Customer Reviews

Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Like a baseball player with a decent batting average, some power, a little bit of speed and fairly good fielding ability, the Tamron 18-200 lens won't be an All-Star any time soon because it does not excel at any one thing. But, like that $500k/year utility infielder, this lens DOES provide a very good all-around value for what it is. Does it compare to a prime lens at either end? Heck, no. Is it a good lens to use when you can't carry a wide choice of lenses with you? Absolutely.

I've been using this lens on my 20D quite a bit and have only a few minor gripes: it tends to hunt for AF (especially as you get closer to 200mm), and it's not the quietest lens I've used.

An earlier reviewer mentioned that it maxed out at about 160mm. My own analysis shows that it is short of 200mm, but not by that large an extent; I found it much closer to 190. Still, there's no doubt that these zoom lenses with extreme ranges like this have a built-in fudge factor.

Another reviewer described the problems he encountered when using two screw-on filters. There aren't too many primes that I've used that will avoid vignetting when using two filters. Heck, my 10-22 can barely handle one extra-slim. As for darkening the image - well, you're adding two more pieces of glass to a highly-complex lens assembly... just asking for trouble.

As for the concern regarding blur at longer focal lengths, I highly recommend the use of a tripod. I noticed the exact same thing - blur and lack of sharpness - at lengths over 100mm. Keep the old rule of thumb in mind - if you're shooting handheld, your shutter speed should be no slower than the inverse of your focal length. A 200mm lens on a 20D (or Rebel XT for that matter), is an effective 320mm - I wouldn't recommend shooting any slower than 1/500 at max zoom with this lens - UNLESS you're using a tripod. When I mounted it firmly, I got great shots with no blur.

Keep in mind that you get what you pay for here: the convenience of a wide-angle, normal, and moderate telephoto lens in one piece. If you're shooting professionally, or need absolutely perfect images, then carry the three or four lenses that this would otherwise replace in your bag. But if you want one easy-to-use, satisfactory lens, go for this one. It's a jack-of-all-trades, ace-of-none kinda deal.

I have owned this lens for over a year now and it never ceases to amaze me when I see the photos it produces. Over this last year I have come to learn a thing or two about how to use this lens.

1) If you are going to shoot indoors, or in low light, with a long focal length (like 200mm) use a tripod or plenty of ambient light. This lens doesn't have a built in image stabilizer so you are going to steady the lens with the tripod or use a real fast shutter speed to minimize your hand jitter.

2) Use a smaller aperture. I have found that my best photos come from an aperture of 8.0 thru 16. These apertures aren't great for bokeh (background blur) but they sure do allow you to take razor sharp pictures.

Praise.

Focal range. With one lens you are able to take nice wide-angle shots (18mm) and with the twist of zoom ring you have a nice telephoto lens (200mm) Definitely a good walk around lens for the day at the botanical gardens, museum or amusement park.

Build quality. This lens gives you a nice solid feel in your hands. Give it a shake and it doesn't make a sound. The zoom and focus rings move smoothly without being sloppy. With a lens this well built you would expect it to be heavy. Not so with this lens, it's quite light (which is something you really appreciate after a long day of carrying it around.)

Minimal chromatic aberrations. The lens' three hybrid aspherical elements and two low dispersion glass elements correct for almost all lateral and on-axis aberrations making most of your images optically clear.

Size. At it's lowest focal length (18mm) the lens is small enough to fit into a mid size top loading camera bag while still attached to the camera body.

Complaint?

Well yes, I do have one minor complaint about the lens. Auto focus is slow. How slow? Well let's just say you won't want to try and photograph a two year old on the move. I have found that I can keep fast moving objects in better focus by switching to manual.

I recently purchased this lens for use on my Canon 20D. I was never happy with the lens that came with the camera. I've been very happy with this lens.

Pros:
- Quality construction. The lens doesn't feel cheap.
- Zoom range of this lens is fantastic.
- Image quality is great.
- Internal focusing makes using filters and hoods a piece of cake
- Zoom lock is nice so the zoom ring doesn't turn while stored or carried.
- Price. For the money this lens will give you a lot of bang for the buck.

Con:
- Auto focusing is a bit slow for a moving subject.

My Nikon D90 came packaged with this lens and I've found that this lens can really do it for most occasions. It's 18-200mm flexibility allows for a variety of shooting situations without the hassles of swapping out lenses on the fly. It takes sharp, crisp and clear images and is fully compatible with the D90. However I rated only 4 stars simply because of the fact that this lens does not have the VR (Vibration Reduction) feature of Nikkor lenses. To what extent this may or may not be an issue depends on the person shooting the picture but to me, its a convenience I can get by but would be nice if it had it. So, if you are looking for a lens for your Nikon DSLR, check this one out...Great flexibility (18-200mm) for most situations and good value for the money.

Before purchasing my Pentax K100D, I had for years used all three models in the Canon Powershot S-series of "superzoom" fixed-lens cameras (S1, S2 and S3). I like my Pentax digital SLR a lot, but after I purchased it (and sold my Canon) I really missed the Canon's versatility. I have recovered most of that versatility with this Tamron 18-200 DiII lens, which is good at the wide angle end, good in the middle and pretty good at telephoto as well (I like to shoot birds) and which even provides some macro capability. This is now my default all-purpose lens. It's not the best choice for low-light shooting, but if the light's decent or you can use a flash, this is a good lens, takes good photos, and is a very good value. To do noticeably better than this, you will have to pay a lot more and probably give up the versatility, too.

I give the lens a rating of 4 stars rather than 5 simply because, by nature, this is a bit of a compromise lens. If you don't need the versatility - if for example you don't really need focal lengths over 70mm - then you can get a lens with slightly superior image quality for the same price or even less (perhaps much less if you buy used). The Pentax 50-200 may be slightly sharper in the telephoto range. My Sigma 28-70 F2.8 is faster in its range (the Tamron's max aperture is 3.5). And while it's fine for my needs, this lens deserves to be called macro only in a generous sense. But as a total package, it's hard to beat.

On paper this lens seems to be exactly what anyone would want for their Digital SLR. We used this lens with our Canon Digital Rebel XT. Overall, it was great to have the 28-320 (35mm equiv.) zoom. The size and weight of the lens are nice. But the 2 big issues that ultimately made us send it back were 1) focusing problems and 2) backward zoom rotation (from the Canon lenses) and replaced it with a Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS lens.

Most of the time the focusing was just fine but on certain shots it would really search for a focus. I never did figure out if it was certain conditions or what. The fact that the lens rotation to zoom was backward of the standard Canon zoom lenses drove us crazy because every time you wanted to zoom in / out a little bit, you ended up going the wrong way. This was especially a problem in Sports Mode with the subject moving towards you.

If these 2 problems don't bother you, you will probably like the lens.

By no means am I living on a stack of money so price was very important when buying an all in one lens. Performance was as important as quality and both weighed against price. Each had to be weighted equally. As the Nikon 18-200mm VR cost as much as the D5000 camera itself placed it out of the question. Let's face it, a great deal is $700 for the 18-200mm Nikon. With the Nikon out, the Tamron and Sigma were the only choices but so many choices in these 2 manufacturers lines. Living in the real world I wanted the VC ( Vibration Control) or OS (Optical Stabilization)but knew a monopod would do as well and I like $30 to $40 versus $100 to $120. The Sigma version was very impressive but at a slightly higher price.

Well, the Tamron won! In particular, the Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 AF DI-II LD Lens f/ Nikon w/ Built-in motor, 6-Yr US Warranty. When I saw the $100 rebate offer there was no thinking, just ordering. Most of the New York City dealers utilize free shipping and no tax as marketing tools and it works! As I was going to a Car Show on Saturday I decided to have overnight shipping. The lens arrived at 10 am on Friday(thanks UPS!) and was on my camera in 5 minutes. The lens was $189 after rebate!

This lens will never leave my camera! Walking around the car show I got many different shots from standing in one place. The lens performed very well. Soon I was in the habit of having the lens focus twice and it was worth the extra thought. Later that night when I went through the photos, I could not believe I took the photos. Crisp and clear with varying angles due to the flexibility in zoom. The wide angle end was exceptional in taking engine shots. Wall to wall engine and sparkling clear.

The photos taken with the 200 end of the lens did not show any blur so the VC was not all that important. The monopod search is on with the criteria of a small collapsed size, at least 62" extended and ease of collapse and extension.

All these other reviews can go on about this or that but for ordinary guys like me, it is perfect. After reading all these reviews I was worried but after seeing the photos I took, the ease of taking them, the lightness of the lens (lighter than the 18-55, I think) and the price. I am a happy camper!

For the money, this lens does all that is expected. Of course there are better lenses, but they cost much much more. But remember, it's the photographer more than it is the lens... You can go the same distance in a Honda that you can in a RR or Bentley. This lens is like a very nice Honda, and it takes you where you need to go!

This is a very good choice for anyone shooting Canon Digital Rebels or 20D/30D series cameras, and wanting an all-in-one design that small and light weight.

Although it doesn't give us the overall range of the most common choice for Canon users (18-55 & 75-300), it does give us a broader zoom than Canon offers starting at 18mm, and is considerably smaller than the 75-300 alone. It also has internal focusing (in neither Canon lens), which means filters, like polarizers, won't spin with the autofocus. It also means we'll have a more useful lens hood, which is included ($$$ add-ons from Canon).

The max aperture at 200mm is 6.3, adequate, but not the best we can get in a 200mm that's still reasonably priced (here's were we loose a star). But construction seems very good, and the warranty is considerably longer than Canon's.

If you're looking for an all in one lens, this is a good one to take. Weight conscious travelers who want just one lens to keep on at all times will be happy with this option from Tamron.

Upon getting it, I put it on my 20D, and it hasn't come off since. I took it on a trip thru SE Asia and it worked great in nearly all light conditions. Some focus lag if you start at longer focal lengths, but that can be fixed either by switching to manual, or just being patient.

The long end was good for unobtrusive people pictures, while the short end was great to capture some stunning wide angle shots. It was also sufficiently bright to get some decent handheld pictures in low light. Other pros are the zoom lock that kept the lens from extending when you don't want it. The flexibility of wide angle and zoom without having to take off the lens and risk getting dust on the sensor was well worth it.

Other than the slow focusing, there are few things I can think of that would make me consider switching it other than using the IS lens for low light photography. I'm not sure I'll ever use the lens that came with my camera again...anyone want it?