Kit lens EF-S 18-55 vs EF-S 18-55 IS Mk2

Barks

Barks

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Paul
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Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of upgrading the kit EF-S 18-55 f3.5-5.6 II lens that came with my camera for the newer EF-S 18-55 f3.5-5.6 IS II.

I'm assuming/expecting that there will be a difference in the image quality between the two lenses as kit lenses are cheap and not very cheerful but is there £130-ish worth of difference between the two? Especially at the more wideangle end (18 to say 35mm)? As that's the range my current kit lens is mainly used for, and it's always lacked sharpness in my opinion.

My choices are upgrading the kit lens on payday next week or investing in a speedlite flash unit, so I guess my question is would you guys and girls recommend spending my money on upgrading a lens I already have or adding a flash unit to kit bag which I don't currently own?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
 
I'm sure I read in one of the camera mags that the EF-S 18-55mm IS lens was better than the MK2 version, but please don't quote me on this. Perhaps someone else can confirm if my thoughts are right.

**EDIT** Oops I've just re-read your post. As gnirtS says, the IS version is supposed to be much better than the non IS version.

It's the MK2 version of the EF-S 18-55mm IS lens that is not meant not to be so good iirc, that was the point I was trying to make.
 
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I currently have both the original non IS mkI and a mkII IS and can confirm that the IS knocks spots off the old non IS one in every possible way.

According to Canon's press release for the MkII;
"The version II of this lens includes new IS algorithms to distinguish between normal photographing and when the camera is panning to automatically provide the optimal level of image-shake correction."
Click to expand...
Which implies that optically they're identical or they'd have said otherwise.
The only other differences are cosmetic.
An easy way to tell them apart at a glance, the MkI has a silver focal length ring, the mkII has a black ring.
Same goes for telling the 55-250 mkI and II apart too. :thumbs:

I really wouldn't buy an 18-55 new, if you're looking at upgrading to something brand new then I'd save a bit longer and make it a worthwhile upgrade.
You can get a MkI 18-55 IS used for around £60, don't pay much more for a mkII if any. ;)
 
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