Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

• Focal length: 28-135mm
• Maximum aperture: 1:3.5-5.6
• Lens construction: 16 elements in 12 groups
• Diagonal angle of view: 75 to 18 degrees
• Focus adjustment: Rear focusing system with USM
• Closest focusing distance: 1.6 feet
• Zoom system: Rotating type
• Filter size: 72mm
• Dimensions: 3.1 inches in diameter, 3.8 inches long
• Weight: 18.9 ounces

The lens is fairly heavy and after a few months of use, you will likely find that the weight of the glass is enough to make the lens telescope out when it's around your neck. If you want a compact lens that will let you take great pictures in a wide range of settings, this is probably the best lens you could get for a Canon camera. If you're a pro, you'll probably have a backpack full of lenses and you're not reading this anyway, so I'm not talking to you. If you want something you can sling over your shoulder and not think about when you take the kids to Disney World, get a cheaper, lighter lens.

The Image Stabilizer (IS) makes the lens a lot more expensive (some lenses are offered with and without it), so you should know what you're paying for. Some notes about the Image Stabilizer:

- The image stabilizer itself is basically a spinning lens element (piece of glass) that acts as a gyroscope. When the lens moves slightly, such as camera shake caused by your pulse, the gyroscopic element stays put while the other elements move. Because the gyroscopic element is no longer in line with the other elements, it effectively bends the light just enough to compensate for the lens moving.

- Having the IS feature does not mean that you can take crisp photos with a 1/20 sec exposure while jumping on a trampoline. What it means is that you can often get away with not carrying a tripod in normal lighting, and in low light when your photos would be very blurry (assuming you're not using really fast film), the IS will make the images significantly less blurry. An obvious corollary is that you can avoid using a flash in many situations when a flash is undesirable or prohibited.

- The rule of thumb to get crisp photos without image stabilization is that your shutter speed should not be longer than 1 over your focal length. So if you are taking a picture zoomed in at 135mm, your shutter speed needs to be 1/135 sec or faster, and since no camera I know of has a 1/135 setting, that means going up to 1/160 sec (on cameras with stops in 1/3 increments) or faster. The image stabilizer means that you can go 2 f-stops slower than you normally could using the rule I just explained. So if you're shooting at 135mm and you have the IS switched on, you can shoot at 1/40 sec instead of 1/160 sec. That means four times as much light goes past the shutter, or that you can get the same quality results with 1/4 of the ambient light you would normally need.

- There are some times when you SHOULD NOT use the IS feature. You should definitely not use it if you are in a car, on a roller coaster, if you are walking, or in any other situation where the camera is moving or vibrating a lot. You will get blurrier than normal images because the gyroscopic element is constantly moving all over the place, trying to prevent the image from moving. Only have IS switched on when you are using the camera in a normal, stationary, handheld manner. You should also not use IS when you are using a tripod, or when you have the camera resting on a vibration-less surface for an image. The reason is that the gyroscopic element will be spinning even though it's not needed, and while this isn't really bad, the motion could decrease photo quality (I've never noticed this, but this is what Canon claims), and it is unnecessarily using battery power.

- Finally, not all of Canon's IS lenses use the same IS technology; many of the more expensive and newer lenses are better, but it was hard enough for me to come up with what this lens cost--it'll be awhile before I can rationalize three times as much for an upgrade.

One last note about third-party lenses, in case you're thinking about it. I know the price may be compelling but there genuinely does seem to be major quality differences, and while all Canon EOS lenses work will all Canon EOS cameras, no matter how many years apart they are in design, it has happened several times that even the best of the third party lenses (Sigma, some others) do not function properly with new Canon cameras. I happily buy knock-offs with other things, but not with lenses, flashes, or other camera components that actually communicate with my camera.


Excellent Walkabout Lens   June 20, 2003
Andrew Simmons (Fresno, CA USA)
374 out of 382 found this review helpful

While I considered purchasing a Canon 10D, I also started looking for a good first lens. Most of the reviewers and Canonites on the various forums suggested this lens as a good starting point.

The 28-135mm IS USM Zoom is the one I use all the time now on the Canon 10D, and that will be the case until I get over the sticker shock of the 10D/28--135mm combo and start adding other lenses to my kit.

In the meantime, this lens gets the job done very well. It gives you good range for a variety of of shots, from portraits to telephotos. There is even a macro mode, which gives you the opportunity to do close-ups--not really a true macro, but okay for shots of flowers, your kitty cat's face, etc. It is the flexibility of this lens that makes it so appealing if all you have is just one lens. And remember that if you mount this lens on a digital camera, like the 10D, the range is actually extended by a factor of 1.6.

The USM focuses fast, and the Image Stabilization (IS) really works. In fact, I've been spoiled by it, and IS is now a must for any of the longer lenses I might purchase in the future.

The IS system "locks" on target so that camera shake is eliminated or at least seriously minimized. This means fewer shots ruined by camera shake, and the IS system allows the user to shoot handheld at slower shutter speeds. This isn't just advertising hype. It works.

The image quality is quite good. I get good color saturation, contrast, and sharpness. After tweaking some shots in Photoshop, I was able to turn out some excellent 13x19 inch prints.

As others have pointed out, if you are just starting out with a Canon DSLR or SLR and want one good general purpose lens, this is it.


THE Consumer-Grade Canon Lens to Get   May 30, 2005
A. Johnston (San Francisco, CA USA)
130 out of 131 found this review helpful

Dollar-for-dollar, this is the best consumer-grade Canon lens available. The focal-length makes it a great walk-around lens. The onboard Image Stabilization allow for crisp zoom shots without a tripod. If your hands shake a lot, this lens will help overcome that.

On the flip side, I found the Macro option provides a really startling level of detail up close. I also found the combination of the f3.5 and Image Stabilization to be of great use in low-light, indoor shooting where flash is prohibited. It's a fairly fast-focusing lens, too.

Even though I have upgraded to an L-series lens, the 28-135 is still a personal favorite. Considering it is 1/3 the price of an L-series lens, I cannot find a single fault with it. Anyone looking for a general-purpose lens for under $500 to compliment their Canon Digital Rebel, Rebel XT, 10D or 20D has found it here.


28-135mm IS as good as they say it is.   December 31, 2005
Bryan Duggan
98 out of 99 found this review helpful

Finding unbiased, reasonable, reviews of camera lenses can be more difficult than one might imagine. A large percentage of the reviewers deem anything that does not live up to the quality of the highly esteemed "L" class of Canon lenses to be, frankly, inferior.

I almost didn't buy this lens because so many members of a forum that I frequent bashed this lens and recommended the 24-105L as the only really "good" choice in the focal range I wanted. Fortunately for me good sense pevailed and I bought the 28-135 anyway. The fact that the 24-105L was three times the price ($1200) certainly weighed heavily on my decision.

SO GLAD I DID.

This lens is well built, has a very usable focal range and (at least my copy) is RAZOR sharp. I expected good quality of a lens this price, but I was not at all prepared for the stunningly sharp images that it renders. Color and contrast are very good. The other good "walkaround" lens in this price point is the 17-85mm. I tend to prefer a longer focal length and the 28-135 qualified me for Canon's generous triple rebates so the choice was clear. F3.5 is fairly fast and the IS does allow hand holding in lighting conditions that would otherwise necessitate a tripod, but for very low lighting you may want to try the 50mm F1.8 prime (They're only $80, buy one).

So if you are hesitating to buy the 28-135mm for any reason please don't listen to the "L" snobs, it's a great great lens.


A Great All-Purpose Lens for a SLR Camera   December 23, 2005
James Koenig (Minnesota)
85 out of 89 found this review helpful

I bought this lens for my Canon 20D digital camera and have found it to be a great all-purpose, everyday-use lens. Here are the best features from my perspective:
1. The range of telephoto zoom is adequate for 90% of photo opportunites. 28-135 mm telephoto in digital photography translates into 48-230 mm in SLR film photography. Since a standard camera lens is 50-55 mm, the starting range of this zoom lens equals that and then has the added versatility of zooming up to 135 mm (or 230mm in old style camera figures). In my opinion, this added range of framing a shot gives the photographer so much more creativity, as well as being able to bring objects into closer, more intimate range. I mentioned that this lens is good for 90% of all general camera shots; the missing 10% are those pictures that require a better zoom (more telephoto zoom), and those pics that need a wider field of view. You may find that for group photos in close proximity, you want to take a step backwards to get everybody in the frame. This is not a problem unless you simply don't have the room to take that step back. I solved this problem by switching back to the original 18-55mm lens that came with the camera. For the more distant shots that can't be drawn into the 135mm zoom of this lens I purchased a better telephoto zoom.
2. The lens has autofocus and IS stabilization technology. For one used to manual focus lenses in SLR film photography, the addition of a fast autofocus lens is a terrific feature! I used to miss those spur of the moment shots because I was trying to achieve focus. With this lens, you make those shots, because within a milisecond of depressing the shutter down halfway, the picture snaps into focus! I absolutely love this feature! The focuser has many points of potential focus, so it adapts easily to virtually all focusing situations. For the really difficult focusing shots, there is the option of manual focusing. While nice to have, I rarely use this option. The Image Stabilization feature is a handy one in the longer shots. "IS" lets one get away with a bit of camera shake without too much out-of-focus smear on the picture. Canon does not recommend using the IS feature on tripod shots, so there is a switch to turn off the IS if desired.
3. The lens takes sharp clear pictures. I have not been disappointed with the quality of the lens at all.

Drawbacks

1. While there are not too many drawbacks to this lens, I think the major one is that the lens is bigger and heavier, in fact, much bigger and heavier than the standard 17-55 mm lenses that come with SLR cameras. For me this is not a problem, however, for one that wants to have a lighter-weight camera, this could be considered a serious drawback. On the other hand, a SLR camera like the Canon 20D or digital Rebel is not designed to be a smaller pocket-sized camera. It is a larger format camera and of course the lenses will be larger (and heavier) as well.
2. Cost. At just over 400 dollars, this lens is an investment. Again, one has to weigh the obvious financial outlay, but the 28-135 mm lens is so superior to the cheaper 18-55 mm lens, that in my opinion, it is well worth the cost to upgrade.

With this product, Canon made a great everyday camera lens. From my perspective, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and I do recommend this lens to be your everyday standard camera lens.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig