Canon EF-S 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS review - Autofocus

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

7 December 2010

Arkadiusz Olech

10. Autofocus

In the case of the EF-S 18–135 mm IS model, Canon behaved in a manner which is perhaps consistent but also incomprehensible. The 18-200 mm megazoom, which had been launched a bit earlier, didn’t feature an ultrasonic USM autofocus and the 18-135 mm lens lacks that mechanism too. Such a move is even stranger as other lenses in this class, like the Nikkor and the Sigma, do boast SWM or HSM motors.

The result can be seen, or rather heard, immediately. The Canon EF-S 18-135 mm buzzes on focusing but, fortunately, the sound is neither loud nor annoying. We don’t have any serious reservations when it comes to the speed of the focusing mechanism. At shorter focal lengths the autofocus is quick as running through the scale takes it about 0.5-0.7 of a second. Near the maximum focal length that time is longer by additional fractions of a second.

What about the accuracy? On the Canon 50D the lens didn’t cause us any problems. In studio conditions the number of misses was at the level of 1-2% so the result was very good. We also didn’t notice any front focus or back focus tendencies.

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