Camera Lenses

With the advent of the latest 15X zoom lens from Tamron, the pioneer of high power zoom lenses, the high power zoom lens has steadily evolved from a 7.1X to a 10.7X to a 13.9X and now to the world's largest zoom ratio of 15X by combining advanced high power zoom design technologies accumulated by Tamron since 1992. The lens covers an angle of view equivalent to that of a 28mm wideangle to a 419mm ultra telephoto with just one lens, letting the user capture once-in-the-lifetime images of panoramic landscape images or close-up pictures of children smiling, without having to get too close to the subject and without having to change lenses.

User Reviews about Tamron AF 18-270mm f 3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

After many years of serious photography and hundreds of purchases from Amazon the Tamron 18-270 has caused me to write my first review ever. This lens in a marvel of lens tecnology and performance. I currently shoot with a Cannon 7D with 40D back up. As pleased as I am with the lens, the auto focus lags on the 40D but performs perfectly with the improved capibilities of the 7D. I own a number of more expensive lenses but for quality and especially price I highly endorse this product. -- Tamron 18-270

After hauling a full bag of camera gear and mixed lenses through numerous vacations, I vowed never to travel with anything more than a single "all-in-one" lens, body, and flash. I purchased this Tamron 18-270mm "all-in-one" based on the stellar reviews and it's 15x zoom. Sure, I realize it will never meet or beat the sharpness or quality of my primes or shorter-range zooms, but the convenience of using a single lens for nearly every shot imaginable was really compelling to me.

With that said, I seem to have a defective lens. I've looked at some 100% crops on various sites and my images definitely are not up to par. I can only presume that my lens is defective and I will be sending it to Tamron for inspection and (hopefully) repair. Nonetheless, there are a lot of other pros and cons with this lens.

Pros:

*This is a traveler's dream lens. That was really my only motivation for purchase. No more switching lens on sandy beaches to get the right shot. No more hauling 25+ lbs of camera gear on vacations. The 15x zoom is the largest "all-in-one" zoom on the market at the moment. Canon only offers 18-200mm and Sigma tops out at 18-250mm.
*Color representation is really good. The images have a lot of "pop" to them.
*The VR (Tamron's equivalent of Canon's IS or image stabilization) is really spectacular. The image just "locks" in place. Tamron advertises 4-stop image stabilization, but I've found that I can only consistently get 3 stops of IS. No biggie. I also have a 28-135mm Canon and Tamron's VR is much better than my Canon (granted, the Canon is an older design). The lens isn't all that fast (f/5.6+ for most of the range), but the VR and high ISO of modern cameras really don't make this much of an issue. You won't miss too many shots with this lens

Cons:

*Image sharpness is really bad on my lens (REALLY bad). It's so bad on my copy that I'm convinced it is defective and am sending it in for service. Sure, I realize this is a "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" lens; I understand that some softness on the outer focal ranges are to be expected. I understand that lenses of this nature aren't that sharp wide open. However, my lens is really soft all around--fast, slow, short, long. It's a lot softer than my Canon 28-135mm (which isn't that sharp of a lens to begin with). Of course, I never expected 70-200mm f/2.8 Canon "L" sharpness when I purchased this lens, but this is totally unacceptable.
*Reverse zoom (standard in all Tamron lenses). Okay, I knew this when I bought the lens, but it still DRIVES ME NUTS. Most lenses zoom-in when you rotate the lens to the left, and zoom-out (wide angle) when you rotate to the right. For some stupid reason Tamron does this operation in reverse (right zooms in, left zooms out). My brain is subconsciously programmed to use my Canon zooms, so when I use this Tamron lens, I frequently zoom-in when I meant to zoom-out, and vice-versa. Like I said, I knew this when I bought the lens, so it's not a huge issue, but something to keep in mind.
*VR is really noisy. When the VR engages (when autofocus engages on the subject), it sounds like an old slide projector from the 70s. It's not nearly as quiet as the Canon's IS. Again, not a big issue, but something to keep in mind. After 1000+ shots I've gotten used to it by now.
*Autofocus is slow, especially at longer focal lengths. No real surprise here, and it is to be expected in a lens at this price point. I usually shoot static objects, so this is no biggie for me, but if you're looking to do a lot of sports or fast-action shooting from longer distances, this may not be the rights lens for you.
*Questionable quality-control. I've already discussed my experience with extreme softness. In addition to those problems, when I bought the lens, it also had a decent sized dust spec right in the middle of the lens glass. It doesn't affect image quality one bit, nor does it bother me, but it does make me question Tamron's QC practices.

I'll update this review at some point in the future once I figure out what is wrong with my lens. Assuming it is defective and subsequently fixed, I can see this getting a lot of solid use. However, if Tamron tells me that it's working as designed, then I'll most likely try to sell it for what I can and change the review to 1 or 2 stars; we'll see. I only wish Canon offered a 15x lens, but hopefully Tamron will make things right. -- Mixed feelings on this lens; mine seems to be defective

Overall this is an excellent lens. Granted, its not perfect, but its a good compromise. Here are the Cons first:
1. Struggles to auto focus in low light.
2. Image a bit soft at 18mm or 270mm range.
3. Lens creeps when unlocked and holding it lens down, as many lenses of this size/weight do.

Pros:

1. From super wide angle to super zoomed in, can be used for close up pictures of people and then quickly zoom out to catch the action on the field.
2. It lives on my camera about 95% of the time. Only take it off to use my prime lenses for special shots.
3. Vibration Compensation is very good.
4. When you consider the cost of the lenses you would need to fill the roll of this lens, it is a bargain in the 600 range.

Look for Tameron mail-in rebates. They offer them all the time.

-- Best walk around lens for the money!

Note: This review is based on the Nikon version of this lens. At the time of posting this review, I could not find the Nikon lens offered on Amazon. I bought mine at a camera store at about the same price. I can't say for sure if there are major differences between the two versions. The canon one appears to possibly be sharper in focus, but that is just by my impression viewing some examples.

This is my first lens and dSLR camera combo. It was an upgrade from a sony cybershot, which also had a 15 x zoom. I've already taken over a hundred photos. Most of the time I'm shooting at the 270 range for telephoto and macro. Some things I quickly realized: It is not really a macro lens, and at 270 it doesn't quite give me the reach I desire for bird and wildlife shots without having to crop. For my needs I'll have to save up for additional lenses. Focusing in low light is also difficult. I had to switch from auto to manual to catch a shot of my cat in the dark (with the flash). Otherwise it kept hunting and focusing way off. Auto focusing on fast moving objects doesn't appear to be a strength either. The auto focus will try to adjust and readjust. This results in some blurry photos especially if shot at a low aperture. I also seem to always find it at the 270 range when carrying it around. Lens creep? Or am I looking for a greater zoom and just happen to have it out? One thing I miss about this lens, that appears to be on Nikkor lens is the M/A setting. Also the focus and zoom dials seem to be reversed from the Nikon lenses. As a result, coming home from work, I occasionally find myself turning the wrong one when trying to either focus or zoom.

The positives, I've found to outweigh some of these shortcomings but I am still looking for and needing to save up for more lenses. It is versatile, fits in a small camera bag, and covers a great range, just like the cybershot did. The added advantage is the wider angle and the detail it captures with the camera. I can shoot landscapes, zoo animals, birds (as long as they are relatively close), larger insects (smaller ones need a great deal of cropping), flowers, buildings, you name it. For now the "all in one" feature is quite handy and I get impressive shots with it. But if I want to get more serious and get more professional results, I'll most likely have to invest in a range of prime lenses and dedicated macro and telephoto lenses. But for now and with my budget the "all in one" will have to suffice for a few years.

Back to why I don't consider it a macro lens:

The focus isn't as sharp as a macro lens would shoot. A Salesperson at the store explained it has to do with the 3-d focusing, vs the 2d focusing macro lens shoot. From my perspective, the results just look "off", not as sharp and the edges seem to bloom a little if it is something really small. Some of the softness can be easily fixed on photoshop as I've done with the examples I put int he gallery.

Before I forget to mention, one strength at close up: the depth of field. It gives a real smooth bokeh when shot at full 270 close up. (please see example pictures in the gallery) I use this a great deal, so it is great to have on top of being able to shoot landscapes and whatever else strikes my interest. -- Versitle though not really a "Macro" lens