I have never really felt the Konica Minolta or Tamron 11-18mm lenses were very sharp on our 7D and 5D - we have both types of lens. There has always been a hint of tiny AF collimation inaccuracies, critical at such a short length, softening the lens. Using a Peleng 8mm fisheye in a manual mount confirmed this - detail well beyond the 11-18mm as 'AF' set.

Now, the Alpha 100 proves that the Konica Minolta 11-18mm we have is not at all bad. The Alpha focuses this lens far more accurately, and here, the Dynamic Range 'Plus' setting has made a very balanced shot partly in sun, partly in shade. This (AdobeRGB, please note) in-camera JPEG shows no chromatic fringes on details near the edges, which always needed a -30 correction when converting raw from 7D. Now it's back to testing the 5D and 7D again, to see why the 11-18mm does not deliver this quality on those bodies.