Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Though I do feel the need for VR I get closer to 250mm, this lens does great with my Nikon D70S for ALL occassions. I have no complaints, be it focusing speed or image quality / sharpness. This has become my lens of choice - 5 Stars for the buck. I did have the Nikkor 18-200 VR in mind, but for the price I chose this. I have used SLRs for 15 years and just switched to digital... I never had the option of VR and remember that I had to switch between my 18-70 and 70-300 all the time. My 70-300 had the same problem of shake as I got closer to 300 and this problem is always going to be there with longer focal lengths - Use a tripod for low-light large focal length situations. With this lens, I have no need to switch lenses while I am on the floor - which is a big plus. I use it with my Monopod for event photography and frankly, this does a great job. Note though that this only works well with cameras with APS-C sized Digital SLRs where the CMOS Sensor is close to 24 X 16 mm. THis was the perfect choice for my D70S. A++++++++++++++++.

After dropping my camera with my Tamron 18-200 on it I bought the 18-250. Seems to be equally sharp although some reviewers say the 250 is better than the 200. The 200 had bad lens creep which the 250 doesn't have and that alone is a big improvement.

This is a great multi-use lens for a hobby/beginner to intermediate photographer. I use this lens to mostly take pictures of my family. It has great range 18-250 (Minus the conversion factor, it's more like 24-300 I think). Have used it a little taking night shots and it works fairly well. Can't beat it for the price. I'm sure a professional could tell you a million things wrong with it. I haven't noticed any image distortion or fish-eye effect on any images.

One thing, I removed the lens hood it came with. It was creating shadows at the bottom of my images.

Great travel lens. If you can only afford to buy one lens right now, this is a great all around lens.

I just purchased a new digital camera and needed a good all around lens. The Tamron 18-250mm works great. I have taken close-ups and telephoto shots. It really does a good job. The only complaint is that the lens likes to extend out if it isn't in lock position. I recommend this as a good lens for a day of shooting.

I bought this lens for my Nikon D5000. I did some research and read that it is compatible with my camera. When it arrived I found that the auto focus didn't work at all. I immediately got on the computer and started reading other reviews to discover that many other people had the same problem, or intermittent auto focus. After more research I discovered it was not compatible with the D60, D80 or D5000. I took it to a favorite hiking spot and took some photos with the manual focus. It performed well focus aside. During my shots there was a point where the auto focus worked for ten seconds. I took one picture with it activated, then went away never to be seen again.

Auto focus issues aside this lens was good. Only downside is weight; it's extremely heavy considering no auto focus motor.

Awesome everyday use.

Pros- macro/wide lens feature all-in-one. No need for constant lens switching. Beautiful color results.

Cons- not much, other than I wish I can zoom in more? I need to purchase macro lens++. I love abstractions from zooming in super close!

Overall- Nice!!

I got this lens for 250 dollars reconditioned, it came to me like new. Great travel lens. You do have to crank the ISO up to stop action at 250mm but that is not that big of a deal. The lens does pretty well doing macro stuff which is fun to play with.

Just for everyday shooting this lens covers 90 percent of my needs and stays on the camera almost all of the time. Unless I am going out to shoot something where I specifically need another lens this one stays on the camera which is nice because now I'm not changing lenses outdoors and risking dust on my sensor.