For general snapshots, viewing on the monitor and small prints IQ is sufficient, but pixel peeping and large prints are not recommended if you photograph distant objects. For the "VFA" target (the viewfinder accuracy target from Imaging Resource), we also provide sample crops from the center and upper-left corner of each shot, so you can quickly get a sense of relative sharpness, without having to download and inspect the full-res images. The IS version of the lens is perhaps 2mm longer, to fit in the new aspherical lens and moving lens element that is used for image stabilization. For many more comparisons, review the complete 18-55 IS II Specifications using the site's Lens Specifications tool.

Distortion is typical for a wide-angle zoom lens; lots of barrel distortion when zoomed to wide (18mm), approaches no distortion in the middle, and gets a bit of pincushion distortion at the telephoto end. A further update: I now find this particular lens is the one I use more than any others; its flexibility, performance and reliability are superb. My copy of this canon lens also had a terrible zoom ring that was loose around 35mm and tight and difficult to adjust around 18mm and 55mm. While it is not a good choice for low light action, the 18-55 IS II will work well in low light when the subjects are not moving. The keeper rate gradually decreases as longer exposures are used with a very low percent of images being worth keeping at .

The out of focus highlights remain nicely rounded at f/8, but of course, f/8 is at most 2 stops narrower than wide open where the aperture is completely round. A lightweight construction means it's easy to carry, and Canon's acclaimed optical Image Stabilization offers a 4-stop advantage to ensure sharp images at maximum zoom and when shooting in low light. Cameras featuring Hybrid or Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Movie Servo AF make video recording very easy and the STM lenses are very well-suited for this task.

f/8, f/11) increases or reduces the amount of light reaching the sensor by a factor of 2x (a big deal).It's a little less sharp than some of my others but it does render reds better than some other lenses I've used. While narrower is never better from a low light perspective, narrower apertures have some very nice advantages. The (very rough) rule for handholding a camera is that you need a shutter speed of 1/(focal length x FOVCF) or faster to avoid camera shake-caused blur.

overall, though if using the lens primarily at 18mm with scenes requiring sharper corners (such as landscapes), the older lens may be the better choice. That was the case with the 18-135 IS USM and I am not surprised to see the same again in the 18-55mm f/4-5.Different manufacturers have different specs, but the usual aperture range on a 15-55mm lens is around f/3. It was listed as condition "V" and after unpacking the lens, it looks to be in nearly new condition. I usually carry it in case I'll need something very wide or if I just want to take one lens for casual photography. The build quality: I have seen worse but it would have been nice if canon would have made the manual focusing a bit nicer, smoother etc. I bought it along with the Pentax K-50 (included two of the lens, not the best choice, may be excused for newbies).

Because the size of the lens elements can be reduced significantly, narrower aperture lenses can be lighter in weight and lower in cost.It weighs nothing, it's super sharp, has little distortion, zooms much more precisely than more expensive lenses and has better macro performance than more expensive lenses. com Canon lens forum complaining about credibility of my review (he thinks it is not out yet), well I am woring in Japan and it's been out there for 3 weeks already. I think if you do not know you will need the 17-55IS or 24-105L with EF-S10-22 combo , then you wont' need any of them and so get this 18-55IS instead.