Tamron's new lens offers a 15X zoom range, the most you will find for a DSLR. But do you have to give up too much image quality as a result? I was looking for a lens for travel and for casual shots that could replace my need for both wide angle through the telephoto range and hopefully replace several other lenses that I typically have to bring with me.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this new lens, it did better than I was expecting. The quality of the photos is almost on par as my Canon 70-300mm (but of course not my 70-200 f/2.8) with a much more usable range for an everyday lens. I also tend to have back problems, so the less weight I carry on vacations, the better!
A few negatives: the lens does not zoom smoothly through its whole range, particularly when zooming from wide to tele, and you only have f/6.3 when fully zoomed (common with superzooms). The zoom was nice and tight when I got the lens (as shown in the video) but after a few weeks of use, it creeps pretty badly. The lens hood is fairly small, may not work as well at the 150mm+ range (but nice that they include one at all!) Also a typical issue for super zooms, as the hood has to be designed to minimize vignetting at the wide end. No full-time manual focus, which I don't use enough typically to be bothered about. The focus ring is located at the front of the lens and it's pretty easy to switch back and forth and use it as needed, but this is definitely not a great lens for using manual focus on. Some distortion in images at both ends as you would expect for a super-zoom, the barrel distortion at the wide end in particular is fairly obvious, but correctable in most situations. CA and vignetting on my copy are reasonable for a lens in this price range, with CA most apparent at the upper end of the range. Macro feature is nice to have, but somewhat underwhelming performance and certainly no substitute for a true macro lens. The lens has a nice, solid feel to it, while still being fairly lightweight. I've used the Canon 70-300mm DO lens in the past which was comparable to this in size, but MUCH heavier. The focus is fairly quiet as well, not USM quiet, but considerably better than some other off-brand lenses I've used. As I usually find with off-brand lenses, the autofocus is not quite as fast and accurate as Canon lenses, but it seems considerably better than some other Tamron lenses I've used and not enough to be a problem for casual use.
I give the lens 5 stars, not because it takes the greatest photos you will ever see, but because it is the first super-zoom I have tried that performs good enough that I am willing to use it, as a best-in-its-class lens. It's a perfect lens in particular for any new DSLR owner that can't afford to invest thousands in really high quality and/or multiple lenses, or for someone like me that is often limited in the equipment they can carry at one time. The lack of smoothness in the zoom ring and the creep are the primary annoyances for me, but I've yet to use a long telephoto lens in this price range that doesn't creep, so hard to be really tough on it for that. I wouldn't use it as my primary sports lens (my f/2.8 will do that job far better) nor as an architectural wide angle lens but for a general all-purpose casual lens, it's got a great feature set and well worth considering.
Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras B001DYE1B6
Tamron
Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
Camera & Photo
For the price and what it offers, one of the best lenses in its category
See video on Amazon.com Tamron's new lens offers a 15X zoom range, the most you will find for a DSLR. But do you have to give up too much image quality as a result? I was looking for a lens for travel and for casual shots that could replace my need for both wide angle through the telephoto range and hopefully replace several other lenses that I typically have to bring with me.
Overall, I'm very pleased with this new lens, it did better than I was expecting. The quality of the photos is almost on par as my Canon 70-300mm (but of course not my 70-200 f/2.8) with a much more usable range for an everyday lens. I also tend to have back problems, so the less weight I carry on vacations, the better!
A few negatives: the lens does not zoom smoothly through its whole range, particularly when zooming from wide to tele, and you only have f/6.3 when fully zoomed (common with superzooms). The zoom was nice and tight when I got the lens (as shown in the video) but after a few weeks of use, it creeps pretty badly. The lens hood is fairly small, may not work as well at the 150mm+ range (but nice that they include one at all!) Also a typical issue for super zooms, as the hood has to be designed to minimize vignetting at the wide end. No full-time manual focus, which I don't use enough typically to be bothered about. The focus ring is located at the front of the lens and it's pretty easy to switch back and forth and use it as needed, but this is definitely not a great lens for using manual focus on. Some distortion in images at both ends as you would expect for a super-zoom, the barrel distortion at the wide end in particular is fairly obvious, but correctable in most situations. CA and vignetting on my copy are reasonable for a lens in this price range, with CA most apparent at the upper end of the range. Macro feature is nice to have, but somewhat underwhelming performance and certainly no substitute for a true macro lens. The lens has a nice, solid feel to it, while still being fairly lightweight. I've used the Canon 70-300mm DO lens in the past which was comparable to this in size, but MUCH heavier. The focus is fairly quiet as well, not USM quiet, but considerably better than some other off-brand lenses I've used. As I usually find with off-brand lenses, the autofocus is not quite as fast and accurate as Canon lenses, but it seems considerably better than some other Tamron lenses I've used and not enough to be a problem for casual use.
I give the lens 5 stars, not because it takes the greatest photos you will ever see, but because it is the first super-zoom I have tried that performs good enough that I am willing to use it, as a best-in-its-class lens. It's a perfect lens in particular for any new DSLR owner that can't afford to invest thousands in really high quality and/or multiple lenses, or for someone like me that is often limited in the equipment they can carry at one time. The lack of smoothness in the zoom ring and the creep are the primary annoyances for me, but I've yet to use a long telephoto lens in this price range that doesn't creep, so hard to be really tough on it for that. I wouldn't use it as my primary sports lens (my f/2.8 will do that job far better) nor as an architectural wide angle lens but for a general all-purpose casual lens, it's got a great feature set and well worth considering.
Mary Jo Sminkey "author of cfwebstore"
October 30, 2008
Regarding F/6.3 on this lens at tele, note this Canon 18-200IS - 3.5-5.6. at 200 at 5.6 Tamron 18-270IS - at 200mm it is ALSO 5.6, alike Canon. Thus Tamron is 3.5-5.6 between 18-200. It is only after 200 that it goes to 6.3. WHich is remarkable. Tamron built a lens unlike previous ones that had 18-200 3.5-6.3; this is 18-200 3.5-5.6. This is very important because there is a common misconception that Canon's superzoom lens has better F at tele-end. Not true, it is exactly the same.
While this is certainly true about it in comparison to Canon's superzoom, I am considering it as a negative when going to a super-zoom lens at all versus a dedicated telephoto zoom such as the Canon 70-300mm, which has f/5.6 out to 300mm. This was the only comparison I made in my review, not to the Canon 18-200mm. I do believe this is the best superzoom of the ones out there now...but it's still a compromise over lenses dedicated to either wide or telephoto ranges.
I just purchased this lens and I can't get a picture that is in focus. I get parts of the pic in focus and then rest is not. I'm new to this SLR stuff so I'm wondering if the lens is bad, or if there is something that I'm doing wrong. I have to say I was so disappointed when I uploaded my pics and they all look grainy and out of focus. I went for this lens because of the VC, but I still seem to be having problems. Any info you could give me would be so appreciated! I will look back on this post to see if you respond. Thanks
It's pretty hard to say if it's a lens issue or a user issue without seeing photos and the settings you are using. Certainly if you are not closing the lens down (using a high f-stop) it's expected that part of the picture will be in focus while the rest is not, as it's going to have a narrow depth of field. Also, the lens is not going to effect the grain, that would be the ISO that your camera is using. VC can help with low light photos, but only a small amount, and indoors the use of a good flash is typically a better approach (or a different lens that is better suited for low light). If that is what you are doing, putting your camera on automatic and using this lens indoors, grainy and out of focus is what you probably will get.
You might want to see if you have a photography club in your area, and have an experienced photographer try the lens out for you, as it's definitely possible to get a bad one. You might look for some classes in your area as well for beginner photography...the biggest thing that determines how good a photo is, is not the equipment, but the person behind the equipment!
Thank you so much for the info! I do think it was user (me!) error. I took it to my son's soccer game over the weekend and got terrific results. Like I stated in my earlier post, I'm new to this and want to learn as much as possible. I definitely need to check into some classes. Thanks again!
Glad to hear you are having more luck with it! This is definitely a decent sports and outdoor lens (although definitely nowhere near as fast as my high-end lenses!) For indoor family photos, you might want to consider getting a nice bounce flash like a 430EX.
Thanks for the time and energy you put into this review. Very nice work! Since this is a "walkabout" lens I'm curious about what point the pop-up flash casts a lens shadow into the picture. It would obviously do so at tele lengths, but I'm wondering about wide and mid-range. Have you noticed this effect? I have another Tamron 15-35, and the shadow effect is very annoying. Having to carry a separate flash is a solution, of course, but it negates the convenience of carrying one lens (sort of.) Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
To be honest, I virtually never use the pop-up flash. On those rare occasions that I do, I use Gary Fong's diffuser in front of it which helps to greatly reduce the varying issues with its use.
Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras
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