Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

by Tamron

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.3 x 2.9 x 2.9 inches ; 14.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000IBI3YQ
• Item model number: AF018N-700
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

This breakthrough zoom covers the greatest range of any interchangeable lens in digital SLR photography—an astounding 14x wide-to-super telephoto ratio. That's the 35mm equivalent of a 28-400mm on an APS-C format DSLR. And it focuses down to 0.45m(17.7") over its entire range for dramatic close-ups. Remarkably compact and lightweight, its sharpness, resolution, and color accuracy are outstanding thanks to special lowe dispersion (LD) glass, high-tech molded aspherics, the latest multi-coating, and second-generation digital optimization (Di II). This is the most powerful zoom lens on the planet, and it literally puts the world at your fingertips, delivering crisp, flare free images of scenic vistas, sports, nature, and intimate close-ups of kids. It's the perfect all-in-one lens for traveling light and capturing the unanticipated.

AF 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II Highlights

Di II:
Lenses are designed for exclusive use on digital cameras with smaller-size imagers and inherit all of the benefits of our Di II products. These lenses are not designed for conventional cameras and digital cameras with image sensors larger than 24mm x 16mm.

14x Zoom
Capture your world with the longest-range zoom lens you can buy--experience the great power of a 14X zoom range with Tamron's 18-250mm--a single lens capable of shooting both wide angle and telephoto scenes. At nearly 14x, Tamron's lens is the world's most powerful zoom and delivers all the photographic freedom of this enormous zoom range in a single, compact lens.

Long range zoom - 8mm zoom, 130mm zoom, and 250mm zoom

Low Dispersion (LD)
Low dispersion (LD) glass elements in a lens help reduce chromatic aberration; the tendency of light of different colors to come to different points of focus at the image plane. Chromatic aberration reduces the sharpness of an image, but glass with an extremely lowdispersion index, has less of a tendency to separate (defract) a ray of light into a rainbow of colors. This characteristic allows the lens designer to effectively compensate for chromatic aberration at the center of the field (on axis), a particular problem at long focal lengths (the telephoto end of the zoom range), and for lateral chromatic aberration (towards the edges of the field) that often occurs at short focal lengths (the wide-angle end of the zoom range.)

Low Dispersion (LD) Glass for Greater Lens Sharpness

Internal Focus (IF)
Internal focusing (IF) provides numerous practical benefits to photographers including a non-rotating front filter ring that facilitates the positioning of polarizing and graduated filters, and more predictable handling because the lens length does not change during focusing. Even more important, Tamron’s Internal Focusing (IF) system provides a much closer minimum focusing distance (MFD) throughout its entire focusing range. In addition, IF improves optical performance by minimizing illumination loss at the corners of the image field, and helps to suppress other aberrations that become more troublesome at different focusing positions.

Anomalous Dispersion (AD) for Better Color Correction
Anomalous dispersion (AD) glass is a special type of optical glass that is used to achieve more precise control of chromatic aberrations, thereby enhancing overall imaging performance. Glass of this type provides an abnormally large partial dispersion ratio (amount of diffraction) for light of specific wavelength ranges (colors) within the visible spectrum. By combining AD glass having these special characteristics with elements made of normal glass having different dispersion characteristics, it is possible to control the dispersion factors of a specific wavelength. This enhanced level of control results in much lower levels of on-axis (central) chromatic aberration for telephoto lenses (or zooms used at tele-photo settings) and a significant reduction of lateral (peripheral) chromatic aber-ration for wide-angle lenses (or zooms used at wide-angle settings.)

Anomalous Dispersion (AD) enhances overall imaging experience

Aspherical Elements (ASL) Provide the Ultimate in Image Quality and Compactness)
Tamron uses several hybrid aspherical lens elements in many lenses bearing the Aspherical designation. These innovative optics allow us to achieve the ultimate in image quality, and at the same time produce lenses that offer remarkable zoom ranges in extraordinarily compact packages. By perfecting theses cutting-edge advances for series production, Tamron has advanced the state of optical design, and virtually eliminated spherical aberration and image distortion from the high-power-zoom series.Through the effective application of Hybrid Aspherical Technology, one lens elemen tcan take the place of multiple elements without compromising performance. This is what allows us to produce remarkably compact long-range lenses that deliver a uniformly high level of image quality at all focal lengths and apertures.

Achieve the ultimate in image quality with Asperical (ASL) lenses

Zoom Lock
Another original Tamron mechanical engineering concept is the Zoom Lock (ZL), a simple convenience feature that prevents undesired extension of the lens barrel when carrying the camera/lens unit on a neck strap.

Product Description

The Tamron AF 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD Aspherical IF Macro Lens is a lightweight, compact and ultra high power zoom lens designed exclusively for digital SLR cameras with APS-C sized imager sensors. The focal length of this lens is equivalent to approx. 29-400mm in 35mm format. This lens offers an extreme zoom ratio of 13.9X, and is designed as the everyday "all-in-one" lens for digital SLR cameras, covering wideangle to long telephoto. The lens uses an optical system specially designed for digital SLR cameras. This resulted in the sufficient compensation of aberrations, including astigmatism, compactness, thanks to downsizing of the first group, a high zoom power, and optimum optical quality. >>>Key Features:Advanced Optical Design: One LD (Low Dispersion) glass element and one AD (Anomalous Dispersion) lens in the first lens group minimize on-axis chromatic aberration. Two hybrid aspherical lens elements serves to meet the desired compactness despite its 13.9X zoom power.>>> Internal Surface Coating to Reduce Ghosting and Flare: This lens features Internal Surface Coatings (i.e., multiple-layer coatings on cemented surfaces of plural elements) and new multiple-layer coating technology on ordinary elements in order to minimize reflections that occur when light enters through the front element and to reduce image degrading effects caused by the imagers themselves.;>>> Zoom Lock Mechanism:The Zoom Lock prevents unwanted barrel movement when carrying the lens/camera combination.;>>> Di-II Series Design: Design has been improved by adding a gold-colored band between the focus and zoom rings to enhance the appearance and make it stand out as a Di-II lens. The rubber patterns of the zoom and focus control rings have been improved at the same time to compliment the digital camera design style and to provide better handling.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All I expected and more, May 14, 2007

By 

J. Hooks "TTownPops" (San Diego) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I've had this lens for about 3 months and it has been even more satisfactory than expected (and I ordered before it had been reviewed). I wanted a reasonable quality, small, lightweight "walk around" lens, at a reasonable price, and it has been great for me. As an amateur photographer and using a Nikon D50 SLR, my acceptance level may be limited, and someday I may want better glass. But for now I am very very happy. After receiving it and using it for a while, a very positive review appeared in Popular Photography magazine.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome lens (See update below), August 29, 2007

By 

Leo (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

Previously I owned 18-55 and 55-200 (kit lenses) that came with my Nikon D50. After an year of switching them again an again,I started to look at reasonably price long range ("vacational")lens. The Nikon 18-200 VR looked so good, but price tag was way over my budget. Two weeks ago, I saw review of Tamron 18-250 lens as being #1 zoom lens for D-SLR. I immediately looked at tons of reviews and soon I understood that this is what I was looking for. Immediately two D50's lenses went on e-Bay and I purchased this lens. After one day of continues usage (about 200 photos), I was amazed with color saturation, sharpness, and quality of the lens. I am not a professional photographer but for my purpose (serious home photographer) this lens is simply AWESOME.

UPDATE (3 stars). After 10 days of use, I found this lens has limitations. I was unable to get sharp, clean action photos of my son. Previous 55-200 lens was able to stop the action. As much as about 50/50 of my shots are actions related, I couldn't accept this lens. I sent it back (Buydig.com offer 15 days money back - 10%) for refund. Looking for replacement high zoom lens (more than 200 mm) at reasonable price.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CAREFUL! There are two Nikon versions of this lens, March 3, 2010

By 

Howard Gillis MD "Howie Gillis" (Shalimar, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

Apparently, this lens is available in two versions for the Nikon. The AF018N-700 does NOT have a built in motor for AF. The AF018NII-700, does. If you want AF and your camera does not have an AF motor in the body, make sure you get the lens with the motor. Reading through the reviews on this page, it seems that people are reviewing the two different lenses here, thus the confusion. This lens does not have a motor. The AF works fine with my D300, but not with my D3000.