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

£430/$600 Modest in terms of zoom range

Canon’s veteran EF-S 18-200mm superzoom with its basic autofocus system remains unchanged, but the smaller 18-135mm lens has

undergone two updates. The first ushered in a stepping-motor autofocus system; this edition has a Nano USM actuator that aims to combine quick stills performance with smooth and silent transitions when shooting movies.

It’s the least impressive lens on test for outright zoom range, falling short at the telephoto end, equivalent to 216mm in full-frame terms. It’s barely any more compact or light than the other DSLR lenses in the group either, but handling is refined and the image stabiliser works well. You need to buy the hood separately.

Performance

The STM edition of the lens is no slouch for autofocus, but AF in the new edition is super-fast, practically snapping into place. An upside of the relatively meagre zoom range is that sharpness only drops off marginally at the long end, and distortions are less pronounced than with most competing lenses.