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Whether he’s capturing canine candids, exploring the streets of Manhattan, or going for that birdie on the greens, Andrew Darlow is able to find the range he needs with Tamron’s new 18-200mm and 11-18mm Di II lenses. |
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| AF11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di II & AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di II by Jennifer Gidman Zumpano |
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Tamron’s 18-200mm XR Di II and 11-18mm Di II
lenses may still be relative newcomers to the lens landscape, but
Andrew Darlow, a professional photographer, digital imaging consultant,
and editorial director of Digital Imaging Techniques (DIT) magazine
(www.imaginginfo.com),
is already quite familiar with their merits. “I’ve
taken thousands of exposures with the 18-200 and 11-18,” he says,
using the 11-18mm when he wants to get the big picture (i.e., the
wide-angle perspective) and the 18-200mm for just about everything
else. |
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Di II Diversity: Tamron's 18-200mm |
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Darlow used the 18-200 on his Canon EOS 20D on a recent test drive for DIT. “This lens becomes like a 28-300mm lens in 35mm terms, and that range is ideal for virtually all the photography that I would normally do, except for very wide-angle work,” he says. “This lens is extremely nice because you can just go anywhere with it and get totally different images from the same place within seconds. That’s tremendous flexibility. And at all zoom levels, the quality is excellent.” |
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For this particular test shoot, Darlow captured a cuddly Wheaton terrier and his photogenic female (human) companion. “The dog was great—she would just sit in front of the building while I took a number of photographs,” he says.
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Using the 18-200mm in an environmental portraiture capacity allows Darlow to enter virtually any situation (try it out at a sporting event or wedding) and get a variety of images. “Still-life close-ups, followed by wide group shots of people in an environment, can be made seconds apart, thanks to the lens’s excellent zoom range and lightweight construction,” he explains.
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This holds especially true when shooting animals, or people and their pets, says Darlow. “The environment people are in can look very different, depending on whether you’re looking at it wide or extremely zoomed in,” he explains. “I find that with the 18-200, I’m able to get images that appear to be from multiple cameras, such as the collection I photographed of the woman and her dog on the roof. When I visit a family to photograph them and their pets, I always come back with a range of images that tell a story. A close-up of a dog's eyes, or a wide shot of a family on their backyard swings all combine to tell a story, and that's what environmental portraiture is all about. The 18-200 helps me achieve that.” |
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| Because he often likes to shoot with off-camera flash in manual mode, Darlow keeps an eye on his histogram when shooting with the 18-200. “There will be a small change in f-stop between the wide angle and telephoto zoom range,” he says. “Today's advanced TTL systems will in most cases adjust for this, but I usually shoot outdoors with handheld flashes, such as the Vivitar 285 HV, with my camera and flash in manual mode.” |
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Getting the Big Picture: Tamron’s 11-18mm |
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Some of Darlow’s favorite photographic explorations fall within the wide-angle realm—ideal territory for the new 11-18mm Di II. “I love wide-angle photography, especially when I go into New York City or to the beach or into the mountains,” he says. “This lens is extremely light weight, so I can handhold very easily and get extremely sharp images.” |
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Darlow set out on the streets of the Big Apple
to see how the 11-18 fared photographically. Because the 35mm equivalent
of the lens is about 17-28mm, photographers can capture both wide
fields of view, as well as more “normal” focal lengths in their imagery.
A shot of Grand Central Station’s
exterior at 11mm (shown above), followed by a shot taken at 18mm,
showed off the 11-18’s real strengths. “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,” he explains. “It
was great to shoot images across the entire range of the lens and
not having to worry about changing lenses to achieve such a different
angle of view.” | |||||
When he wasn’t putting the 11-18 to the test in the big city, Darlow headed out to a scenic golf course in the Pocono mountains to see how well the lens stood up on the greens. “On the golf course, it was great capturing shots with the orange tee flag tack-sharp in the foreground and all around the green from many different angles,” he says. |
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Flare and chromatic aberrations were never a problem for Darlow while using the 11-18. “Flare was virtually nonexistent, even in bright outdoor conditions without the lens hood attached,” he says. “The other standout feature was the lack of chromatic aberration. I photographed a number of metallic objects, including golf clubs, and also shot directly into bright street lights around New York City without any noticeable color fringing.” |
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The 11-18’s light weight surely played a significant role in Darlow’s decision to cart it around on his local meanderings. “Right out of the box I was surprised by the weight of the lens—12.5 ounces, which is about half the weight of any wide-angle zoom that I’ve owned or tested,” he says. “It’s also surprisingly small at 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.” |
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All in all, Darlow has put six Tamron lenses to the test in recent months, and they’ve all come through with flying colors. “All the lenses in the Di and Di II series have impressed me, regardless of the camera I’ve put them on,” he says. “And while they’re all very sharp lenses, the Di II 18-200 is exceptionally sharp. It really stood out.” |
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For more information on Andrew Darlow and his work, check out www.andrewdarlow.com. |
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Tip Box Shooting Without Flash Darlow almost always shoots in aperture priority when shooting without flash, since it allows him to adjust the depth-of-field while adjusting the shutter speed. “Many of today’s DSLRs do a fantastic job at 400ASA, so I end up shooting handheld, which opens up far more creative options,” he explains. “Try twisting the camera and just shooting at a different angle—you might be surprised what you get.” |
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