| Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | News | Contest | ||||
 |
||||
The Compact Road Warrior |
||||
Capturing the natural environment on an afternoon trek requires a multipurpose zoom lens—and the Tamron SP AF18-200mm Di-II does the trick. |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| AF18-200mm
F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II
by Jennifer Gidman Zumpano |
||||
When you’re heading out into the great outdoors
for a day of recreational shooting, a versatile zoom lens can be
the ace in your photographic pocket. Ken Hubbard recently took some
time to wander around the scenic seascapes of Sunken Meadow State
Park and the picturesque valleys of Hoyt Farm, both located in central
Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. His travel companion: Tamron’s
SP AF18-200mm Di-II, which recently made its official debut at
PMA 2005. |
||||
|
This high-powered multipurpose zoom lens, one of
the premiere lenses in Tamron’s Di-II lineup, offers photographers
with a wanderlust a wide range of focal lengths, from wide-angle
to telephoto. “The range of the 18-200mm was perfect for me—with
a 1.5x conversion, it brought me to the 28-300mm range, which is
ideal for travel photography,” says Hubbard. |
||||
| The 18-200mm’s compact size doesn’t
hurt, either. “The weight and size of this new lens is also
perfect for the traveling photographer,” says Hubbard. “At
just 3.3 inches long and weighing only 14 ounces, this lens can stay
on your camera all day without weighing you down or getting in the
way,” he says. |
||||
Adventures in Versatility |
||||
Modeled after the product concept of the 28-300mm
XR Di lens (when converted to 35mm format, it comprises a focal
length equivalent to the 28-300’s), the 18-200mm lens offers
digital photographers a wide-angle to telephoto focal length range
that will allow them to explore nearly every photographic possibility
without having to change lenses. |
||||
“This lens covers everything, from wide-angle
shots when you’re in a tight spot and limited space to a midrange
of 85mm (perfect for portraiture) to 200mm telephoto for landscape
images such as distant mountains that you want to bring in close,” says
Hubbard. “When I first shot with the lens, I had only a few
hours to test it out. This range made it very easy to find closeup,
wide-angle, and everything in between during my limited timetable.” |
||||
The lens also realizes a revolutionary minimum
focusing distance (17.7 inches, with 1:3.7* macro capability), allowing
photographers to easily achieve the close-up capabilities they need. “The
17.7-inch minimum focusing distance was actually one of the most useful
aspects of the lens for my day in the parks,” says Hubbard. |
||||
| Sauntering along the Sunken Meadow shoreline, Hubbard
was able to run the 18-200 from one end of its focal length range
to the other when he spotted a set of freestanding binoculars poised
on the boardwalk. “The images of the binoculars were shot at both
18mm and 200mm to show the powerful focal range of the lens,” he
explains. “You can capture your subject from a wide-angle view,
and then get a nice closeup of the same subject. This helps with your
creativity in re-creating a certain scene. When you’re limited
with your focal length, you’re limited with what can be created
in that scene. The 18-200mm lens gives you the ability to capture your
subject even if you can’t get as close as you’d like.” |
||||
| Hubbard put the zoom to the test once again when
he stumbled upon a quaint wooden bridge nearby. “I knew the angle
and the cropping of the shot I wanted, but the only place to achieve
that was pretty far away from the bridge,” he recalls. “If
I didn't have that extra length from the 18-200mm, I would have never
gotten the shot.” |
||||
| He captured the bridge at 200mm, with a shutter
speed of 1/750 and an ISO of 400mm. “I used an f-stop of F/8
because I wanted a limited depth-of-field to help create a more interesting
image,” he says. “The 1/750 shutter speed was used to keep
the image sharp.” [See “Boat Ban” below for more
on fast shutter speeds and image sharpness.] |
||||
The Di-II Difference |
||||
Digital camera aficionados will take special notice
of the 18-200’s new Di-II designation, meaning the lens is designed
exclusively for use with digital SLR cameras (such as the Canon Rebel,
Fuji S3, and the Nikon D70) porting APS-C-size sensors. “The
image circle is concentrated to these sensor sizes,” explains
Hubbard. “If it was used on a full-size sensor or with 35mm
film, there would be severe vignetting.” |
||||
It’s the 18-200’s use of XR (Extra
Refractive Index) glass to distribute optical power throughout the
entire zoom range, as well as its three hybrid aspherical lens elements
and two LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements, that keeps chromatic aberrations
to a minimum. “The use of LD glass in this powerful zoom allows
for extremely sharp images at both 28mm and 200mm, as well as every
focal length in between,” says Hubbard. “The LD glass minimizes ‘on-axis
aberrations’ that prevent sharp images on the telephoto end,
as well as ‘lateral chromatic aberrations’ on the wide-angle
end.” |
||||
The lens lets every highlighted hue shine through,
according to Hubbard. “These images were all shot on the same
day in bright midday sun—not the most ideal of shooting situations,” he
says. “Normally you’d want to shoot in the early morning
or late afternoon, when the light is softer and has a warmer color.
But despite the less-than-ideal illumination, the 18-200 did a great
job with exposure and color saturation under the bright sun.” |
||||
| The glaring afternoon sun wasn’t totally
detrimental to Hubbard’s artistic vision. At Smithown’s
Hoyt Farm, Hubbard captured the shadow of a nearby tree against the
backdrop of a muted barn wall. “The time of day was actually
perfect for this particular shot, which I shot at 55mm at F/9.5, an
ISO of 200, and a shutter speed of 1/125,” he says. “The
bright sun created a nice dark shadow against the worn red color
of the barn. |
||||
| Like the 11-18mm Di-II also launched at PMA 2005,
the 18-200mm boasts enhanced peripheral illumination (“the minimizing
of light falloff in the Di-II lenses creates a perfectly bright image
from corner to corner,” explains Hubbard), internal surface
coatings to reduce ghosting and flare, and a glare-reducing flower-shaped
lens hood. On the road, the 18-200mm proves to be the ideal multipurpose
zoom, at your disposal for nearly every photographic application. |
||||
| * The maximum magnification ratio of the 18-200mm
(Model A014) is 1:3.7, while the maximum magnification ratio of the
28-300mm (Model A061) is 1:2.9. However, the A014 can fill the frame
with almost the same scope as the A061 does when shooting with a 35mm
SLR camera, since the new lens is exclusively designed for digital
SLR cameras with smaller-size imagers. The maximum magnification ratio
of 1:3.7 is equivalent to 1:2.8 when converted to 35mm film format. |
||||
| For more information and a spec sheet go to www.tamron.com/lenses/prod/18200_diII.asp | ||||
Tip Box Boat Ban During his promenade through Sunken Meadow State Park, Hubbard spotted a “No Boats” sign hanging on the middle of the bridge he had photographed earlier. “I’m not really sure what the sign was referring to, since you normally walk across a bridge—you wouldn’t use a boat to cross it,” Hubbard laughs. But while the 18-200mm lens allowed Hubbard to capture this creative closeup, he had to think about the best way to retain image sharpness. “The most important aspect to this shot was the shutter speed,” he says. “Any movement of the camera will be exaggerated when you’re zooming in so close, so the higher the shutter speed, the better your chances of getting a nice, sharp image.” Hubbard shot the sign handheld at 200mm, F/8.0, using a shutter speed of 1/750 and an ISO of 400mm. |
||||