Question to photographers. What do you think about the Canon 18-200 IS lens?
 

I need a new zoom lens for my Canon 40D and saw a few fairly good reviews for this one. I would have never believed this kind of lens could work well a few years ago, but maybe something has changed and I just don't know it yet :)

Has anyone here tried this one?

The reason I'm asking is because I will be covering a few mainstream events and need a zoom lens that I would be able to keep on the whole time.

No experience with it but I have looked at it and if you go with it post some results :thumbsup

Ive been recommended this lens by a pretty damned good photographer...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...8L_IS_USM.html

I believe it can be found a bit cheaper elsewhere though too.

yeah, I've seen that lens before and it is fantastic. The only problem is that I need something for shooting up-close as well. Going with two lenses is an option, but after reading a bit about the 18-200 lens I'm kind of excited that I could use just one lens for the job :)
The quality doesn't have to be superb. High quality, but not fantastic :)

lemme guess - does his name start with J and end with Y? :winkwink:

You can't keep changing lenses with a digital camera. It will get too much dust on the chip.

Don't know that lens but always used canon and always liked them.

my concern is the range this super-zoom lens has. It's seems too good to be true.

Why not go for a 70 to 300 for a zoom and it's going to be 100s cheaper. An 18 to 200 is for shooting both short and long.

This is one of the few guys i trust for lens reviews. Because he uses real world samples you wont find everything there but he happens to have yours.
http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/40...n_18200_3556is

Hey, you got a nice camera...! :thumbsup

thanks for posting this. Quite a bad verdict at the end. I'll read some more on other lenses that might be more suitable.

Another thing to consider (from dpreview):

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?


The big problem with a lens like this is not being able to shoot at f/2.8

www.fredmiranda.com great reviews and a great photography site all around

after reading some more reviews it seems that getting two lenses might be a wiser choice. The two lenses 18-55 and 55-250 with image stabilization will cost less than the one I chose before and seem to be better in performance.

What type of event is this? Indoors or outdoors? Sunlight or at night ?

indoor and outdoor horse and dog shows mostly. They won't be at night, so mainly sunlight or indoor lighting.

I own a Canon 70-200 4L lens. I would consider this lens for your application. You won't be using/needing the IS due to the fact you'll be using a faster shutter to freeze the movement of the dog or horse. With higher/faster shutter speeds you'll need a faster lens.

Ive used this lens to get some good shots at night games using shutter speeds as high as 1/800. Don't be afraid to bump up your ISO to 1600 or 3200 to take advantage of the faster shutter speeds.

I have the Nikon 18-200 love that one:thumbsup

You don't necessarily get added quality with $1,500+ lenses with a wide focal range. A $100 fixed lens can compete with them. You are paying for the luxury of not having to move around or change lenses.

after a bit more reading and talking to a few photographers I decided on spending a bit more and buying two lenses. One will be the cheap 18-55 IS mentioned earlier and the other will be a 70-300 IS lens. I hope this combo will work well :)

I have it too, for general shooting, I never need anything else:thumbsup

that's why I wanted the canon 18-200, but from what I hear it's not as good.