Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS review

Canon’s EF-S 18-200mm IS is quite simply the lens many Canon DSLR owners have been waiting for. It equips EF-S compatible models with a massive 11.1x optical zoom range, equivalent to 29-320mm, and crucially includes Image Stabilisation to iron out any camera shake. By delivering wide angle to decent telephoto coverage, it could be the only lens many owners will ever need.

Like other super-zoom lenses, this massive range brings enormous compositional flexibility. You could be shooting an expansive landscape or large group shot of people at one moment, then spot a photo opportunity in the distance and capture it with a simple twist of the zoom ring. In a natural landscape, this could be a bird perched on a branch, or in a gathering of people, it could be a close-up of someone. Quite simply, while others are busy switching lenses to achieve the desired effect and possibly missing the shot, a super-zoom lets you grab spontaneous moments with ease.

A single all-round lens also brings great convenience. You don’t have to lug around multiple lenses, waste time changing them, or run the risk of dust entering the body when you do so. They’re ideal whether you’re going on holiday, shooting a wedding, or attending a sporting event where the action takes place both near and far.

So are super-zooms like the Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS the perfect all-round lenses? Yes and no. In terms of convenience and flexibility they may be unrivalled, but there’s inevitably optical compromises with such a huge range. As seen with other super-zoom lenses, the EF-S 18-200mm IS suffers from pronounced barrel distortion when zoomed-out, and its fair share of pincushion distortion when zoomed-in. The former in particular can result in noticeable bending of straight lines towards the edges of the frame, which can look odd if you’ve placed a building or horizon line there.

Gordon Laing

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