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Canon EF-S 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS reviewOctober 2008 |
The EF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 IS is Canon's latest zoom lens for APS-C format DSLRs, introduced as a companion to the EOS 50D. Its announcement in August this year came as no great surprise, as wide focal length range 'superzooms' are clearly popular amongst photographers seeking an all-in-one lens for travel and everyday shooting. The most obvious example of this is the runaway success of Nikon's AF-S 18-200mm F3.5-5.6G VR, and a Canon equivalent has almost certainly been the most-requested lens on our forums. With its 11x zoom range, the 18-200mm becomes Canon's most ambitious consumer-level zoom to date; the company has previously shied away from producing relatively inexpensive superzooms, with its only previous foray into this sector being the 28-200mm F3.5-5.6 (USM) for 35mm SLRs from late 2000. And while it's this older lens that the 18-200mm most strongly resembles, Canon has managed to squeeze plenty more into the design in the intervening eight years. The zoom ratio has been stretched to a 35mm-equivalent range of 29-320mm, and the new lens incorporates Canon's latest compact image stabilization unit (as seen on the EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS and the EF-S 55-250mm F4.5-5.6 IS), which offers automatic panning detection and (according to the company) four stops of stabilization. All this has been achieved using a suitably complex optical design of 16 elements in 12 groups, including two UD glass elements and two aspherical elements which are designed to minimize chromatic aberration and ensure crisp corner-to-corner detail across the zoom range. Rounding off the specification is a minimum focus distance of 45cm/1.5ft at all focal lengths. One design decision may however cause a degree of dismay; the lens uses a relatively unsophisticated micro motor system for autofocus, as opposed to the ring-type USM design more commonly seen on mid-range lenses such as the EF-S 17-85mm F4-5.6 IS USM. Consequently, potential buyers may struggle to find any obvious advantage over Tamron's recently announced 18-270mm F3.5-6.3Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro, which sports a longer zoom range and Tamron's own optical stabilization system. Aside from this, Canon have produced a lens which is clearly designed to counter the undeniable buyer appeal of Nikon's popular 18-200mm VR head-on; so how does it match up to the challenge? Headline features
Angle of viewThe pictures below illustrate the focal length range from wideangle to telephoto:
Canon EF-S 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS specifications
* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area Foreword / notesIf you're new to digital photography you may wish to read some of our Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used). Conclusion / recommendation / ratings are based on the opinion of the author, we recommend that you read the entire review before making any decision. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of them, click to display a larger image in a new window. To navigate this article simply use the next / previous page buttons or jump to a specific page by using the drop-down list in the navigation bar at the top of the page. You can support this site by ordering through the affiliate links shown at the bottom of each page (where available). This article is protected by Copyright and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. Dpreview use calibrated monitors at the PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally also A, B and C.
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