Hi. In this video, we’re going to look at this the 18-135mm STM lens and decide is it the
perfect lens upgrade.
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Okay, lets get into this.
Many Canon cameras come with the 18-55 mm STM kit lens and many people quickly realise
that this is a very limiting range so very often will be looking at upgrading very soon
after purchase.
The 18-135mm STM lens has an impressive zoom range.
So it seems like the obvious choice to upgrade at the point of purchase or possibly to replace
the 18-55 mm if you already own one.
Let’s delve into this and find out.
I recently visited the Lake District to really test this lens out and use the full scope
of that zoom range with landscape type shots at the 80mm end and more detailed zoomed in
shots at that 135mm end.
You can check out my vlog, that I shot on a day, where I detailed what happened that
day: I climbed a mountain and lots of other things that I did.
You can check that out now in the description down below or by clicking the video up here.
The 18-135mm STM lens is an EFS lens which means it will only work with Canon’s and
APSC sensor cameras like the 700D or the Rebel T6i or the Canon ATD.
Taking the crop factor of those cameras into account, this lens has a 35mm equivalent of
29-216 mm.
That’s an extremely useful range of focal length.
It’s suitable for so many different types of photography and, when you're just starting
out, this versatility is very, very useful because you can experiment, you can try out
different areas of photography and this lens will allow you to do without having to switch
lenses or purchase more lenses.
That saves us time and the investment of even more money.
The lens has a maximum aperture of F3.5-F5.6 depending on what part of the zoom range you’re
at.
It is very similar to the 18-55mm kit lens.
However, thanks to the extra focal length, it really gives you an extra ability to blur
out the background and get some nice bokke in your shots.
With just seven aperture blades, the bokke is not as creamy and delicious as it might
be more expensive lenses but, from 85 mm upwards, you can still achieve a pretty decent background
blur.
If you look at these three pictures, you can see the difference in the background blur
at 85mm at 100mm and finally at 135mm where you really get the maximum effect and some
half decent background blur.
This is particularly useful when you're shooting portraits and you want to isolate your subject
from the background and really give it that professional style look to your portraits.
This lens will achieve that for you.
To caver a few other tech specs, this lens has a 39 cm minimum focusing distance which
means you can get reasonably close to your subject and get some half decent macro shots
especially if you zoom into the 135mm range.
It weighs in at 480g which means, added to your camera, it isn’t going to pull your
arm off if you carrying it around all day long.
It has 67mm filter thread for all the filters you might want to attach to your camera and
it comes with 16 elements in 12 groups for the glass inside the lens.
The Canon 18-135mm STM lens comes with four stop Image stabilisation.
I actually found the image stabilisation to be particularly impressive on this lens and
it's even better than the 18-55 mm lens, at that same range.
At the longer end of the focal length, stabilisation is capable of smoothing out pretty severe
bumps and movements in your lens.
This is particularly useful when shooting video with this lens.
It lets you achieve some supersmooth shots even when you’re handholding.
The stabilisation also improves the lowlight capability and lets you use a shutter speed
for stops slower than you would normally.
The Canon 18-135 also has the STM focus motor which is really quiet, really smooth especially
when you’re shooting video.
So if we take a quick look around the lens, the first strikes you is that it's a much
improved quality over the standard 18-55 mm kit lens.
It feels solid.
This one has a metal mount which adds that little peace of mind and extra strength.
Although, like all EFS lenses, it is not weather sealed so you need careful when using it in
bad weather.
The zoom ring is nice and smooth and it also has a little lock switch, on the front, which
will lock it into the 18mm if you don't want to have any creep or you want to transport
it.
I’m, actually, quite impressed because there isn’t any creep on this lens whatsoever,
despite it being really smooth to operate, it doesn't move up or down of its own accord
which is particularly impressive.
The autofocus switch and the stabilisation switch on the side here and then we have the
focus ring at the top.
It moves smoothly although it does feel a little bit loose but that doesn't really matter
because this lens is focused by wire.
That’s like all the other Canon STM lenses and what that means is that it's an electric
switch, basically.
So the camera has to be powered up in order to focus.
That applies whether you’re in autofocus mode or manual focus.
The camera must be switched on to make the focus adjust.
It is a full-time manual override so, even when you’re in the autofocus mode, you can
still use the focus ring and that will affect your camera's focus.
the autofocus is fast and accurate and I didn't experience any problems with it whatsoever
and I came out with sharp shots at the end.
Image quality of the Canon 18-135mm STM lens is about what you would expect for a lens
in this price range.
It's not the sharpest tool in the box but it's still pretty decent especially when you
take into account that huge focal range.
At the wide end, this is a perfectly capable landscape lens but, because you’ve got that
extra zoom range, it opens up some opportunities that may not always have with that standard
kit lens.This shot of the misty mountains in the Lake District really gives an example
of what you can do with landscape photography at the longer focal.
If you want to take your landscape photographs even further, this lens couples really nicely
with the 10-18mm STM lens as well which really gets you to those wide angles.
The two fit really nicely together and are of similar quality.
I have reviewed that lens before.
I’ll put that up here and on the description below so you can check that out.
Working with these two together, as I did when I was in the Lake District, really felt
natural and felt great.
That’s particularly true when you consider you’re then having a 10mm to 135mm zoom
range for really not a lot of money.
This lens is £275 in the UK and $285 in the US at the current time.
That’s pretty good value for money when it comes to camera lenses.
Alternatives to this lens are the 18-200 range which is a bigger range than this one and
that is from manufacturers like Tamron, Sigma and Canon do one as well.
They are now much older lenses and don't have the all-important STM focus motor.
The quality of those lenses is also not as good as the much newer lenses.
I really wouldn’t recommend them over this.
Overall, I really like using the Canon 18-135mm STM lens.
The versatility it provides with decent quality is really, really good and you can use it
in so many different situations and capture good shots without having to change your lens.
It's a joy to use for both video and for stills.
It may be the only lens that some casual shooters will ever need.
if you’re looking to buy a good quality family camera system with versatility to do
a few other things then this may be the lens for you.
If you’re buying your first DSLR camera, I can highly recommend getting it with this
lens as opposed to the 18-55mm lens.
If you already own the 18-55mm lens, I can also recommend getting this, especially, if
you don't want to mess around with changing lenses and you want to be having a camera
which is ready any situation.
Please leave a comment below, if you’ve used this lens.
I’d really like to know what you think about it.
I’m also happy to answer any questions, if you are considering buying it and do give
it the thumbs up if you found the video useful.
If you haven’t done so already, do subscribe to the channel as well because there’s videos
going up every Wednesday and every Sunday.
I’ll see you on another video very soon.
I’m Adam!
This is First Man Photography.......
Out!