Camera Labs

First Impressions

This could possibly be the most awaited lens from canon. The first thing I noticed was the weight it felt quiet heavy at first but I quickly got over it, after all I'm used to the 50mm f/1.8 (some 4.5 oz). The canon 18-200 is a fairly compact lens considering its 11X zoom range (I'll post pics as soon as i have a camera to take a picture of my camera.) The non-USM auto focus is sure fast and quiet, and as others have stated the front element doesn't rotate. at first glance it seems nice, I plan to post a more in-depth review of this puppy later this week. Any questions or special requests?

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Canon 40D + 70-200mm f/2.8L IS + 50mm f/1.8
Manfrotto 055CX3 + 496RC2
www.thomaslowe.com

The Review


The Lens at 18mm.
The 18-200mm feels very well balanced on a 40D.


The Lens at 200mm.
The zoom ring is nice and large easy to find while looking through the view finder.


A shot of the business end.
The lens seems to struggle with a little bit of lens creep (lens creep is when you point the camera down the weight of the lens causes itself to zoom) at 18mm pointed down it will stay put but twist it past the 24mm and it will slowly zoom to the 100mm area; but after that it seems to stay where you zoom it. My 72mm tiffen UV protector filter seems to need a cleaning.


The Lock button.
This "LOCK" button will lock the lens in position to keep it from lens creep I assume, please note that it will only lock while at 18mm.


A view of the zoom ring.
When you zoom the lens it feels nice, but it doesn't glide frictionless like an L series lens.


A top view of the 18-200mm mounted on a 40D.
The focus ring is nice and grippy easy to use although the 18-200mm doesn't use a USM focusing motor it is fast and fairly quiet.


A view of the AF/IS switches.
Image stablization on the 18-200 works well (this is my first lens with IS and it is a must at 200mm). Because the IS is built into the lens you actualy see the IS taking effect.


A view of the side of the lens.
Not sure what that red mark on the top of the lens is. My serial is 4501040815.


Markings on the 18-200mm.



A shot of my back yard taken at 18mm.


A shot of my back yard at 200mm.

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Canon 40D + 70-200mm f/2.8L IS + 50mm f/1.8
Manfrotto 055CX3 + 496RC2
www.thomaslowe.com

Great review, Tomis! Thank you for helping the community!
May I suggest you to take pictures of a blank piece of paper far wide and zoomed in so we can have a better ida of the vignetting effect?

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Canon 40D and lots of lenses.
my Flickr

Vignetting @ 18mm


Vignetting @ 200mm





Sorry my images are so dark i forgot i had set my camera to Ev -1 hopefully these pictures help Alex.

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Canon 40D + 70-200mm f/2.8L IS + 50mm f/1.8
Manfrotto 055CX3 + 496RC2
www.thomaslowe.com

Thank you very much for the review Tomis. Excellent clear photos of the lens. And wow! Your backyard looks like a park!
Thanks again.

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Jim Hawksworth Flickr
Canon 30D | EF 17-40 f/4L | EF 70-200 f/4L USM | EF 50 f/1.8 II | 580EX II | Berleback 2420 Tripod | and other various tools

Thanks for the vignetting pictures, Tomis! Don't worry about the darkness, as the vignetting effect is clearly seen.
I took a look at your Flickr too. Man, you got REALLY good pictures there! Congratulations!

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Canon 40D and lots of lenses.
my Flickr

Some good info here, Tomis! The pictures are helpful.

The red mark on the end of the lens is there to help you align the lens hood when installing it (just like the white mark on the other end helps you align the lens with the camera).

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Canon 40D
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM | EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM | EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | EF 50mm f/1.4 | 430EX Flash

New! EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5

...and too much other stuff to mention...

This is sort of a follow-up mini review...

i was shooting at the skatepark the other day with my friend, he was shooting with his Nikon D60 and 18-55 & 55-200, i was shooting with my trusty dusty Cannon 40D and 18-200. He was very envious of me, he kept switching lenses and then he would miss shots because he didn't have the right lens on or he was still switching. Overall i must say i am happy with my purchase, as far as compact all-in-one lenses you can't beat the cannon 18-200!

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Canon 40D + 70-200mm f/2.8L IS + 50mm f/1.8
Manfrotto 055CX3 + 496RC2
www.thomaslowe.com