i purchased one of these a couple of years ago and was very pleased with it. my son bought his wife a newer model rebel, so i bought this lens for her for christmas. she loves it as well, says it takes much better pictures than the stock lens that came with her camera and she loves the zoom.

I was very hyped up for this lens, and I dont know what it was; either i got a "bad" copy of the lens, or i was overhyping myself or maybe both. First, the color is excellent in pictures taken with sufficient and excess light. Sharpness was actually (for me) the best at 135mm and mildly soft in between. (I am no professional but consider myself an experienced amateur/hobbyist, who expects more results than the average consumer). To me, the images needed P.S. sharpening almost always. Closeups, the lens was great and expressed the most sharpness and contrast. Bokeh was actually decent. The thing that dissapointed me the most (again overhype) was the image stablization. I dont know if i got a bad copy or wahtever, but whenever i had it on, it started making a noise that sounded like there was a loose part or something. It was not as fast a lens as you may think. f/3.5 can only be achieved with a focal length of about 28-35mm. After that, from 35-135mm, you use a higher f-stop. Using the image stablilization in low light was absolutely horrible. I had to be almost completely stable to get a sharp image in the range of 1/30 or below. If i was lucky, i could snag a 1/5 or even 1/4, but it wasnt close to even 30 or 40 percent. This WILL NOT! I REPEAT WILL NOT! Make your images guaranteed sharpness at any light situation. This baby needs alot more light than you would expect in low-light situations. of course, if you use a flash, the images get distorted in color slightly but absolutely get good images.
GOOD:
- Build quality, feels like a truck
- Didnt notice lens creep as people have said
- "Good" (B-) images with sufficient light
- Nice macro shots
- USM was fantastic: silent and super quick even in low light
- Bokeh

BAD:
- Image stabilization was noisy
- Yes, your copy may not be a good copy as mine wasn't
- Noticed hazy pictures randomly
- Wasnt sharp at all focal lengths, nearly at none
- Colors werent saturated enough
- Contrast and sharpness wasn't good at all until i was in macro.
- Image stablilization was not what you think it will be. It is somewhat noticable. But, note, this is not the current IS model, it is the old one. It will be very difficult to do panning, and only slightly helps camera shake by 1-2 stops (i think 1 stop does justice). Newer models of the image stablilzer do panning, and help reduce camera shake up to 4 stops.
- Not good in low light unless you are at 28mm and f/3.5

I didnt believe it when people said the image stablilzer and f/3.5 was still too slow and frustrating at times; believe it. There is 1 star taken off of my rating.
The other star was because the sharpness, contrast and saturation just didn't do it for me. Maybe for others, it would be suitable, but not for me.
In general, this is a nice walkaround lens, for someone who will be shooting in great light, no action sports, and wont mind using a flash at night.
***UPDATE***: i got the 50mm f/1.8 for christmas from amazon for $84 bucks. This thing is a animal! If you go to this items product page for this item, and see sample pics, i will upload some. They are phenominal! Look into that lens!

Purchased June 24, 2008

A little disappointed so far.

The lens creep is more like a lens drop!

The outside shots are very good for the most part (how much is me or the lens!) I have some beautiful shots of weddings and outdoor events on bright days, but hit and miss indoors.

Autofocus not quick indoors and I had expected more from the IS feature.

In a brightly lit gymnasium, the shots were very dull and lifeless and I was unable to get anything good with movement of the subject. Wish I had had my 1.8 50mm Canon for that event!

I will probably sell and look for something else.

If you are looking for one lens for your D-SLR this is the one to purchase.Image quality is excellent except (as usual) at extremes of focal length. The IS works very well and really does allow you to shoot at least 1 and often 2 stops higher. It is larger and significantly heavier than the kit lens but after a few days you don't really notice it. As others have noted the lens does extend under its own weight when carried on a neck strap but it does quickly snap back wnen needed.As an amatuer photographer I don't see any need to purchase any other lenses in thes focal range.

Like so many others, I also had a loose lens body. Last year I spent the money and had the lense realligned, tightened and cleaned. It was worth the $65 I spent to have the lense back in pristine shape. As a result, I use it alot as a general purpose lens.
It takes excellent photos and is rapid in the area of focus and adjustment. I personally think it is worth the money....just make sure you have a tight one.