Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First I have to say that I rarely take the time to write a review unless the product really impresses me. Second I'm a pro photographer for a Newspaper in TX and I own several canon "L" lenses.
I shoot a Mark II at work and A digital rebel when I go hiking and such. I tried it on the Rebel and I doubt I ever put a different lens on that camera. It is a great little lens. Granted it is slow in low light but that aside, it is wonderful. Very little Vignetting at the wide end and very little Chromatic Aberration. It is really sharp all the way through the zoom range. Highly recommended!!

This is a very nice all-in-one travel lens. Before taking it on vacation I carefully compared it to my Canon 17-85mm IS and 70-300mm IS lenses when mounted on a 20D body. The Tamron becomes surprisingly sharp if stopped down one stop from wide open at any focal distance, with equal or better sharpness than the 17-85. From 18-50mm even 1/3 stop down produces excellent sharpness. It closely approaches the sharpness of the Canon 70-300mm lens from 70-135mm but falls behind increasingly at 200m and 250mm. The Tamron is still quite sharp and useful at even 250mm if stopped down but the Canon is just sharper at the same aperture settings.

For the extreme 18-250mm range, the optics are outstanding. Photozone comparisons show this lens to be clearly superior to the earlier Tamron 18-200mm version. In fact, it's sharpness is equal to or better than the expensive Nikon 18-200mm VR lens (Nikon mount only) over all but the 200mm length where it's a close second.

I attached the lens to my 20D and went to Hawaii for two weeks on two islands, shooting hundreds of pictures of landscapes, seascapes, parades, and macro-like closeups. Did I mention that this lens also focuses to about 18" even at 250mm - giving near macro capability. It provided outstanding pictures with eye-poping color and right-on autofocus - all in a lightweight package about the same size as the Canon 17-85mm.

The only downside is the lack of IS, OS or VR (whatever Tamron wants to call it). At the wide end, with good sharpness at even f4, the lack of IS is no problem even in shady or heavily overcast areas. At 250mm, with a need to stop down to f8 or f9, means good natural light or a flash is needed for use without a tripod or other support. Hawaii provided lots of good light so this was not an issue.

I love this lens. I just came back from a week long trip in Europe, where I tested this lens indoors and outdoors, day and night, with all sorts of subjects, and it performed wonderfully. I like to shoot with my Canon 30D handheld, which puts even more demand on the lens. I uploaded a couple of images as examples.

Pros:

- Awesome ZOOM range! It is so liberating to have this flexibility and not have to carry multiple lenses or change lenses outdoors (risk dust on sensor).
- Price is great, compared to what you can get from Canon and others.
- Focus is much quieter and faster than other reviews may indicate.

Cons:

- "Slow" apertures - can't compete with my Canon 50mm f/1.4 for flash-free night and indoor portraits, but given ISO 3200, this lens does well regardless.
- Does not fit some specialized needs such as super-wide-angle or stabilized super-tele-zoom. If you predominantly shoot in those ranges, you should do more research.

Conclusion:

If you want a one-lens solution for daily walking around, travel, etc, this Tamron 18-250 fits the bill wonderfully and I highly recommend it.

Although not perfect this will do until the perfect comes along! The ONLY problem that I have found with this lens is that at the extreme telephoto of 225mm-250mm I need to stop down the f/stop a couple of stops to be really sharp. Other than that, it's fantastic!

The macro is so good it makes you want to cry!

I've got 30 yrs professional experience and I knew going in that I would give up some low light and shallow depth of field in this 'do everything' lens, but ya' know what? So far it just hasn't happened!! Add to that the convenience and quality this lens offers and it is just too good to pass up.

I could ramble on about the barrel distortion, pincushioning, and ashprical abberations but they just aren't worth mentioning. Could you get a better lens for $1000? I would hope so! But at this price can you get a better lens? NOPE, NO WAY!

Check out the 5 macro and low light pictures I uploaded above in customer images. I think you'll see why I'm so impressed.

This lens is the perfect addition to my Digital Rebel XTi. I no longer need that cheapie kit lens that came with the camera, and now I have an excellent zoom that is incredibly powerful. The lens is very sturdy, well built, and locks at the lowest focal length to prevent it from extending on its own. I also found that it's a tad larger than the standard Canon 18-55mm, but not enough to even warrant a discussion. I now use it all the time, however I use my Canon 75-300 IS USM zoom for sports (can't beat that image stabilization). Sometimes it does have trouble focusing in dark areas but no more than the standard 18-55mm. I highly recommend this to anyone with a digital SLR.

I'll admit it. I've never been a Tamron fan. This lens changed my opinion. It is well built and provides sharp images throughout the 18-250mm range. At the 250mm end, it is a slow f6.3. If you want to shoot at ISO 100, you will need to bring a tripod with you unless you are in bright light. IS/VR would be nice here, and is the only reason that this product did not rate five stars from me. The lens is light and compact, about the same size as the Canon 18-55 "kit lens" that comes with a digital Rebel. At 250mm, it extends to almost 6". You zoom this lens out by twisting the barrel clockwise, which is the opposite of Canon glass. That takes a while getting used to. The action is a bit stiff, making the lens lock totally unneccessary. The lens will not extend unless you want it to. The included lens hood is a nice touch. The lens cap has a unique center clip that makes it easy to remove when the hood is on. All the above features would be meaningless if you could not produce sharp images. This lens will not dissapoint you on that count. Its not perfect, but it is a very good lens that will be mounted on my camera for my next vacation trip.

Updated 2/25/2008:
After lots of use, the stiffness in this lens is gone and I use the lens lock feature when not shooting. It is still a great walk around lens and probably gets more use than any other glass I own.

I bought this lens in May 2007. I have used it quite a bit. I liked the zoom range 18 to 250mm is the sweet range for a all-in one zoom. I also have 3 Canon lens and had a Sigma lens (28 to 300).
Well this fall I took the Tamron only on a trip along the Blue Ridge Pkwy. I started to notice it would de- focus as I zoomed out for wide angle shots - when I got back I found over half my shots were out of focus- since most were wide angle (45 to 18 mm). I tested the camera (Canon 20D) with all my lens and found the Tamron 18 to 250 Di II was just auto focusing way off and then of course it will only shoot while it is out of focus (because it thinks it is in focus). You have to switch to manual focus at anything under 45mm -
I called Tamron and sent it in for warranty repair they recieved it on 11/02 and I got it back today 12/12. It doesn't do any better- it almost seems they just held on to it for a month and sent it back.
My brother has a Tamron 18-200mm on a Nikon (digital) and I tried it a couple weeks ago and found it too does the same thing- maybe not quite as bad.
I tried all the focus adjustments I had on the camera to no avail.
The best way to focus it is to zoom out to 250mm in autofocus let it focus then switch to manual focus (don't touch the focus ring!) and slide down to wide angle to keep it in the proper focus.
This is not what I expected from a 500.00 lens and I guess I'll call Tamron again- but I doubt I'll get any satisfaction- I was happier with the focus on the Sigma but I sold it when I got the Tamron- and I really wanted the extra wide angle 18 vs. 28mm. I like the Canon lens but they are so exspensive and they don't offer a 18 by 250 or even 18 by 200mm.
I wonder if anyone else has had a similiar problem with Tamron lens autofocus at wide angle?

My primary persuasion in purchasing this lens was to reduce the amount of lenses I have to lug around. Carrying a Canon 17-40L, Tamron mid zoom, and a Canon 70-200L f2.8is, things get very heavy and clumsy not too mention $$$ in case one loses sight of all of the lenses. This can also take the joy out of an outing or vacation as the lenses are always in the way. Short of selling this camera and getting a Sony DSC-R1 or Fuji S6000FD which I may still purchase as a backup , I needed to find options and this is the only lens that fits my needs-on paper at least.

Shipping from Amazon was fast as always. No tax and free shipping is an additional welcome.

The lens itself is very compact and light. In fact so compact that I was concerned of it's overall abilities.
This was tested on a Canon 20D, 30D, and my current camera-40D. EDIT: Is not compatible with my current 5D Mark II or any other full frame sensor camera. It will only work on EF-S cameras.

I first took a couple of shots with it stepped down one full stop to achieve the best image quality.

I must say that the camera makes the lens better than it is as it is not very fast so the low noise ability of the 40D compensates for this with higher ISO abilities cranking out 800ISO pics with very little noise. On a 20D/30D things are a bit slow in terms of low light auto focusing but on the 40D things are better and the lens does not hunt around as often.

The lens quality itself is good though the manual zoom mechanics are not very linear and somewhat clunky towards the high end of the zoom. The mount is solid with a great fit.

Bokey is fine though not spectacular. Contrast is OK at best and needs touching up but which is no issue as most photographers of DSLR cameras shoot in RAW and touch it up in software.

Image crispness is another thing and this is where this camera has issues. At 250mm and no image stabilization you had better use a fast setting to avoid the shakes. Image softness is the most common complaint on this lens-again hit and miss. Some Photoimpact or PhotoShop work will clean it up in no time.

Autofocus is fairly quick and accurate-with very little hunting in low light conditions (on the 40d). Motor sound is not intrusive and the speed is good. Do not confuse this with an L lens in this regard.

UPDATE: After 500 shots with this lens I can say that nothing has really changed much. The zoon mechanical feel is better though far from a L lens-could just be my example. Excellent images can be had though RAW and Photoshop is recommended. No major flaw and no mechanical concerns requiring service.

For the price and ability this lens is a decent piece of glass and I recommend one as a good daily walking lens.

I did a great deal of research before buying this lens. I own a Canon 20D and a Canon 30D and use Canon's 17-75mm and 85-300mm IS USM lenses. However, I hate changing lenses. Tamron's 18-250mm lens is a 'one stop shopping' lens. It compares favorably with both of my other Canon lenses in terms of image quality but it spans a focal range that is unique. Some would call it a 'walk around' lens. That's a good term because you need carry no other lens unless you have a special need. I did not call the lack of image stabilization (IS) a disadvantage because if you need IS you would not be considering this lens. I have not found the lack of IS to be a disadvantage, since you can compensate by using the appropriate shutter speed. If you need to crank out to 250mm just kick up the shutter speed to 1/500th second unless the light is too low.

Tamron provides a 'lock' to prevent the lens from extending on its own when hanging from your neck by the shoulder strap pointing downward. I have not found this lock to be necessary. Zooming is anything but loose. It has a firm feel but does not slide on its own.

After several months of use and several hundred exposures I am still very happy with my purchase of this lens. I seldom take it off and it is generally my first choice for a project. I think any buyer will be pleased with the results obtained using this lens.

Disclaimer: I am a hobby shooter for a couple years now. Main target is my baby daughter, and some scenery/nature and candid shots when chance present itself. Just got this Tamron lens today. I was looking for something to replace my Sigma 17-70 because 70mm is not long enough for face close up on my baby, which is such a pity since there is nothing more beautiful in this world than the natural expression from a baby, laughter, tear, tension, curiosity, cunning, what have you. After much research, I decided to try my luck on this Tamron. I thought of the 18-200 Sigma with VR, but based on my most recent lousy experience with my Sigma 24-70/2.8, I decide to give Tamron a try. I am glad I did so far.

Pro:
Stop down, very sharp all around; wide open reasonable on the wide end (in case you don't want flash indoor), not so great on the long end, but not too horrible. Got a lemon copy of Sigma 24-70/f2.8 (which supposed to be pretty sharp, but...), the long end of this Tamron is somewhat better than the Sigma. My Sigma 17-70 is a gem on the other hand, its long end is far better than this Tamron (not a fair comparison of course, 70 vs 250. But my Canon 70-200/f4 is even way beyond this Tamron on the long end. With Canon Speedlite 580EX, 250mm works fine, but better scaling back. Color and contrast is comparable to my Sigma 17-70.

Very reaonsable AF speed and accuracy under reasonable lighting (indoor, one 40w light). AF is quieter than my non-HSM Sigma as well and seems faster too. At 250mm in low light aiming on polished surface my Canon 350D seems to have trouble focus in spot mode, but switch to AUTO mode using all points, AF works again. Guess at f6.3 under low light it is a stretch for any lens anyway. In short, this Tamron's AF speed is somewhere between Canon USM/Sigma HSM and Sigma without HSM. Its AF on my 350D Rebel tends to hunt more at 250mm. But not as bad as I feared. I managed to shoot my daughter feeding birds on the beach without problems (lots of fast moving targets to cover).

Solid build quality. Far better than the Tamron 18-200 it replaces, which I tried in 2006, very loose and plasticy. The handling is smooth and free of glitch all around, focus ring, zoom etc. Again, its fit and finish fall between Canon L and rest. Sigma EX and regular lens use better quality material, feel more substantial to me (based on Sigma EX 10-20, Sigma EX 24-70, Sigma 17-70, and Sigma 170-500), but the Tamron's action is smoother than all my regular Canon lens (50/1.4, 18-55, 35-135) and Sigma, with the only exceptions of the Sigma 10-20 EX (which is really a gem itself) and the Canon 70-200/f4L. Even though the two barrels sticking out pretty far at 250mm, there is no wabbling whatsoever on my copy. All action are smooth and easy to control, without sudden move or surprises (loose spot etc).

Tamron has a very smart design on its lens cover, got an inner ring one can pinch in to lock/unlock the cover on and off the lens with. This is very important if you have a deep lens hood. Canon 70-200/4L or Sigma 170-500, for example, is next to impossible to get the lens cover off with the hood on. So I end up going around without the lens cover on often times, which is bad for many reasons. Tamron's design is simple and yet extremely effective. Hope Sigma and Canon will follow the example in the future. I've only seen one other point/shoot Kodak camera used the same comcept on its cover. What a pity!

Con:
Zoom creep is a real problem for this one. My first lens to have such a problem in the real world. My much bigger Sigma 170-500 doesn't have problem this bad. This Tamron got a very smooth zoom action but when I am holding the camera in any downward pointing position, the lens will extend, which is dangerous in the fields. So I have to hold the camera with at least one finger push against the lens so it won't creep while walking around (I only use hand belt for my 350D Rebel). This lens feels like wearing my pants without the belt. I suppose I will get used to it over time. Sigma's zoom tends to be too tight and cause sudden movements. This Tamron is not loose or wabbling, but the zoom is just too eager to stick out on its own. The lock is only helpful when the lens is not in use. But for many the very reason one wants to have such a wide zoom is to have the flexibility to shoot at time any where. So using lock and unlock in the field may not fit the use pattern of this particular lens. The best design I've seen so far is the Canon 70-200/f4, the lens doesn't extend at all, so there's nothing to creep!

The lens hood came in the bag is of horrible quality, every time I put it on/off, I am worried about breaking it into small pieces (that is a different feel than breaking it into halves). Canon got the best hood (expensive too, usually sold separately), feels unbreakable. Sigma feels brisk, if you drop it it might break into halves, but still strong and solid. This Tamron? eh! Hope this the exception rather than the rule for Tamron lenses. Local dealers don't carry Tamrons here so I have no other Tamron for comparison.

Wishes - the long end could be better, f6.3 is a handicap, the less than perfect IQ at 250mm in general sure has much room for improvement. If Tamron could build a 18-250/f2.8-4.5 with better IQ, I wouldn't mind if it doubles the price of this one.

Bottom line - this is a consumer grade lens for regular Joes who don't blow up their shots to wall size. So it works fine for what it is. As others mentioned else where, Canon L usually got better IQ all around when blown up on computer screen (the bigger the better, mine's 24"), but when printed on 12-10 (my regular size), the difference really is minimal. I think I hit a gem on this one. Now I can save the Sigma 17-70 for backup in case this one broke. (Canon 35-135 and 18-55 are of lower IQ based on my experiences). This Tamron is definitely good for outdoor day light shots, indoor with a high power flash works too. Only thing is my 350D is not very smart with the 580EX flash, tend to over flash in auto mode, manual setting is tedious (done on the flash, not on camera). I didn't feel the need for IS, IS is uesless on fast moving babies anyway. I tried to use 35-135 to replace 17-70. But I have to miss too many baby action shots. 17-70 on the other hand made me miss too many of her wonderful expressions I simply couldn't get close eough to take. Now this one seems to be perfect for my purposes. Some suggested that using this lens on a DSLR is no better than a Canon Powershot. I tried those big zoom point/shot from Canon/Kodak/Panasonic, etc, in the hope that I'd find a cheap all-in-one for daily quick shots. The results from those are several steps lower than this Tamron/Canon 350D combo. Color and contrast, sharpness, exposure consistency, flash, high ISO, etc. Simply there is no substitution I could find from the point.shot world for my nowadays cheapo 350D/Sigma (not Tamron) combo. 40D probably would do even better. But I am glad I saved the camera upgrade money and bought this lens instead. I did some side by side test shots using the 40D in local store against my 350D in identical condition, the difference is far from conclusive for a $1300 upgrade to me. For example at ISO 1600, the 40D is only marginally better than 350D. The new 9 pt AF didn't feel much better than my poor 7 pointer on 350D under low light if at all, no difference under brighter light. Nikon is boasting some break-through in really high ISOs with its upcoming top dog DSLR, but I'll believe when I tried it with my own hands. Oops, of the topic a bit.

So if you do a lot of worldly mundane shooting and just love doing it, give this Tamron a shot!

Happy shooting.

P.S. the title line was meant to be a compliment - in today's world, very few product actual does as advertized. They usually promise too much. But this Tamron is not a disappointment for me. Far from it. This is my first Tamron. Now I think it's a very promising start...