Canon EF-S 18-55mm poor performance at wide angle settings

Hi all,

I've had a Canon 300D for nearly 4 years, and I've noticed my EF-S
18-55mm lens that came with the camera is deteriorating in
performance, particularly at wide aperature settings.

I've noticed that although the centre of the image is very sharp, it
deteriorates dramatically on the right hand side, which looks very
soft and blurry.

Here's a sample pictu

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne...3041719&size=l

As you can see, the bottom right hand side is particularly bad, but
the bottom left is very sharp.

I've been testing and I know it's unrelated to filters. My 75 - 300 is
performing well, so it's probably not the camera that's faulty.

Has anyone noticed the same thing, or know what the problem is? Thanks!

wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I've had a Canon 300D for nearly 4 years, and I've noticed my EF-S
18-55mm lens that came with the camera is deteriorating in
performance, particularly at wide aperature settings.

I've noticed that although the centre of the image is very sharp, it
deteriorates dramatically on the right hand side, which looks very
soft and blurry.

Here's a sample pictu

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne...3041719&size=l

As you can see, the bottom right hand side is particularly bad, but
the bottom left is very sharp.

I've been testing and I know it's unrelated to filters. My 75 - 300 is
performing well, so it's probably not the camera that's faulty.

Has anyone noticed the same thing, or know what the problem is? Thanks!

This may be due to a decentered elements(s) inside the lens from a hard
knock or just wear in the lens mechanism.

Canon released an image stabilized version of this lens with sharpness that
is supposed to be spectacular. At least Photozone's test shows this. I guess
Canon was tired of their lens always coming in last in comparisons of kit
lenses. I'd give this lens consideration if you want to replace your old
one.
John

wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I've had a Canon 300D for nearly 4 years, and I've noticed my EF-S
18-55mm lens that came with the camera is deteriorating in
performance, particularly at wide aperature settings.

I've noticed that although the centre of the image is very sharp, it
deteriorates dramatically on the right hand side, which looks very
soft and blurry.

Here's a sample pictu

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne...3041719&size=l

As you can see, the bottom right hand side is particularly bad, but
the bottom left is very sharp.

I've been testing and I know it's unrelated to filters. My 75 - 300 is
performing well, so it's probably not the camera that's faulty.

Has anyone noticed the same thing, or know what the problem is? Thanks!

Hi.

The symptoms you describe mean that, almost certainly, one of the internal
elements or groups is out of alignment. The cause is most likely a knock or
impact.

The lens needs expert repair, or scrapping.

Roy G

The Canon 18-55 has always been the worst performing kit dSLR lens from a
major vendor. It has been the lens used for every demonstration of chromatic
aberration I can recall seeing.
Presumably the shortcomings in design are also carried over into
manufacturing quality control.
If your lens is out of warranty the only option is replacement. Seeing what
Canon quality can mean perhaps you should broaden your search for a
replacement to other vendors.

wrote:
Hi all,

I've had a Canon 300D for nearly 4 years, and I've noticed my EF-S
18-55mm lens that came with the camera is deteriorating in
performance, particularly at wide aperature settings.

I've noticed that although the centre of the image is very sharp, it
deteriorates dramatically on the right hand side, which looks very
soft and blurry.

Here's a sample pictu

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne...3041719&size=l

As you can see, the bottom right hand side is particularly bad, but
the bottom left is very sharp.

I've been testing and I know it's unrelated to filters. My 75 - 300 is
performing well, so it's probably not the camera that's faulty.

Has anyone noticed the same thing, or know what the problem is? Thanks!

There's something defective about the lens, it's not present on mine.

It's actually quite a decent kit lens if you know its limitations,
especially at both ends of the zoom range. There's a good review of it
at "http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/18-55.html".

On Mon, 03 Dec 2007 13:34:49 GMT, "JohnR66" wrote:
: wrote in message
: ...
: Hi all,
:
: I've had a Canon 300D for nearly 4 years, and I've noticed my EF-S
: 18-55mm lens that came with the camera is deteriorating in
: performance, particularly at wide aperature settings.
:
: ...
:
: Has anyone noticed the same thing, or know what the problem is? Thanks!
:
: This may be due to a decentered elements(s) inside the lens from a hard
: knock or just wear in the lens mechanism.
:
: Canon released an image stabilized version of this lens with sharpness that
: is supposed to be spectacular. At least Photozone's test shows this. I guess
: Canon was tired of their lens always coming in last in comparisons of kit
: lenses. I'd give this lens consideration if you want to replace your old
: one.

I'll bet the IS version costs more. Why pay for IS on such a slow lens? IIRC,
it's 3.5 at the wide end and 5.6 at max tele. The equivalent Sigma lens is 2.8
at all focal lengths, and it doesn't have the CA problem. Yes, it's more
expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Bob

SMS 斯蒂文• � wrote:
wrote:
Hi all,

I've had a Canon 300D for nearly 4 years, and I've noticed my EF-S
18-55mm lens that came with the camera is deteriorating in
performance, particularly at wide aperature settings.

I've noticed that although the centre of the image is very sharp,
it deteriorates dramatically on the right hand side, which looks
very soft and blurry.

Here's a sample pictu

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne...3041719&size=l

As you can see, the bottom right hand side is particularly bad, but
the bottom left is very sharp.

I've been testing and I know it's unrelated to filters. My 75 -
300 is performing well, so it's probably not the camera that's
faulty. Has anyone noticed the same thing, or know what the problem
is?
Thanks!

There's something defective about the lens, it's not present on
mine.
It's actually quite a decent kit lens if you know its limitations,
especially at both ends of the zoom range. There's a good review of
it at "http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/18-55.html".

Here are three examples of the 18-55 "kit" lens on a 20D, first time
out of the box for both:
http://www.fototime.com/DE8DD65B8DB8087/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/0DBE26779B62704/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/5DC4BAE5B4F82BA/orig.jpg
http://www.fototime.com/02F7F893884157A/orig.jpg
Third image is a full-size crop, others are essentially full frame,
minor cropping to level, etc.

Most of the others in this album are with the 10-22 EF-S lens, same
camera, same conditions:
http://www.fototime.com/inv/5BB221A749C7664

A few more 18-55 examples among repeats and others:
http://www.fototime.com/inv/71F4475AAEB8D80

I'm not sure the 18-55 has been on a camera since then, even though it
seems to show well in those examples.


--
Frank ess
There is no more irritating fellow than the man who tries to settle an
argument about communism, or justice, or liberty, by quoting from
Webster.
-Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator, and author (1902-2001)

flambe wrote:
The Canon 18-55 has always been the worst performing kit dSLR lens from a
major vendor. It has been the lens used for every demonstration of chromatic
aberration I can recall seeing.

I think the Minolta 18-70 DT was worse.

But you are right, the Canon 18-55 is a really sh1t-bag lens.
You get better results from whatever lens is on the Canon G7,
and it has the additional advantage of longer telephoto.

Consumer Reports rated the Nikon 18-55 much higher than the Canon.

Robert Coe wrote:
[]
I'll bet the IS version costs more. Why pay for IS on such a slow
lens?
[]

Bob

So that you can use a lighter and easier to carry lens.

David