This is the latest incarnation of Canon's
18-55mm image stabilized kit lens for EF-S compatible EOS cameras sporting
their new STM stepping motor technology, which promises to provide smooth,
silent autofocus, especially well-suited for video. Although most people who
end up owning this lens will pick it up as part of a kit, bundled with one of
Canon's entry-level SLRs, it can also be purchased for around $300. In this
article, we will evaluate how it performance looks like.
Functionality and Handling
Lightweight, but sturdy plastics have been
used for making the most of this lens, which helps keep the weight down to just
over 200g. The lens is also made of plastic because it is an EF-S lens, it can
only be mounted on EF-S compatible EOS Canon cameras, such as the Canon EOS
600D used for testing. The light weight and compact dimensions of the lens make
this an ideal companion for compact entry-level SLRs.
Canon
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM
Autofocus is very fast, accurate and
virtually silent. Unlike many of the Canon's USM lens, manual focus override is
not always there and manual focusing is performed by the focusing motor. Manual
adjustments can be made in single focus mode once the lens has locked onto a
target by holding down the shutter button and turning the focus ring. Manual
focus ring doesn't have good braking, and felt quite loose during operation,
which can make applying fine focus adjustments a little more difficult than it
might, as the focus ring is very easily nudged.
Lightweight,
but sturdy plastics have been used for making the most of this lens, which helps
keep the weight down to just over 200g.
Focusing is done inside, so the 58mm filter
threads do not rotate, making this lens ideal for use with polarizing and
graduated filters. Closest focus is 25cm from the sensor plane throughout the
zoom range, which is ideal for capturing close-up frame or shooting in harsh
environments.
The powerful images are possible at 55mm
with some degree of consistency at 1/10sec, which are roughly three stops
slower than the usual rule of thumb for such a sharp image’s permission. When
shooting at slow shutter speeds, best results are achieved when you pause for a
second or two in the transition between focusing and taking an image. This
allows the image stabilizer to catch up and properly steady the image in the
viewfinder.
Focusing
is done inside, so the 58mm filter threads do not rotate, making this lens
ideal for use with polarizing and graduated filters.
Performance
For a lens that will be bundled with
Canon's entry level cameras, the sharpness delivered is quite impressive. With approximately 18mm sharpness has excelled across
the frame at the maximum aperture and remained so until the lens was dropped
down more than f/8.
With the lens zoomed to 35mm, sharpness in
the center of the frame is still very high at the maximum aperture and although
clarity towards the edges of the frame is reduced, it is still quite good
results. The sharp peak in the frame is achieved between f/5.6 and f/8. This
sharpness results are excellent across the frame.
Finally, with the lens zoomed to 55mm, the
overall sharpness is dropped, but clarity is still excellent in the center of
the frame with the maximum aperture and still very good on the edge of the
frame. This result remained unchanged until the aperture is stopped down beyond
f/11.
Rating
chromatic aberrations of images
How
to read our charts
Blue columns represent the index from the
center of the frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges.
Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.
The scale on the left side shows the resolution of the actual image
The taller the column, the better the lens performance.
In this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 600D using Imatest.
Chromatic aberrations
appear a bit at the top, especially towards the
edges of the frame at 35mm, where one pixel width is exceeded at apertures
faster than f/5.6 and when stopped down to f/16 or beyond. This level of
fringing doesn't cause too many problems, but can be seen along the high
contrast on the edges of the frame.
Rating
Image's sharpness
How
to read our charts
Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability
to focus on the sensor or blur all colors of visible light at the same point.
High chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around
sharp edges around the image. It can be handled by the software.
Apochromatic lenses have special lens (no
bridge, ultra-low dispersion, etc.) to minimize the problem, so they often have
much higher prices.
In this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 600D using Imatest.
Falloff of illumination towards the corners
of the frame is reasonably well controlled. Visually uniform illumination is
done with the aperture stopped down to f/5.6 and beyond.
Distortion is fairly typical for a lens of
this type, with Imatest detecting 3.12% barrel at 18mm at 0.163% pincushion at
55mm. The distortion doesn't create many problems for many people, but might be
too much for discerning photographers. If the straight lines are the most
important thing, then you will be glad to know that the distortion pattern is
uniform across the frame, which should make corrections relatively simple to
apply in image editing software afterwards.
No flare issues were encountered during
testing, only a slight loss of contrast is noticeable when shooting directly
into the light. No lens hood is provided as standard, so if you require one for
peace of mind, then the petal hoods EW-63C can help you with the price up to
$34.5, which seems a lot for a shaped piece of plastic.
Sample
Photos
Sample
Photos
Value for money
Currently, this lens is on the market for
about $300, but prices have continued to decline steadily since launch. Most
people who end up owning this lens will buy it as part of a camera, so wouldn't
dream of paying that much for this lens on its own, especially as the previous
USM version can be picked up for around $ 127.5.
Verdict
Nowadays the kit lens supplied with your
entry-level DSLR is seen as a secondary factor, only
is suitable only for temporary until you save up for an upgrade. Although this
lens can be made mostly of plastic, optically it performs well enough to meet
the needs of most photographers.
Many comments that this lens costs more
than double its predecessor at this time, although it does not seem as good in
all respects. However, the price of this lens is decreased continuously as it
becomes more available. The fact that most of the owners of this lens will buy
it as part of a camera kit, it's worth knowing that is may be a lens to keep
after all.
Pros
·
Good sharpness throughout the zoom range
·
Lightweight
·
Fast focusing
·
Effective stabilizer
·
Close focusing
Cons
·
High CA levels
·
Plastic lens mount
·
A touch expensive when bought on its own
Specifications
|
Lens mounts
·
Samsung NX
Lens
·
Focal Length 18mm - 200mm
·
Angle of View 8° - 75.9°
·
Max Aperture f/3.5 - f/6.3
·
Min Aperture f/22
·
Filter Size 67mm
·
35mm equivalent: 27mm - 300mm
·
Internal focusing Yes
Focusing
·
Min Focus: 50cm
·
Stabilized: Yes
Construction
·
Blades: 7
·
Elements: 18
·
Groups: 13
Dimensions
·
Weight: 549 g
·
Height: 105.5mm
|
