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I love exploring the streets of Manhattan; the city's landscape almost begs to be photographed with a wide angle lens. For this review of Tamron's SP AF11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) zoom lens, I shot a number of images around New York City. I also brought it with me over the 4th of July weekend to the Pocono mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania (hence the fireworks on the opposite page). I used a Canon EOS 20D 8MP digital SLR with the lens, and I shot both handheld and with a tripod.

OVERVIEW
The Tamron AF11-18, like the AF18-200mm, was built for cameras with sensors sized up to 24x16mm, generally referred to as "APS-C Size" because the digital sensor is similar in size to an APS film frame. This Di-II lens, as well as others with Tamron's Di-II label, won't work with 35mm film cameras, or some digital SLRs. The company's Di series, available in many focal lengths, can be used with virtually all 35mm film and digital cameras and more info on compatibility can be found in the spec box above. The 35mm equivalent of the lens is approximately 17-28mm, which is a fantastic range for capturing both wide fields of view, and seconds later, with the turn of the zoom ring, more "normal" focal lengths, as shown in the photos in front of Grand Central Station (left).

While I was standing there looking through the viewfinder, I was amazed at how different the 11mm focal length looked compared to the view at 18mm. It was great to shoot images across the entire range of the lens, and not have to worry about changing lenses to achieve such a different angle of view.

IMPRESSIONS
Right out of the box, I was surprised by the weight of the lens (12.5 oz), which is about half the weight of any wide angle zoom that I've owned or tested. It is also surprisingly small (just under 3.5 inches in length). This made the 20D and lens comfortable enough to hang around my neck, or keep in a fanny pack with up to two other lenses.

The lens also has just a hint of fisheye effect at the wider focal lengths, and I like the fact that the glass of the lens does not bulge out like a big bug eye, as I've seen with some other wide-angle zooms. Also, people photographed with the lens (even toward the edges) don't look nearly as distorted as with other wide angle lenses I've used, which makes it appropriate for some group portraits, or other applications where people are included in the frame. Overall edge-to-edge sharpness and lack of light falloff was also excellent.

Flare was virtually non-existent, even in bright outdoor conditions without the lens hood attached. The other standout feature was the lack of chromatic abberation. I photographed a number of metallic objects, including golf clubs, and also shot directly into bright street lights around New York City without any noticable color fringing.

The camera's internal software and sensor quality also plays an important role with regard to chromatic abberation, and I was surprised at how clean the images were when I evaluated my RAW captures, processed through Adobe Camera RAW. One type of subject that tends to show chromatic abberations the worst are trees with a bright background. Some camera and lens combinations produce purple, green or other colors around edges of fine detail, but I experienced none at all.

The zooming and focus rings are made of textured rubber, which makes them very easy to adjust, but the manual focusing ring is quite sensitive, so it takes a little getting used to. Autofocus was fast and accurate, even in very low light. For example, it was extremely dark outside when photographing fireworks and people in different areas, but I was still able to get many sharp images.

On the golf course, it was great capturing shots with the orange tee flag, tack sharp in the forground and all around the green from many different angles.

FINAL THOUGHTS
The Tamron SP AF11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di-II is a great lens, and one that I could keep on my camera all day, just exploring the very beautiful (and wide) world in which we live (no pun intended!)

For more information about this and other Tamron lenses, visit www.tamron.com.