Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
by Canon
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Category: Digital Camera
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Digital product summary information
Manufacturer: CanonRelease Date: 2009-11-30
Model: 18-200mm Lens
Product features:
- Standard zoom lens; 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6
- Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology allows sharp hand-held shots at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than otherwise possible
- 11 elements in 9 groups; aspherical lens element to correct aberration
- For EOS 50D, 40D, 30D, 20D, 20Da, Rebel XSi/XS, Digital Rebel XTi/XT and Digital Rebel cameras
- Tiffen 72mm Digital Enhancing Filter Kit
- Tiffen 72mm Photo Essentials Filter Kit
- Tiffen 72mm 21 Filter (Orange)
- Tiffen 72mm 30 Filter (Magenta)
- Tiffen 72mm 29 Filter (Red)
Digital camera reviews of Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: A comparison with the 70-200mm F4 L
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently purchased the Canon 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 IS lens to replace my 18-55mm kit lens. I found that I often needed a longer focal length than 55mm, but was too lazy to keep changing to my 75-300mm lens. Another great lens for the price by the way! Although I have been very happy with the lens, I've never really been able to compare it to something in the "same" class (similar focal lengths). Well this weekend changed that as I got the chance to borrow a friend's 70-200mm F4 L IS lens. It's a beautiful lens which has received extremely good reviews. How will the 18-200 hold up against this pro lens?
Firstly, the results were remarkably similar at all zoom ranges. Aperture wise, at around F7 - F9 the 70-200 is sharper, but at F5.6 and F11 the 18-200 is sharper. Focal length wise, at 70mm and 200mm the 18-200 appears to be slightly sharper, especially at the edges. The centres are virtually identical, but at 135mm the 70-200 has a slight advantage. This advantage is really marginal in bright sunlight, but is a bit more pronounced in lower light like shade or indoors.
I did some handheld indoor shooting. The 70-200 beat the 18-200 hands down, but probably only due to it being a faster lens when zoomed in. At 70mm the 18-200 was possibly sharper, but at 135mm and 200mm, the 70-200 was fantastically sharp even though it was handheld. Settings at 200mm were F5 and 1/13s for the 18-200 and F4 and 1/40s for the 70-200. Although the shutter speed was so ridiculously low on both lenses, the shots came out very usable indeed. The IS works an absolute charm on both lenses! On the 70-200, you can actually feel the IS working. It gives off a slight vibration in the lens which lasts for about 5 seconds after taking the shot. The 18-200 gives no indication that the IS is in use.
One big plus point for the 18-200 was the colour saturation gain over the 70-200. Virtually all shots were richer and more vibrant with the 18-200 and felt slightly washed out with the 70-200. Nothing that can't be sorted out post-processing, but still, I didn't expect that. The bokeh award however, undeniably goes to the 70-200. Creamy smooth bokeh at all focal lengths. Not that the 18-200 is bad, but when compared, the 70-200 is definitely better.
Overall, I found the 18-200 to hold up extremely well against the 70-200. I honestly thought I was going to be depressed in the knowledge that I needed to cough up around $1200 for a 70-200 as well, but I am very pleased to say, that won't be the case. Although the 70-200 is indeed a fine piece of work and marginally better than the 18-200 in low light, in bright sunshine the 18-200 is right there with it. Don't think that the 18-200 is bad indoors - not at all. It's surprisingly sharp at F3.5, but this stops down quickly as you turn the zoom dial, decreasing your shutter speed significantly and introducing blur when hand held.
At wider focal lengths like 18mm and 35mm, the 18-200 is plenty sharp. I took some test shots of a brick wall during a very cloudy day at F3.5, F5.6 and F10 at 18mm and F4, F6.3 and F11 at 35mm, and was greatly impressed at how sharp the images were. There was a very slight hint of vignetting at 18mm F3.5, with a noticeable amount of CA at all F-stops at 18mm. This was only significant however when the image was fully maximized on the screen, and only on certain very high contrasty vertical and horizontal lines. Mostly horizontal though.
My biggest gripe with the 18-200 however, is the fact that it is not a true 200mm zoom. In fact, when standing at the exact same spot with both lenses, and zoomed exactly the same on both, the 70-200 was consistently more zoomed in than the 18-200. Only slightly, but noticeable. The biggest difference comes in at 200mm. The 18-200 basically stops zooming at 170mm. It is in fact a 18-170mm lens. With today's high pixel count and excellent image sensors, that's not too big an issue as you can just crop the image as you need afterwards. But it is a little frustrating when the 70-200 gets in that much closer considering it's supposed to be the same focal length.
Would I recommend this lens - ABSOLUTELY!! This isn't the kit lens for the excellent 50D for nothing!
More Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras reviews:
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Summary of Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
Compact, lightweight and a wide magnification range - this standard zoom lens features a wide focal length range from normal to telephoto equivalent to 29-320mm in the 35mm format. It features an Optical Image Stabilizer for up to 4-stops of effective correction even at full zoom. Since Canon's optical image stabilization system is in the lens, not in the camera, you can see the stabilized, steadier images through the viewfinder. And the circular aperture can give beautiful background blur effects. This new wide zoom ratio EF-S lens delivers excellent high-speed performance at an affordable price.Lenses
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