Used 18-135mm Canon lens

[Tintype_18]

Wife and I spent a lot of $$$ at McKay's Used Books yesterday. I wandered by the display of music instruments, sound equipment, etc. to see what they had in photography items. One was an 18-135mm Canon lens for $89.95. Exterior looked good. We are aware of the Caveat Emptor here. I was going to call the store to see what return terms exist, if any. I thought of taking the T7 body to make sure it fits and works. Your thoughts? TIA.

[shadowsports · Accepted solution]

If you have a use for it, the 18-135mm is a nice lens.  I loved it on my T6s.  Low light performance is average, IQ is decent.  Super versatile kit lens.  Used items, make sure it can be returned if you find any problems.

[Tintype_18]

Thanks. Will check with management.

[Tintype_18]

Rick, one always has a use for another lens. Support says they have a 30 day return with receipt or price tag. Also said it is OK to have the camera body for fit and operation. Again, thanks. Anything else I need to watch or look for? Exterior looked good.

[Tronhard]

There are about 4 (correction 3) versions of this lens, and I would avoid anything that was not a STM or USM version.  The latter is the newer version but optically both versions are pretty close - I have both.  Both should focus quickly and silently.

Apart from the obvious of checking autofocus and the optical performance, I would confirm that you can do autofocus without switching the AF/MF switch to MF.   

I would get a protective filter and/or lens hood to protect the front of the lens - of course the latter will help with light control as well.  Much depends on the conditions you will shoot under.  The filter helps protect the front element from things like abrasion from dust, salt etc. and SOME impacts, while the lens hood is good for direct impacts and light control. I  use both, (BTW I always buy a 3rd party lens hood, they work just as well and are WAY cheaper).  

[FloridaDrafter]

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@Tronhard wrote:

"I would get a protective filter and/or lens hood to protect the front of the lens - of course the latter will help with light control as well.  Much depends on the conditions you will shoot under.  The filter helps protect the front element from things like abrasion from dust, salt etc. and SOME impacts, while the lens hood is good for direct impacts and light control. I  use both, (BTW I always buy a 3rd party lens hood, they work just as well and are WAY cheaper)."  

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I totally agree about a hood and protecto lens, but haven't had very good luck with 3rd party hoods. I've found them to be flimsy, don't usually fit snugly, and often will come loose and fall off. Newer Canon hoods snap firmly into place and have a button release, so you have to deliberately want them to be removed. Also, on the older Canon hoods, they had flocking which I found to be superior to flat black plastic (which is in the 3rd party hoods if you're lucky) at stopping unwanted light. This changed around the time that the EF 70-300mm mark II was released, and the hood for it had a flat black plastic interior, which worked ok and better than the $15 knockoffs, but I was still disappointed and even emailed Canon support to make sure I got a genuine Canon hood (which was confirmed). I've bought three 3rd party hoods for our non-L lenses and ended up getting the Canon hoods, so that's what I buy now. Yes, 3rd party hoods work, but I'm kinda odd about quality, and the Canon hoods are that in spades. As you probably know, Canon has done away with flocking in their RF L  and RF hoods and gone to little rings of ridges, which seem to work well, but I do miss the flocking. Yes, it will gather lint, but I use a lint brush to clean the hood flocking of my older EF L lenses. Just a preference, I understand, but it instills confidence 🙂

On a side note: The Canon hood for the EF 70-300mm II works on the RF 100-400mm, so that was a bonus.

Newton

[Tronhard]

Certainly, I am with you to a degree.  Over here, we have some suppliers whose 3rd party hoods are pretty solid, and while not the cheapest, are still much more economical than the official Canon ones. 

If buying on line, I would suggest examining the feedback on the vendors' product performance.

I personally agree with the frequent complaints I see that Canon should include a lens hood with all lenses, not just the majority of L series units.

[MikeSowsun]

There are 3 different versions of the EF-S 18-135mm.

The IS is the first version.  The IS STM and IS USM versions have slightly better Image Quality and Auto Focus. 

.

[Tronhard]

Oops, thanks Mike - typo... need coffee 🙄
To me, the fly by wire feature of the STM and USM set them apart from the original.  One should not have to keep using a switch to use MF.  Focus is definitely faster.  I compared an original against one of my STM models not that long ago and the difference was not insignificant.

[Tintype_18]

Mike, good info to check before buying. Thanks!