Difference between kit lens and usm?

Hi all,

Currently I've got the dual kit lenses that came with my 650D. I'm not too happy with the image quality, but can't work out if that's my bad photography or the lenses.

I've been told it's likely the lenses and people have said to upgrade my lenses to improve optics. I've been reading reviews about the standard kit lens 18-55 and the USM version. The big selling point for the USM is the quick AF, but my current AF does me fine. Does anyone know if they're a much highly quality in colours and glass etc? or is it mainly the AF system that's upgraded? I'd like to buy better lenses but the price difference is around $500 so I don't want to pay that if it's just AF.

I've also been told instead of getting the 18-55 USM I should go for 18-135 USM as it has better zoom, but then I've read it also increases barrel distortion the longer the "focal difference", like 18-55 wont have as much distortion as 18-135 or 17-200 or whatnot.

Does anyone have any advice or feedback on this?

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Originally Posted by Squidy

I've also been told instead of getting the 18-55 USM I should go for 18-135 USM as it has better zoom, but then I've read it also increases barrel distortion the longer the "focal difference", like 18-55 wont have as much distortion as 18-135 or 17-200 or whatnot.

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Sorry, but I think you are referring to lenses that don't exist. There is no USM version of the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, nor of the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. There is a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM (excellent lens, much more that $500 over the kit lens price), a 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM (also excellent, and about $500 over the 18-55 kit lens standalone list price), a 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM (not significantly better than the 18-55 kit lens, optically), and an 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM (not USM) lens (optically a bit better than the non-STM 18-135, the latter is similar in IQ to the 18-55 kit lens, but with a broader zoom range).

Can you clarify the lenses you're talking about?

Sincerest apologies, you're right. I was thinking of the 17-85 ( http://www.teds.com.au/canon-efs-17-...s-usm-kit-lens ). The 17-55 is double that price here.

That being said though, the image quality is better? I'm reading through a few magazines and websites and they seem to all focus on the AF system. If the clarity etc is vasty improved I'll snap one up tomorrow.

The 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM is not going to give to you any significant optical improvement over the 18-55mm. Unfortunately, if you want a noticeable IQ improvement, you need to be looking at the 15-85mm or 17-55mm.

Ahhhh thanks, I'll check out Adorama and see what proces they have. (retail here is very expensive)

Canon refurbished is a great place to look especially when they have 20% or 30% off sales.

Dave

Just to clarify, when you say Canon refurbished are you meaning from Canon directly or from a third party?

Canon sells refurbs direct in the USA, but also sells them to Adorama for resale, for example. The latter offer a 1-yr warranty - a pretty good deal!

Damn, I'm in Australia... Looks like it's going to have to be on Adorama :) Which isn't a problem as I've heard they do wonderful things for this site

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Originally Posted by Squidy

Damn, I'm in Australia... Looks like it's going to have to be on Adorama :) Which isn't a problem as I've heard they do wonderful things for this site

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I am based in Melbourne and i agree retail sucks. I have the EF-S 18-200 , EF-S 17-55.. F2.8 and 50mm F1.8 along with my Canon 60D.

All bought from http://www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au/store/index.asp

Free shipping and very cheap compared to Retail. takes 3-5 days to come from Hong Kong but very nicely packaged.

If you don't need USM, you could consider the Tamron 17-50 2.8 (non-image stabiliser, IS or VC) version. It gets consistent good reviews, particularly on sharpness. It is a very good lens for a reasonable price.

Lars

Well, the USM is the quiet motor correct? I don't mind how loud it is (within reason) so maybe I could look into the Tamron.

I'll check it out after work, thanks for the suggestion :)

USM is also faster, and has FTM (Full Time Manual focus - you can grab the focus ring and manually set the focus without switching the lens to manual focus first). For moving subjects it makes a lot of difference