Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this lens to replace the Pentax 18-55 and 50-200 lenses that came with the K10D I bought. The benefit of this lens is that it means you don't need to change lenses and miss shots as a result, and you get a little extra reach. When you build this much zoom into a lens it means that some image sacrifices will result such as sharpness, distortion, CA, speed. However, with this lens the overall performance is actually quite good when compared to other zooms and super-zooms in the same price range (see Internet professional reviews) and it's significantly better than Tamron's own 18-200. In doing a compare with the Pentax SMC DA 50-200, I found that the Tamron 18-250 is markedly sharper from center to corner at all focal ranges and aperatures. Color saturation and contrast is slightly better, too. Auto focus performance is on par with the Pentax kit lenses and is generally fast and accurate enough for most shooting with the exception of low light situations or fast moving subjects. Although it's not easy to focus accurately in manual mode with the smooth focus screens found on digital SLRs, don't be afraid to simply set the focus ring for the approximate distance to the subject for quick point-and-shoot situations if you have a good sense of distance. At a dark reunion event where auto focus and looking through the viewfinder for manual focus was impossible, I simply set the camera on manual focus and pre-set the focus ring to the distance I planed to shoot for the next wide angle shot. This allowed for fast "hit and run" candid flash shots that came out perfect, even with the lens wide open.

The big let-down I've found with this lens is the CA (chromatic aberration - or purple fringing) which is just a hair short of the point of being unacceptable. In bright sunlght I almost feel like I'm once again shooting with my Canon S3 ( a "super-fringer"), always hesitant to take pictures of those situations where dominant CA lives such as high contrast shots like tree branches with sunlight showing through, shadow details on a bright sunlit building, sunlight reflection off of chrome or ocean waves, even someone's skin in bright sunlight. I had a local camera store get out a new 18-250 Tamron, place it on a K10D and shoot one-on-one with my camera outside. The resultant CA in high-contrast shots was the same, so it's not my lens alone. The CA is the worst at the corners but can be reduced slightly by shooting around f11 to f16. Interestingly, the Pentax kit lenses have significantly less CA. This may be attributed to their SMC coatings. Pentax has its own version of the Tamron 18-250 just released with some believing it's actualy made by Tamron. What would be interesting is whether the Pentax version with SMC coatings will have reduced CA as a result. You may want to wait for the reviews to show up for the new Pentax lens and determine whether you want the Tamron or the Pentax based on the comparative results. Although I have not shot in RAW mode yet, I understand that CA can be corrected for with software when the picture was shot in RAW. I just don't like the idea of investing all the time and effort at the back-end when better lens performance can prevent all that in the first place.

Overall, the Tamron 18-250 is a respectable "walk around" and travel lens worth considering. Just be reminded that you'll need to shoot at ISO 800 or 1600 more often than you might think as a result of the slow aperature performence. It looks great on the camera, feels a lot better and is tighter than the Pentax kit lenses, the plastic has a nice quality texture to it, and it takes impressive pictures (including macro). If the CA was controlled to the same levels as the Pentax lenses, I'd rate the Tamron at five stars instead of four. With the CA issue, I'm between three and four stars, but rounding up to four because of the overall appeal and performance of the lens.

Update (11/21/09): I've had this lens now for a few years and as I have expanded my collection of lenses, I have used the Tamron 18-250 less and less. The reason is that I have grown accustomed to bringing multiple lenses with me and switching to the lens best suited for the need. I have also found that the image quality of this lens is not in the same league as other consumer lenses - actually it's the worst of all my lenses (Tamron 28-75, Pentax 16-45, DA*50-135, DA*200). There's a price to be paid for having such a wide range in focal length in one lens. The only time I use the 18-250 is when going on long bike rides in Europe, and I only wanted to carry one camera with one lens. But even then after looking at the pictures taken with it, I always think about how I wish the picture could have been taken with one of my other lenses due to the overall softness, corner softness and distortion and pretty bad CA's. On the plus side: I only recently discovered that this is not too bad of a macro lens. For Pentax owners, I'd recommend going with the Pentax 17-70 over this lens since most of your pictures will be in that focal range.

I teach digital photography at our local community college. I bought this Tamron lens for my new Pentax K 10D SLR after reading several reviews. I'm not in a position to technically evaluate this lens as professional reviewers can so my comments are from the perspective of a user. I leave to the professional reviewers to test and assess lens optical characteristics and quality.

I love this lens because it allows me to shoot spontaneously. Although I have the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my K 10D camera, this lens is always on my camera. With it on my K 10D I can cover the range from wide angle (28mm) to telephoto (375mm) without loosing time to make a lens change; it's always ready. Coupled with the K 10D built-in image stabilization, I feel comfortable taking handheld long zoom shots down to 1/20 sec and wide angle shot to less than 1/10 sec. For me this is the ideal travel/event lens. It is the lens-camera combination to capture the still and moving images as I did during my grandson's birthday party.

What about quality? Prints are my quality measure and I am more than satisfied. I know this lens is not pro glass but neither does it have a corresponding price. For me it's performance is very acceptable. I also like its compact size and relative light weight. On my K 10D this two and one-half pound total package is easy to handle and carry all day.

I've used both Tamron 18-250mm zoom and the the Nikkor 18-200 VR lens. The glass on the Nikkor is perhaps a little better, but not much, whereas the extra 50 mm on the Tamron is noticeable, and nice. In addition, the Tamron has a lock which prevents the lens from sliding out when carrying it -- an important feature if you're carrying your camera around your neck on a backpacking trip, say. It obviously doesn't have the image stabilization features of the Nikkor, but if you're using one of the modern DSLR's that have it built into the body (such as the Pentax K10D), that's less problematic. On the whole, a nice lens: I'd buy it again.

Purchased this lens as a all around replacement for the kit 18-55mm. Intially it looked pretty good but when I started shooting lighter colored areas I discovered dust specks in the photos. I took a really close look and sure enough under the front lens were numerous (at least four I could see) specks of dust. I went back and looked at some of the photos taken when I first got the lens and sure enough after very close examination there were spots on them also in the same general areas. These were darker photos with broken up backgrounds so the specks didn't stand out like the lighter colored backgrounds. It took two emails to Tamron and almost two weeks before I got a reply and the reply was to send it in so they can evaluate it to see if it's a warranty issue and it will take 3 weeks.

After checking around online I have found others that have had this problem with Tamron lenses as well (I wish I had researched more). It seems that Tamron has a serious quality control issue. I'll be looking at a Pentax or Sigma lens to replace this one and I don't see myself buying a Tamron again as build quality and picture quality seem to vary widely with this company. Picture quality was ok but nothing outstanding. Focus was not as sharp as I was hoping for. For the money (or maybe a little more) there are better lenses out there. Do yourself a favor and read every review you can find on this lens (or any Tamron lens) before buying.

I needed a travel lens for my Pentax K10D DSLR camera - a lens that can stay on the camera through many different photography sessions, and this is definitely the lens for it! It handles my kind of nature photography very well, wide-angle (relatively so), zoom, macro - with clarity and good detail.

Not a bad lens considering that you would have to carry two lenses to do the same. The image quality is pretty good for a lens in this range. I've read three other 'professional' reviews that did more lab type test and they were all pretty impressed with the overall performance, at least they all agreed it was worth the money.
In reference to other reviewers, I didn't find purple fringing a big problem. It is there, but not as bad as I've seen for other cameras. As far as the specks on the lens causing spots in photos, I totally don't see how that is possible. I sprinkled a dozen or so grains of pepper on my filter in front of the lens and couldn't see anything at all in the way of spots in the image. It could possibly happen if light was hitting directly on the lens but this seems more like a dust on sensor or bad pixels problem.
I felt the biggest letdown was the vignetting, especially at max zoom. It was quite noticeable in the corners especially in sky shots. You need to stop down to about f11 before it starts to improve.

I have been an amateur photographer for over 15 years. Bought this lens for my Pentax K-m to save me from switching lenses while traveling. Being a petite girl, it's quite burdensome to carry all the different lenses and accessories abroad, so I started looking for a solution. Originally, I purchased the Sigma version of this lens after seeing photos taken by my friend's Canon T1i, but found issues in focusing with Pentax so it was sent back. I then moved on to look for Pentax lenses. However, they've discontinued their own version of super zoom and there is no 18-270mm available for Pentax on the market yet, thus, the Tamron 18-250mm was the only option left for me. I've had this lens for about 6 months now and I love it. By no means this will replace the kit lens, but it's the perfect walk around lens so far. As expected, the autofocus is slow in low light situation and macro shots aren't as sharp as the kit lens. My only concern is the zoom lock which some other reviewers have noted that it's easy to break and costly to repair but I think this can be avoided with careful use... Can't wait to take it with me on my next vacation abroad along with the 18-45mm kit lens!

Much has been said about this lens. I was going to purchase the 17-270 lens but was deterred by the price. Since I am new I figured 250 was enough and I have been very happy with the lens. It is a good size for carrying around and limits the need to switch lenses as much. I have been warned about distortion at the near and far limits of the lens but have not experienced this yet. Nice lens and fast service as always by Amazon vendors.

I got this lens as a walk around lens, eliminating the need to carry multiple lenses and/or converters. I am really happy with this lens, and love the lock button to hold the lens in place. It has taken very little adjustment to remember to set it and release it to use the zoom.

Pictures are sharp and the lens focuses easily. It has met my needs very well. Please do be aware, as has been mentioned by other reviewers, of the vignetting at the 18mm range. For me this is not a major issue, as I try to frame my pictures keeping in mind that will occur, and to plan for post processing work. Very basic, too - just crop the photo to eliminate the dark corners.

I really like the convenience of this super zoom, and it has been a joy to own.

I find this lens to be an excellent travel lens,and on the Pentax K10D with in body shake reduction,useful even when the light is on the low side.I would recommend this lens highly. I give it a 5 star on the basis of the 14X zoom and the sharpness not found in many zooms of lesser range.