Test of the new "kit" lens with IS. Unless stated, all shots are shot in RAW in Neutral Picture Style with no post processing except for about +1/2 EV to compensate for underexposure and converted to highest level JPEG in DPP 3.2. The cropped images are all 100%.
You can click on the image for originals and EXIF. To compare the same shot at different apertures, just open them in new tabs and toggle between the tabs to compare the images. I've uploaded full sized shots of all tested focal lengths and apertures. If you like, you can upload them and compare them on a zoom browser, which allows you to view 4 images at once to see how the lens performs at various apertures.

Overall, I find the sharpness, color, contrast, and CA control to be similar to a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 I had. Flare control may be even better as well. This is a very nice lens for the price and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a cheap but optically good kit lens. Having said that I prefer fast primes and hence rarely use this lens except for some snapshooting.