Canon 10-18 Wide Angle Lens - Early Thoughts

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I have had the Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens in my hand for 18 hours- I can say the following-It is sharp, light and affordable. A great option for real estate, landscapes and anyone that want's to explore wide angle photography. The 10-18 is $299 and shipping now from B&H. This is $300 cheaper than Canon's 10-22 f/2.5- f/4.5 and offers the same sharpness in a smaller and lighter package with Image Stabilization (IS) and Silent Stepper Motor (STM) for smooth and silent autofocus.  Image stabilization seems good- with static subjects you can go to very low shutter speeds due to the wide angle AND the inclusion of image stabilization. 10mm using the 10-1814mm using the 10-1818mm using the 10-1818mm using the 18-135 STMDownsides- Maximum aperture of f/4.5 at 10mm can be limiting - in both light and creative control. It is difficult to creatively blur the background when you are limited to a maximum of f/4.510mm at f/4.5 - focusing at the near focus limit gives you some background blur.A few more images -10mm18mm5103_10 mm1-40 sec at f - 4.5ISO 160I will have a video with some early thoughts up soon.