Prime at four times the price if your budget allows.

More Detailed Canon 50mm Prime Lens Reviews:

See Detailed Canon EF 500 F/1.8 Prime lens Reviews here.

See detailed  Canon 50mm EF 500F1.4 Prime lens Reviews here.

“ Why spend more?
“With the 50mm f1.8 lens available for less than a hundred dollars, why spend so much more to get the f1.4? The answer is, you may not need to. It all depends on your seriousness, budget, and how long you need your lens to last….”

More Detailed Nikon 50mm Prime lens reviews:

See Detailed Nikon 50mm F/1.8 AF Prime Nikkor lens Reviews here.

See detailed Nikon 50mm F/1.4 Prime Nikkor lens Reviews here.

One of the many five star reviews starts as follows:

“ One of the best lens for portrait and low light photography, October 10, 2006″

“I don’t even know where to start. This lens produces sharp pictures and great color and contrast. This lens is perfect for low light and/or action/sport photography (as this lens is famous for being one of the fastest lens together with its brother 50mm f/1.8). This lens is also perfect for…”

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM Lens Review

The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM lens is a great mid-level, medium length lens to have in your bag. Canon lenses range from entry level to mid-range to Pro-level.  Mid-range and medium length really sound average, does it not?  But I don’t mean that at all.  I have learned that even ‘entry level’ in the Canon DSLR category is outstanding.  Chosing among the range of cameras and lenses becomes a factor of price and practical considerations first and only the specialists and pros fuss over the marginal finer picture quality differences that the high end equipment offers.

I thus focus on the practical stuff for DSLR enthusiasts who want good lenses but have at least some budgetory limits.   So I pick the value for money items.

What makes the Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM Lens stand out in the crowd?

• The image stabiliser function is key on the Canon 70-300mm zoom for bringing a distant subject in nice and close and managing camera shake which is inevitable with a long lens. With the ID the detail is consistently very high quality even in medium light.  (At distance your flash is going to be no use!)
• The two main uses of the 300mm zoom is to get shots of distance objects, obviously, but it is outstanding for getting close ups of people in natural poses, especially kids, when they don’t even know that the camera is focusing on them.
• The dual option Image Stabilisation is an essential feature, especially on longer zoom lenses and I am happy to say that it works!  Even at 300mm range the Canon IS feature is forgiving of bad hand held technique.
• The 70-300mm Canon zoom lens is an extensive range.  Pick between a full frame picture of a closer subject or a pin sharp focus on a far away scene.  Such a range is real value for money at the Amazon price.   The Amazon offer really dispenses with the need to look at used lenses.  You can see their specials here.
• Zoom lock (at 70mm) which is quite handy for closer ‘downhill’ shots.

The down side:

• The autofocus can be a little slow, but few people seem to notice.
• As with any 300mm Zoom lens, the camera does become heavy with the 300mm lens attached, so it is not my choice for a default lens when I don’t know what I will need on the day;
• The 70-300mm range to me implies it is a second or third lens.  I need something with a shorter range as well.
• The Canon 70-300mm is great value for money, and you get more than you pay for, but the pros say that they can notice the higher quality of the ‘L’ range and that they need to do some colour correction afterwards.  I’ll believe them, because I am not that much of a perfectionist and at four to five times the price I will leave the ‘L’ range to them.

Other 70-300mm Canon lens choices:

The next level up 70-300 Canon lens at roughly twice the price is:
The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS DO USM Lens  -  The key differences are that the DO USM lens:

• Has faster autofocus
• The green ring denoting the fancier USM gives you bragging rights
• Is slightly smaller, but slightly heavier
• The front does not rotate with focusing, a factor that comes into play with Polarised filters

For me, these features do not make up for the price difference.

If you go down a level to the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Lens you lose the Image Stabilisation feature which is to me one of the most important features in Canon camera lenses.

Other User review extracts

By Lady…

“…the Canon 70-300mm for getting in nice and close for sharp detail. I’ve also used it very successfully for portraiture (allows you distance, so no need to crowd your model) and for fine art photography subjects. It’s an absolute boon for travelling, being fairly light, and the image quality is consistently high every time. Thanks to the Image Stabilisation, hand-held shots, even at the full telephoto 300mm range of things, are plenty sharp enough and despite its relatively small aperture, the IS ensures the lens performs well in fairly dingy light too…”   See full review here

By Dave

“…is relatively light weight and not burdensome to use. I was able to get some really amazing wild life shots of birds, .. virtually every shot was a keeper.  The IS feature allows you to quickly zoom and compose your shot and fire it off and the image quality is excellent with sharp focus. … I didn’t see any problems with focus, clarity or sharpness. All the images were clean and razor sharp….”   See full review here