My Canon 50D + 18-200 kit lens arrived yesterday so I took some quick sample shots while going to/from work today. Obviously nothing spectacular, just some snapshots to check how the lens performs. Personally I think it's just kinda ok IQ wise but nothing a few moments of post-processing can't fix. Anyway, you can click on the EXIF info above each photo below to download the full-sized JPEG (warning: they're about 2-3MB each). All shots taken in RAW, converted to DNG via Adobe DNG Converter, opened up in Adobe PS3 via ACR with NO sharpening or any other modification whatsoever and saved as JPEG (quality setting of 10, baseline optimized). These little 640x427 thumbnails were saved for web so probably won't be able to tell much from them. Camera was set to auto ISO, P mode for the most part (except where indicated below), AI Focus, Neutral Picture Style, highlight tone priority disabled, auto lighting optimizer set to standard.

First off, just a few general shots:

Actually these show that the 50D seems like a nice capable camera and that the 18-200 lens is decent - nost stellar but decent although it has to be said it is pricey! How did you find the AF on the lens? Noisy, slow?. Thanks for sharing.

many thanks

Allan Bruce wrote:
Actually these show that the 50D seems like a nice capable camera and that the 18-200 lens is decent - nost stellar but decent although it has to be said it is pricey! How did you find the AF on the lens? Noisy, slow?. Thanks for sharing.

AF was obviously noisy (compared to USM) but nothing you'd really notice outdoors. And pretty quick. I don't think I was ever consciously waiting for it to get into focus.

Is it just me or some pictures show some vignetting ?

citro wrote:
Is it just me or some pictures show some vignetting ?

+1

A couple of the 18mm shots show some pretty heavy vignetting. Was this done PP?

citro wrote:
Is it just me or some pictures show some vignetting ?

+1

Did you have a filter on the lens? I wonder if the filter ring is causing the vignetting at 18mm...

Mike

Mike Hatam wrote:
Did you have a filter on the lens? I wonder if the filter ring is causing the vignetting at 18mm...

Mike

Yes, good catch. I had the Canon UV filter that came with the kit on and looking at it now it's not a "slim" design so that's probably what's causing the vignetting at 18mm. I'll take a couple of more shots with the filter off and post 'em later.

Either the lens is poor, or they took the resolution a little too far with the 50D. IMHO.

kenshin wrote:
Allan Bruce wrote:
Actually these show that the 50D seems like a nice capable camera and that the 18-200 lens is decent - nost stellar but decent although it has to be said it is pricey! How did you find the AF on the lens? Noisy, slow?. Thanks for sharing.

AF was obviously noisy (compared to USM) but nothing you'd really notice outdoors. And pretty quick. I don't think I was ever consciously waiting for it to get into focus.


Is it as noisy as the 50mm f/1.8?

Photozone delayed presenting the test of this lens because of computer-troubles. But Klaus wrote in his forum that the center-sharpness was very good, borders are soft and stopping down doesnt help.

Allan Bruce wrote:
Is it as noisy as the 50mm f/1.8?

Really can't say since I've never owned that lens.

Quick question, where did you get the kit from? I've been waiting for B&H to get them in stock, but hasn't happened yet.

Never mind, found the kit on Amazon. Wonder why B&H doesn't have it yet??

The shots look pretty good. I was very interested in getting that lens but I'm pissed that Canon didn't put in a USM/FTM AF motor. *grumble*

I removed the UV filter and took a shot at 18mm. Seems like that was what was causing the vignetting issue.

kenshin wrote:
I removed the UV filter and took a shot at 18mm. Seems like that was what was causing the vignetting issue.

Thanks for taking the filter off, but how can't you see the vignetting on the photos you just posted? There's a reason you can see the cloud in the upper right corner and can't see any in the upper left, also look at the lower corners, very vignetted.

Not that I'd ever want the 18-200 lens but the Tamron version I had didn't vignette like the images above w/o the UV filter.

Carl

Hmm... you're right. Well I went back to the drawing board and now I wonder if it's a software issue. All the above photos were processed via ACR 4.6 beta. I went back and converted this last photo with Canon's DPP 3.5 and this is the result:

yeah, it looks a bit better but still has vignetting. I'd say try a RAW photo and process it in LightRoom or somethin'

carl

Heaps of vignetting and heaps of distortion.

Since I don't own a 50D (yet) I have some difficulties evaluating these samples regarding sharpness/resolution. I know there wasn't any sharpening applied, and when giving them a USM (500, 0,2) they become sharp. But those amounts of USM are more than I usually need. Don't know what to make of that yet...

Besides that, the center of the frame seems sharp, but sharpness degrades very fast when you move away from the center. In the extreme corners it is very soft (both at 18mm and 200mm). I am under the impression that 18mm is a bit sharper than 200mm overall. There is some heavy distortion at 18mm. Some shots also suffer from a lot of CA's.

Most of its "weaknesses" are correctable in PP. If the images clean up nicely after that, I think the 18-200mm could be a great vacation snapper lens.

I wonder though if the 18-200mm used represents the standard or if this lens is a bad sample? Or maybe it has some focus issues that can be dealt with by Micro Adjusting?

I also notice a lot of CA in the 18mm images, in 200mm the CA is negligible.

Thanks for posting this. I'm looking for an all purpose lens for travelling and I was considering this lens and the Sigma 18-200mm as well as the Tamron 18-250mm.

Vignetting is not hard to fix and same with the CA though it's a bit of a pain if there's a lot of it. I'm more worried about the image sharpness. Which one of these three lenses I mentioned is sharper?

n0b0 wrote:
I also notice a lot of CA in the 18mm images, in 200mm the CA is negligible.

Thanks for posting this. I'm looking for an all purpose lens for travelling and I was considering this lens and the Sigma 18-200mm as well as the Tamron 18-250mm.

Vignetting is not hard to fix and same with the CA though it's a bit of a pain if there's a lot of it. I'm more worried about the image sharpness. Which one of these three lenses I mentioned is sharper?

There is also heavy CA at 200mm... Just look at the windows to the left in the 200mm M Hotel shot.

Ah yes, you're right, I missed that. The purple CA seem to get stronger as it gets closer towards the edge doesn't it?