I've only used the lens a few times, but it has been good for general use. Easy to use and not too big.

This lens replaces the kit lens that came with a Rebel XTi and makes a wonderful addition to the lenses I own. The biggest suprise was how close it focuses. It focused at sunset on a sidelit subject to about 4 succesfully and quickly. Wide angle pictures are much better than the kit lens and low light indoor photos are much more succesful with the stabilizer function.

Bought this lens for a trip to the Kansas underground salt museum. Lighting conditions were poor to say the least. Did not disapoint! Shot in very dim conditions @1/8 second (1600 ISO) without noticable blur. Goodbye flash!

If you're on a real budget and your needs are minimum then this lens should fit the bill nicely.I've replaced this lens with professional L zooms soon after obtaining this. I've done comparisons between this and the pro lenses. I've concluded that this lens is capable of producing excellent results. The key is knowing the strengths and weaknesses of this lens for obtaining the best results. Stopping the lens down to f/8 and using a tripod is going yield excellent pictures with some missed color saturation, contrast, and sharpness. Distortion is less noticeable at the middle of the zoom range. For handholding moving subjects, indoors, I recommend using a flash at about f/5. On bright days, outdoors, stop down again to about F/8 and you'll lessen problems like chromatic aberration and lens flare.As I said, I've done side-by-side comparisons (with the 24-70L) of the lens at its strongest setting (F/8) and most people found the pictures indistinguishable. Just push your pictures through developing software and boost the sharpness/color/contrast and you'll have professional looking pictures that can stand up to those rendered by Canon's L zooms. I wish I could share the link to the results but these reviews are limiting and so I'm hoping you can trust me.I have to give this lens 5 stars because, when used within its abilities this lens is capable of great things. You can't fault the lens for uses outside of its limitations because there's a reason why $lenses exist which are meant to handle other more challenging tasks.If you buy this lens, learn how to use it properly and you'll be rewarded with some great pictures!

Excellent all around lens, especially for nature and travel. I bought this lens before going on a trip to Spain, and the photos came out perfect no matter under what lighting conditions or weather. I use it on my 40d camera. It is a so called kit lens, but worth every penny and does the job right. Also, it is light and therefore easy to carry around.

I got this lens with the Rebel XSI,and wasn't really expecting much. However, I was surprised how good it is overall. I spent several days comparing it to three other lenses: The Tamron 17-50 f2.8, a Nikon 20mm f4 ais, and a Nikon 55mm Micro f2.8 ais. I conducted a variety of tests, all shot on a tripod, all using Live View at 10x to accurately focus, and at various apertures. I used a Cheap Nikon EOS adapter ring purchased from another vendor, not B&H. I printed out various resolution test targets, and used those as well as shooting a backyard scene of trees, grass, etc. Unbelievably, this little kit lens held it's own against these other three lenses, and in some cases was better. Overall, it is sharper in the center than any of the other lenses, except the 55mm Micro, where the Nikon is especially good close up, the Canon trailing behind slightly. The corners of the two Nikons and the Tamron were slightly better than the Canon, but only slightly so. The Canon did, however, have more CA than the other three, especially wide open at wide angles. Contrast looked pretty good. I didn't really compare the level of distortion vs the other lenses, and it is likely worse than the 55mm Micro, and possibly the others. I can't say, because I didn't really compare that aspect. I was mostly looking at sharpness across the frame, and chromatic aberration. Overall, I am very impressed by this lens, and would unhesitatingly recommend it to others.