Short Review on Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS Lens

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It has been a long time that I did not write any product review…or lens review.

Since it is Saturday today, and feeling quite relaxing…hence I decided to take out my Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS lens and give is a spin at my home compound (not yet a garden…).

Camera used was Canon EOS 50D. Personally I find Canon photos to be colder temperature than Nikon, which looks to me more bluish in Canon than yellowish in Nikon (warmer). No good or bad, depending on one’s preference.

Built Quality

Not exceptional, or should I just say it is ordinary plastic built. It does feel quite solid in hand though. When extending, it becomes quite long.

Image Stalizer

It works very well. When pressing the shutter release half way to auto focus on the camera, IS kicks in. If you did not AF, I believe IS is at rest, as I can see image from the viewfinder starts jumping. IS is not on continuous mode as to save battery life I believe. Anyhow, we only need IS when shooting. Below shot is taken with IS on.

Another shot, which I decided to go lower angle and shoot.

Sharpness

The lens is sharp. I am surprised by the detail it delivers with such a long superzoom. I used to have bad thought on superzoom, but this Canon EFS 18-200mm IS proves that superzoom can deliver decent photos too! Click on the photos above and you can see details of the grass well. Focus is pin sharp without front or back focus on the lens that I owned. Check out the photo below too! Focus was on the flower on the right.

Minimum Focusing Distance

I am really surprised on how CLOSE this lens can go! On specs it wrote 45cm. During the short brief test, I can go very close even at 200mm! As per shot above and below, the flowers are just right in front of me!

Bokeh

I think this is where the lens shaded…not really beautiful smooth bokeh. A bit distracting in fact.

Focusing Speed

Two words: Lightning fast!

You really need to test out the lens yourself to see how fast it focuses! When shooting the photo above, by focusing back fence (infinity) and front flower (close to minimum focusing distance of 45cm), then lens can immediately snap into focus in LIGHTNING FAST speed! No hunting! No delay! Canon is by no doubt one of (if not the KING) the fastest focusing system in the world!

Conclusion

Nikon has introduced their first superzoom (AFS 18-200mm VR) many years back, as was such a big hit in the market back then (Many sellers sell at Ebay at much higher than Nikon SRP due to shortage of the lens and too high demand!).

Canon has finally come out with a superzoom. Not very popular among photographers or Canon users, maybe not many have tried or tested it. As a superzoom from 18mm till 200mm, it is an ideal lens for traveling. Focusing is super fast, images produced are sharp. A bit lack down is on the BOKEH part.

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