Best superzoom for Canon DSLRs: 8 tested

Best superzooms for canon cameras

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS - £350

Despite being a kit lens option for the Canon EOS 7D - arguably the most advanced APS-C camera in the world - the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS isn't entirely convincing when it comes to specifications and features. On the surface, it's quite a bare-bones affair, with no focus distance scale or even a zoom lock switch, and the finish feels a bit lacklustre.

Other omissions are any kind of USM (Ultrasonic Motor) autofocus system and - like most of Canon's lenses - it doesn't even come with a lens hood, which costs about £25 extra to buy separately. It's not especially big on zoom range either, with a humble 7.5x zoom (equivalent to 29-216mm).

At least you get Canon's latest 4-stop image stabilisation, which comes complete with auto detection for panning and tripod mounting - although the latter didn't work entirely consistently in our tests.

Image sharpness is merely average, but distortions are reasonably low for a superzoom lens. Chromatic aberrations are quite noticeable but, because it's a genuine Canon lens, you can tune these out in Digital Photo Professional if you shoot in raw quality mode.

Best superzooms for canon cameras

18mm sample image from the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Best superzooms for canon cameras

135mm sample image from the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

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