Tamron AF 18-200 mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) review - Vignetting

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Tamron AF 18-200 mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF)

12 January 2011

Arkadiusz Olech

8. Vignetting

Small dimensions of the lens and the wide range of focal lengths made themselves felt in the case of vignetting. The worst situation we see at 18 mm where, at the maximum relative aperture (f/3.5), the light fall-off in the frame corners amounts to as much as 36% (-1.3 EV). On stopping down the lens to f/4.0 this aberration level decreases to 27% and using f/5.6 makes the situation improve even further (12%) but only by f/8 we won’t notice vignetting at all (10%).

Tamron AF 18-200 mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) - Vignetting

Fortunately the situation looks much better in the middle of the range. At 50 mm and by f/4.5 the brightness loss in the frame corners reaches an insignificant level of 12% (-0.37 EV) and on stopping down to f/5.6 the aberration is practically non-existent (5%).

Similar performance we see at 100 mm. Even at the maximum relative aperture the vignetting remains slight (10% or 0.3 EV) and by using f/8 it is marginalized (4%).

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According to our expectations the light fall-off in the corners is the most pronounced at the maximum focal length but, fortunately, this effect is insignificant. By f/6.3 the vignetting value, measured by us, amounted to 18% (-0.56 EV) and it decreased to 6% by f/8.0.

Although we don’t like the high vignetting value at 18 mm, overall the Tamron fares quite well here. It simply knocks out the Nikkor 18-135 mm which at both ends had the vignetting at the level of 40-50% and in the middle of the range – definitely over 20%.