This used Canon general purpose zoom lens — the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM — covers everything from wide-angle interiors to short telephoto reach in a single lens, making it an ideal all-in-one choice for travel, family events, street photography, and everyday shooting. With Canon’s quiet STM autofocus and a 4-stop Image Stabilizer, it performs equally well for stills and video on any Canon APS-C body.
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The Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM was introduced in June 2012 as an upgrade to the earlier EF-S 18-135mm IS. It was designed for Canon’s APS-C sensor cameras — the EOS Rebel, 60D, 70D, 80D, and 90D lines — and is incompatible with full-frame EOS bodies. On any APS-C sensor, the 1.6x crop factor delivers an effective zoom range of approximately 29–216mm, giving the photographer a genuinely wide angle at one end and solid telephoto reach at the other.
This is the lens you reach for when you want one optic in your bag that handles the day. As a used Canon general purpose zoom lens, it suits travel photographers, family photographers, documentary shooters, and vloggers equally well. At 480g and 96mm in length when retracted, it balances well on any Canon APS-C body without strain.
Body Section — Optical Construction htmlOptical Construction
The Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM is built around a 16-element, 12-group optical formula. Canon incorporated both UD (Ultra-low Dispersion) glass and a high-precision aspherical element into this design — a combination that works to control chromatic aberration and maintain sharpness across the zoom range and into the corners.
UD glass reduces secondary spectrum, the residual colour fringing that ordinary optical glass cannot correct. The aspherical element corrects for spherical aberration and field curvature — distortions that become more pronounced in a zoom lens operating across a wide focal length range. Canon also applied optimised lens positioning and coatings to minimise flare and ghosting, both of which can be problematic in an 18–135mm zoom used in mixed light conditions.
The minimum focus distance is 0.39m, a meaningful improvement over the 0.45m of the previous version. Maximum magnification is 0.28x — not macro territory, but capable of close-up work on flowers, products, and small subjects.
Body Section — Image Stabilizer (Nikon “Vibration Reduction” equivalent) htmlImage Stabilizer
The IS system in the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM delivers up to four stops of correction during still image shooting, rated against the standard Canon benchmark of 1/(focal length × 1.6) seconds. Real-world testing by The Digital Picture confirmed performance close to four stops at 18mm and exceeding four stops at 135mm — a result that meaningfully extends handheld shooting ability in lower light.
This lens was the first in the EF series to incorporate Dynamic IS, a mode that activates automatically during video recording. Dynamic IS uses a wider stabilisation correction range to compensate for the kind of larger, compound movements encountered when shooting while walking — a capability that goes beyond what standard IS provides for handheld video.
The IS system is also notable for its silence. The STM motor and IS unit together produce no audible noise during operation — Canon’s own in-camera microphones on test bodies did not register any IS or AF sound during video capture.
Body Section — Autofocus Performance htmlAutofocus Performance
The STM in the lens name refers to Canon’s stepping motor autofocus drive — the core technology that distinguishes this lens from its predecessor. The stepping motor drives focus in precise, smooth, near-silent increments, which makes it far better suited to continuous Movie Servo AF than the micro-motor it replaced. On compatible bodies such as the EOS Rebel T4i/650D onwards, Movie Servo AF delivers smooth, continuous focus tracking on moving subjects during video recording.
Autofocus is driven by inner focusing, meaning the front element does not rotate or extend during focus operation. Attached filters — including polarisers — remain stationary throughout the focus range. Focus speed is fast, with the lens moving from infinity to minimum focus distance in well under a second.
Full-time manual focus override is available after autofocus locks in One Shot mode with the shutter half-pressed. This is a focus-by-wire implementation: the manual focus ring operates electronically rather than through a direct mechanical coupling. The ring turns continuously in either direction and offers consistent, well-weighted resistance. No focus distance scale is provided on the barrel.
Body Section — Build Quality and Handling htmlBuild Quality and Handling
The Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM is 76.6mm in diameter and 96mm in length when retracted, with a weight of 480g. The body is constructed from high-quality plastic with a metal lens mount — a standard combination for Canon’s EF-S zoom range. There is no weather sealing on this lens.
The zoom ring sits toward the rear of the barrel, which is a well-considered ergonomic choice for single-handed operation. Travel from 18mm to 135mm is accomplished in a smooth 90-degree rotation. A zoom lock lever at 18mm prevents unintentional barrel extension when the camera is carried pointed downward — useful for photographers who carry by a strap.
The lens extends noticeably as it zooms toward 135mm, adding approximately 50mm to its overall length. Despite the extension, the barrel shows no play or looseness in either direction. The filter thread is 67mm — a common size in the Canon ecosystem that makes filter ownership practical across multiple lenses.
Body Section — Compatible Camera Bodies htmlCompatible Camera Bodies
As an EF-S lens, the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM is designed exclusively for Canon’s APS-C sensor cameras and is not compatible with full-frame EOS bodies. It mounts directly on any Canon EOS body with an EF-S or EF mount, including the full Rebel/Kiss/650D-and-later lineup, as well as the 7D series, 60D, 70D, 80D, and 90D.
For photographers moving to Canon’s EOS R-series mirrorless cameras, this lens can still be used via the Canon EF-EOS R mount adapter (adapter not included with this lens).
Body Section — Image Quality htmlImage Quality
At 18mm the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM produces sharp centre results wide open, with some softness in the corners at f/3.5. Stopping down to f/5.6 or f/8 brings the corners substantially into line. The mid-range focal lengths — particularly 24–50mm — deliver the strongest results, with lab testing by The Digital Picture showing performance competitive with Canon’s well-regarded EF-S 15-85mm IS USM at the same focal lengths. Optimal sharpness across the frame occurs around 50mm at f/8.
At 85mm there is a modest reduction in corner sharpness wide open, which recovers somewhat by 135mm. Across the full zoom range, centre sharpness is consistently strong; it is the corners at the extremes of the focal length range where the lens shows its zoom compromises.
Chromatic aberration is well-controlled in the mid-range focal lengths between roughly 35mm and 50mm. At 18mm and 135mm, colour fringing is more apparent in high-contrast areas near the frame edges, though this is readily corrected in post-processing. Canon’s UD element plays a meaningful role in managing this.
Vignetting at 18mm f/3.5 reaches around two stops in the extreme corners but diminishes quickly with stopping down. At most other focal lengths and apertures, light falloff is unremarkable. Barrel distortion is present at 18mm and transitions to pincushion distortion beyond approximately 24mm, becoming moderately pronounced at 85–135mm. Both distortion types are uniform across the frame, which makes correction in Lightroom or similar software straightforward.
Flare resistance is good across the zoom range, with only minor contrast reduction when shooting directly into light at wider apertures — the result of Canon’s optimised lens coatings.
Full Technical Specifications
| Focal Length | 18–135mm |
| Maximum Aperture | f/3.5–5.6 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/22–36 |
| Optical Formula | 16 elements in 12 groups |
| Special Elements | UD element, aspherical element |
| Angle of View | 74°20′–11°30′ (APS-C) |
| Minimum Focus Distance | 0.39m |
| Maximum Reproduction Ratio | 0.28x |
| Filter Thread | 67mm |
| IS Compensation | Approx. 4 stops (still); Dynamic IS (video) |
| Diaphragm Blades | 7 (circular aperture) |
| Dimensions (Diameter × Length) | 76.6 × 96mm |
| Weight | 480g |
| Mount | Canon EF-S (APS-C only) |
Why Buy This Used Canon General Purpose Zoom Lens?
Buying this used Canon general purpose zoom lens is a smart way to get a versatile travel and everyday optic without paying new-lens prices. Optically and mechanically, a well-maintained EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM performs exactly the same as it did when new — the STM autofocus motor, Image Stabilizer, and 16-element optical formula don’t wear out with normal use.
Every lens we sell is fully tested for autofocus accuracy, image stabilization, zoom smoothness, and optical clarity before it’s listed, so you get the same dependable 18–135mm versatility at a fraction of the cost of buying new — plus the satisfaction of giving a great lens a second life.
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