- full time manual
- fast focusing
- quiet
- light/small size
- sharpness
- price
- none rotating front element

- barreling at 28mm but very minimal
- macro only at 1:5

This lens along with the Elan 7 is an unbeatable combination. (Unless you get the 28-135 but that's a whole other price range.)

The lens has a good range, is very sharp and will not break the bank or your back. It offers fast and almost completely silent focusing, thanks to USM and is great for those who like to capture your subjects in their elements. In comparison, my 50/1.8 seems almost unbearably loud when focusing.

All in all, this is a great travel lens and awesome for everyday use. Coupled with a 50/1.8 and a 100-300 telephoto and your lens collection would be complete.

Customer Service

- None needed yet

Similar Products Used:

- Canon 50/1.8 MK-I

USM
Useful range
Travel-friendly

Not really sharp at either wide or long end
Considerable distortion at 28mm

I guess for the price it is a decent lens with a usefull range. However, this lens is really not that sharp at either long or wide end. When I scan my slides or negatives with a good quality filmscanner, the difference in sharpness between the 28-105 and the 50mm or even the 24-135 Tamron becomes painfully clear. Recently my camera with this lens on it fell of my shoulder as I bended over to reach down and while the camera was in its cover, the lens did not survive. So I had to look for another lens and decided to purchase the Tamron SP24-135. Now this is a sharp lens! I feel that Canon really lacks a good lens in this zoom-range, too bad.

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 50 1.8
Canon EF 50 1.4 USM
Canon EF 75-300 IS USM
Sigma 24 2.8
Tamron SP24-135 3.5-5.6

USM (super-fast, silent autofocus)
FTM (can tweak focus manually without flipping an AF mode switch)
Sharp enough for me
Pretty good focal length range for general use

24mm at low end would be nice in some cases

Very good general purpose lens for Canon. Great match with a 75-300 or 100-300. USM autofocus is extremely fast and silent - very impressive to someone who had never used USM AF before. Pictures look sharp to me, though I haven't made any enlargements yet. Reasonable aperture (f/3.5-4.5). Reasonable price. Oh, and I bought the hood for an extra $22 -- I don't have personal proof that it's needed, but I saw that many people recommended it on the web.

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

None

-Very sharp;
-Full Time Manual Focus;
-Front element does not rotate - that is great for using Polarizer filter;
-Nice construction, smart on EOS30/7e;
-Fast and silent AF;
-58 mm filter size;
-very useful range;

-Distortion @ 28mm;
-Lens hood not included;
-Not a real macro.

The lens I got is very sharp at all focal range. Normally I shot at f8-f16 and contrast and sharpness is impressive (capillary blood vessels are visible on some pictures I took @ 105mm - use a soft filter for portraits!). Good sharpness still when using a +4 Closeup lens. Distortion at 28mm may limit its use for sea landscapes. Other landscapes I took were gorgeous at 28mm with dazzling perspectives. If you are an exigent photographer this lens will please you.

Customer Service

- NN

Similar Products Used:

This is my first EOS lens I bought with EOS30/7e body.

Versatile range, Small, lightweight, quiet, relatively quick and very sharp for a non L series lens.

Would be nice if f3.5 extended further into the range.

I replaced my 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 with this lens and couldn't be happier. I'd played with it on various bodies when buying my EOS 5 and just had to have one as it outperformed the 28-80 by a mile.

This is the lens that normally stays on my camera. Enough of a range for most situations and fast enough for most of the things I shoot.

The near silent ring-USM when coupled with the quiet operation of the EOS 5 is great for those low noise situations.

The autofocus is very snappy, and for a non L series lens it would have to be near the top of the list for optical quality and value for money.

Customer Service

Not encountered yet.

Similar Products Used:

EF 28-80mm f3.5-5.6
EF 75-300mm f4.5-5.6
TAMRON 28-200mm

Very good value. Incredibly versatile. Very compact and light. Reasonably sharp. Ring USM (vs. micro).

Not really fast enough for single subjects or portraits (to minimize DOF), but it's not a pro lens.

This is probably the best consumer lens available for Canon (far superior to the 28-80mm). The large focal range means you can just leave it on your camera most of the time. Very portable. If you're starting out, and need one lens, this is it.

Customer Service

not ever needed

Similar Products Used:

various Canon lenses

Versatile lens covering a very useful zoom range. Fast, silent focussing.

Slight vignetting towards the 28mm end. Pics could be sharper.

A good first lens. Worth its price.

Customer Service

Never needed any.

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 28-135 IS
Tamron AF 28-105 f/2.8 SP LD Aspherical

This lens is very versatile and is great for portraits and for scenics!

Sometimes at 28 my edges are slightly vingetted from my tiffen polarizing filter. I wouldn't stack two filters on it if you're shooting at 28.

This is a great lens that I use 95% of the time. It takes good, crisp photos that I've blown up to 11X14 using Velvia film with great results. You can buy faster lens for much more $$$, but try this first. I think you'll be impressed.

Similar Products Used:

None

Versatile zoom range.

Could be a little sharper at the wide open apertures

I bought the Tamron about 6 months before I bought the Canon. I gave the Tamron to my daughter when I bought her a Canon body. Sometimes I wish I had kept the Tamron. The Canon is not as sharp as the much less expensive Tamron at the wide open apertures and only slightly better when stopped down. Distortion of both lenses is comparible. I do think the color balance of the Canon is more natural than the Tamron. I do like the fact that the Canon is slightly faster (aperture) than the Tamron.

Customer Service

I expressed concern with the sharpness performance of this lense with Tamron. Canon was willing to test my lense to see if it was within their manufacuring specs. I decided not to take them up on their offer.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 28-105mm, f4-5.6 and Miranda fixed focus lenses 50mm, f1.8; 35mm, f2.8; and 105mm, f2.8.