Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The F3.5-5.6 lens

The EF-S 18-55mm lens is a wide-angle to mild telephoto lens made by Canon Inc.. The lens has an EF-S mount to work with some of the latest digital EOS cameras.

The lens comes in two different versions differing only in the use of the ultrasonic motor. The USM-less version, being cheaper, is sold as a bundled kit lens with Canon's consumer digital SLRs.

This a low cost lens and the image and build quality reflect the price. The lens has a plastic feel to it which is far from the sturdy L class lenses. The optical quality of the lens is surprisingly good compared to the price. Barrel distortion becomes quite noticeable at the wide angle setting and chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is common, along with relatively soft images when the lens is wide open. The corners of photographs taken at f/3.5 being unredeemably unsharp. However, if stepped down to f/8 at 18 mm and f/11 at 55 mm, the lens can produce quite sharp images comparable to lenses with at least ten times the price tag.

Several good choices of lenses to replace this one, or simply augment a photographer's collection, are the EF 17-40mm L, the EF 16-35mm L, or the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 USM IS lenses.

[edit] Specifications

Attribute	f/3.5-5.6 USM	f/3.5-5.6
Image stabilizer	No
Ultrasonic Motor	Yes	No
Returns Distance Information	Yes	Yes
L-series	No
Diffractive Optics	No
Macro	No
Maximum aperture	3.5 at 18mm, 5.6 at 55mm
Minimum aperture	22 – 38
Weight	6.7 oz/190 g
Maximum diameter	2.7 in/69 mm
Length	2.6 in/66.2 mm
Filter diameter	58 mm
Horizontal viewing angle	65°30′ – 23°20′
Vertical viewing angle	45°30′ – 15°40′
Diagonal viewing angle	75°20′ – 27°50′
Groups/elements	9/11
# of diaphragm blades	6
Closest focusing distance	11 in/0.28 m
MSRP $	US$239.99	N/A, kit-only lens