I bought this lens to replace the 18-55mm IS canon, and we must admit that these two objectives have nothing to do. Without disparaging the 18-55 which is very good for its price and weight, it is clear that the opening gain is significant. The 2.8 saves constant speed (especially zoom background, going from 5.6 to 2.8, two earned speeds). But above the 2.8 better isolates his subject by a shallow depth of field. The objective is really much bigger than the basic objective, the zoom ring is quite (too) hard, but the race is long and precise, with the disadvantage the direction of rotation reversed from Canon. The focus ring is of course much more precise than the 18-55, for wider, and the fact that the focus is internal allows the simple use of polarizing filters or degraded. The autofocus is just as fast (slow) on the 18-55, and no more noisy, I waited at worst seen what I had read on various forums, reviews ... Stabilization is noisier (which does not mean unbearable, the noise is still very weak!), But it seems formidable, probably more effective than the 18-55 IS. For 355, the real deal, I recommend it for its openness, and its stabilization.
