Not many photographers will buy the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM ($249.99) at full price. Most will get it bundled with a Canon SLR, typically for about $150 more than the body-only price. In that light, it's a pretty decent value. But if you want a better zoom lens, consider spending a bit more. We like two options from Sigma, the 17-70mm F2.8-4 Contemporary and the 18-35mm F1.8 Art. Both are pricier, but will net better quality images.

Design

The 18-55mm f/4-5.6 ($249.00 at Amazon) is the latest in many versions of the starter zoom lens. It has an f/4-5.6 maximum aperture (it collects less light as you zoom in), as opposed to a more typical f/3.5-5.6. It makes the lens a bit smaller (2.4 by 2.6 inches, HD) than the previous version, the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM (3.0 by 2.7 inches).

It achieves the smaller form factor without having to resort to a retractable design, so you don't have to deal with a twist-and-lock extension method before taking a photo. And while it does have an advantage in size over the previous version of the lens, it doesn't in weight—it's a little heavier (7.6 ounces) than the f/3.5-5.6 IS STM ($96.18 at Amazon) iteration (7.2 ounces).

This is a no-frills lens with a plastic mount and no included hood. The front element supports 58mm filters, and doesn't rotate, so you can use a circular polarizer without issue. There is image stabilization built in, you can turn it off with a toggle switch on the barrel. There's a second toggle to switch between manual and autofocus operation.

The manual focus ring sits at the front of the barrel and is very narrow. The manual focus system is electronic, so turning the ring activates the internal focus motor to adjust focus. Because of this you need to have the switch set to MF in order to manually focus, and manual focus will only work if the camera is turned on—this is in contrast to lenses with mechanical focus rings that can adjust focus even when the camera is powered down.

The focus motor is STM, the same type as the previous iteration (which is still available for sale, also at $249). This type of focus motor pairs well with modern Canon SLRs with Dual Pixel AF support. It delivers smooth, quiet focus when recording video.

The zoom ring is wider, occupying most of the barrel. It's covered in textured rubber and twists easily to adjust zoom. The lens does telescope out as you zoom in, and focal length settings are marked at 18, 24, 35, and 55mm. The lens can focus as close as 9.8 inches, a good working distance for a lens of this type.

Image Quality

I tested the 18-55mm with the 24MP SL2. Despite its budget price, the Imatest sharpness numbers are good. At 18mm f/4 it scores 2,219 lines per picture height on a center-weighted sharpness test, better than the 1,800 lines we look for at a minimum. It's very good, but not excellent. Edge performance is weak (1,666 lines), but that's to be expected from an 18-55mm zoom.

Narrowing the aperture to f/5.6 improves the overall resolution to 2,350 lines, and edges are better too (1,947 lines). There's no noticeable improvement at f/8 (2,301 lines) or f/11 (2,213 lines). Shooting at smaller f-stops isn't recommended—image quality suffers at f/16 (2,020 lines) and f/22 (1,545 lines).

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Zooming to 35mm narrows the maximum aperture to f/5. The lens delivers solid performance here, 2,174 lines, with edges that approach 2,000 lines. The average score doesn't move at f/8 (2,194 lines), but edges improve, delivering results that are just as good as the average. At f/11 you get 2,196 lines, and there's a slight drop at f/16 (2,039 lines) and a more noticeable one at f/22 (1,535 lines), as expected.

At 55mm the f-stop has narrowed down to f/5.6 at its widest and the average score is 2,289 lines, with strong results right up to the edge of the frame (2,130 lines). There's a very modest improvement in the average score at f/8 (2,344 lines) and f/11 (2,343 lines) before quality starts to drop at f/16 (2,132 lines) and f/22 (1,600 lines).

Distortion is a fact of life with a zoom of this type. You can enable in-camera correction when shooting JPGs to remove it, but remember that the image you see will be slightly different than what you see through the viewfinder due to the distortion correction. We see noticeable barrel distortion at 18mm—3.3 percent—which draws straight lines with a noticeable outward curve. It gives way to pincushion distortion at 35mm (1.1 percent) and 55mm (1.7 percent), an effect that causes those same lines to bow inward toward the center of the frame. If you opt to skip in-camera correction, or shoot in Raw format, you can correct distortion using third-party software, like the popular Adobe Lightroom Classic CC photo management suite.

In-camera corrections can also reduce the strength of vignette shown in images. When it's turned off you'll notice dimmed corners in images. The strength of the vignette varies based on the zoom setting and aperture. It's worst at 18mm f/4 (-2.8EV), but is less at f/5.6 (-1.7EV). At f/8 and narrower it's a negligible -1EV—that means the extreme corners are about half a bright as the center of the image.

At 35mm f/5 the deficit is -1.5EV, but it's not noticeable in most images at f/8 and narrower. At 55mm f/5.6 the corners lag behind the center by -1EV, again, not an issue in most shots. Enabling the in-camera correction eliminates corner dimness when shooting in JPG format. If you shoot in Raw you can apply a correction using Lightroom, using the same lens profile that removes distortion from images.

Conclusions

The Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM isn't a lens that will excite anyone. But Canon sells a lot of SLRs, and a lot of them ship with an 18-55mm zoom. If you're buying an SLR and have the option of adding it for $150, you'll be happy to know that it's a good starter lens. If you're on a budget and don't have the money to start with a better zoom, it'll get the job done until you upgrade—although beware that the narrow maximum f-stop means you'll be pushing the camera ISO further or relying on the flash when shooting in dim light.

The Sigma 17-70mm is more expensive, $500, but has an f/2.8-4 design, capturing twice as much light as the 18-55mm at comparable zoom settings. There's also the premium Sigma 18-35mm F1.8, which has a shorter zoom range, but captures four times as much light as the 18-55mm at its wide-angle setting and eight times as much at its maximum zoom. The 18-35mm F1.8 is our Editors' Choice, but it's a high-end lens meant for serious photographers, and is priced accordingly, at $800.

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