As a kit lens, the Canon EF-M 18 to 55-millimeter f/3.5-5.6 Image Stabilization Stepper Motor Lens is a good lens for beginners as well as professionals. However, a professional photographer will know how to work with this lens' quirks, whereas a learning curve is necessary for a novice. To note, this lens is specifically designed for the EF-M lens mount, and will be incompatible with other lens mounts. With that being said, this Stepper Motor lens should be easy for a beginner to develop expertise on as long as they are willing to learn.

There is a slight corner softness when the lens is wide open at f/3.5, but most of the frame remains sharp. There is no corner shading once the focal lengths are set to 35 millimeters or greater. However, some corner shading will most likely occur at other focal lengths, causing corners to show up darker than the center of the frame. Some chromatic aberration will most likely present itself as well in the corners of the frame at the wide and tele settings, which will result in magenta-cyan fringing in any high contrast areas of the image. The exterior of the Canon EF-M 18 to 55-millimeter f/3.5-5.6 Image Stabilization Stepper Motor Lens contains no switches or controls on the surface other than the manual focusing ring, which is electrical. Since the focusing ring is electrical, it will turn in either direction without stopping. Overall, it is an excellent kit lens that will produce very sharp images, but there is a learning curve associated with it.