Tamron AF 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens with Built In Motor for Nikon DSLR

I have used this lens for several months on my Nikon D40. A nice lens! The lens is relatively light in weight (especially compared to the newer Tamron 28-300 VR lens, which my wife has on her Nikon), which makes photography a pleasure. The extended zoom range makes this a good general purpose lens .. ie, in most situations is the only lens you need, especially useful when you travel. The picture quality is excellent, even at extreme zoom against a light background, sometimes I find something darker at the edges (not surprisingly). No lens is perfect, but a function of money, it's not far away.

This breakthrough zoom covers the largest range of all interchangeable lenses for digital SLR photography, an astounding 14x wide-to super-telephoto ratio. It is the 35mm equivalent to a 28-400mm on a APS-C format DSLR. And it focuses down to 0.45m (17.7 ") throughout its range in dramatic close-ups. Remarkably compact and lightweight, its sharpness, resolution and color reproduction superb thanks to special Lowe dispersion (LD) glass, high-tech molded aspherical , the latest multi-coating, and second-generation digital optimization (Di II). This is the most powerful zoom lens on the planet and it literally puts the world at your fingertips, delivering sharp flare-free images of beautiful scenery, sports, nature and intimate close-ups of children . it is the perfect all-in-one lens to travel light and catch the unexpected.

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

I have had my three weeks now and have taken several hundred pictures in various conditions. I read all the comments here and on other sites, though both Canon and Nikon before I made a purchase. I hope to compare my experiences with what I read here and on other review sites. My camera body is a Canon XTi.

I read some reviews that complained about chromatic aberration (CA). Yes, there are some at the edges, at some focal lengths and apertures. If you look at test results ([...]) you will see that the lens performs well in the F-6, 7 to F-8. Almost no CA and excellent sharpness. This lens simply want to run best on F-8. So I have taken to using my camera in AV mode at F-8 when I use this lens. Excellent results with no visible CA.

I read some reviews that complained about the "softness" of the images in certain situations. This is due to two things. One is that if you let the camera program, select an aperture you can get a very high figure. At very high number of openings (f-16 +) lens is limited in focus, no design flaws, but by a fundamental law of physics. It is close to the diffraction limit of the aperture. The second problem is that the long focal length for Adaptive Multi-point autofocus algorithms mess up. If you look closely, they can focus on a bush that is 50 feet away, leaving the landscape as you tried to catch out of focus. Blame the camera and no lens. What I have done is to use instead focus on longer focal lengths. Lock on what is supposed to be in focus and then frame the scene. Do it and run the Off position on the F-8, so you do not get high f-numbers and "soft" will not be a problem.

I have read some complaints about slowness and errors in focus. This seems to come primarily from Nikon owners. For me, it focuses very quickly and calmly under all lighting conditions. No problem at all. I took it out on a dark night and pointed it at a star and had a lock on two seconds. I think the problem is more akin to focus algorithms running in the microprocessor in the camera than the lens itself. With my Canon XTi, I could not ask for better performance.

I have read complaints about the "lens creep". There is a tendency for long focal length to extend their maximum focal length hanging, because of the weight of the front parts of the lens. Mine did not, yet. This can be developed in the future. I do not think there is a problem, however. There is a single tab that can lock the lens at the short focal length for transport. During recording, I tend to carry the weight of the camera and lens with my hand on the lens and use your other hand on the body to work controls and points. So, Lens Creep "would not be a problem.

I have read some complaints about inconsistent effect on the zoom ring is necessary to zoom through the entire area. It's true. It takes a little more power to zoom from 70mm to 120 mm range. It is remarkable and I wish it was not there, but I know why that is. Somewhere around 70mm combs in the zoom mechanism go into an area where large amounts of extension occur with small zoom ring movement. Although not desirable, nor is it a problem.

This lens is heavy, especially if you are familiar with the kit 18-55 lens. You get used to and you will be happy if you are a Canon owners. If you're a Nikon owner you may have trouble focusing in low light.

All in all, I am quite happy with this purchase and I will not hesitate to recommend this lens. But to be really happy with it, you need to understand the compromises that are part of its design and how to solve them.

Edit: Almost a year later.

I have had the lens for just about a year and I have taken thousands of pictures. Almost everything I said initially, I would talk again. Two things I would add:

First barrel distortion is quite noticeable in the short focal length. This may be offensive, if there are things close to the edges of the scene to be straight lines (roof lines, highway overpasses, etc.) that appears curved. This is expected with an objective to "fish eye" wide, and so it is with this lens. I've found that this effect is completely removed in a decent photo editing program Gimp or Photoshop. Look in the menus of the tools for lens distortion effects.

Secondly, it is strange focus behavior through this lens on my Canon XTi when you use a circular polarizing filter. You should never attempt to use a single polarizing filter on a digital SLR camera, as they move up the camera's autofocus. But circular polarizers are designed to operate according to the literature. Yet circular polarizer that I have tried to use the camera seems to cause some focus indecision, especially with long focus. Do not expect to be able to use a circular polarizing filter with this lens if you have a camera similar to mine. Of course Nikon behave differently.

Edit: Almost two years later.

This lens has become my primary lens. It is the lens that stays on my camera bag with other lenses in the pockets. It's just a great general-shooting lens.

I have come to really appreciate the optical image stabilization. It gives me an extra stop or two of the field in low light. I would never have considered using an F3.5-6.3 lens in low light before this. But Tamron stabilization works. If the subject is not moving is slow shutter speed handheld photography possible when it never was before, except at wide apertures. Only two days ago I was in Bonnie Arizona shooting telephoto pix of Javelina in low light, which would have been impossible with a different lens.

After a considerable amount of use the lens has developed a tendency to "lens creep" (see above). It is not a problem but it happens. Use the locking lug.

Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens with Built in Motor for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Like the previous reviewer, Y. Fukunaga, I bought this lens last week, and I also use it on a Nikon D300. I agree with everything in the previous study, so I will not repeat it again. The reason that the zoom ring does not move smoothly between 70 and 150 mm is to prevent lens creep, a notorious problem with the Nikkor 18-200, and it is one of the main reasons that I did not get the lens. The Tamron was a very good review in the October issue of "Popular Photography and Imaging," and I am inclined to believe reviews I've read in the newspaper. I have also had very good experience with Tamron 90mm macro and Tamron customer service, which is known to be flexible and efficient.

I bought this lens because I wanted a good walk around lens. I have a lot of walking and often do not want to carry a bag and change lenses. Also I wanted an all-in-one lens to use while traveling. I was pleasantly surprised by the sharpness of the lens for both wide 18mm and tele 270mm and in my view, distortion and vignetting of the lens are minimal and really only seen a little at the high end. The lens may have a more solid feel to it, it traps plasticky, but then it would not be as easy as it is. Even f/6.3 at 270mm is quite slow, so do not expect to use it in low light. VC Vibration Compensation seems to work fine.

So far so good. I can recommend this lens as a general walk around or travel lens with no hesitation. I am very pleased and I am pleased that the third party lenses provide Nikon glass a run for their money. I would like to point out that I bought this lens on October 4, so I want to add or edit this review as I use this lens more.

Update October 15th. The lens started developing lens creep a few days ago, starts at around 50mm. (Lens creep is when the lens will zoom in or out, unless you hold the zoom ring to stop it from telescoping in or out.) I gave it back to the photo dealer today to replace them. Two other lenses, they had the same problem out of the box. The third lens was a little harder so I took it with me for observation. Hopefully, this will not be a recurring problem.

Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras

I like photography, but is not a pro. I look forward to a professional review of this lens to examine the fine details, but no matter how it turns out, there's no doubt this will be the lens on my camera 90% of the time. Size, weight, range and build quality will only allow me to take my camera more places and allow me to see more pictures.

I also own a 20mm 1.8 and 50mm 1.8 Primes and a normal zoom, Tamron 17-50 2.8 VC. The 18-270mm PZD certainly will not replace the need for a good low light conditions indoors or portrait lens, but frankly I no longer see the need for 17-50 VC. With the latest digital SLR achieve good results (even dynamic range) at ISO3200 and ISO6400 even in rough finishing, although a slower lens like this to get stable results (certainly up to 8x10). I can see a bit of barrel distortion when fully wide, but again that is fully corrected in the post.

I take all my pictures in RAW and run all the party through DXO - this process produces excellent results with this lens, but I assume that the distortion and speed would be annoying if I did not make such remediation or had an older body could not do any good HiISO. (Honestly, who performed with the M43, I would default DSLR makers will also produce lenses that explicitly takes into account the distortion correction possible by software. This can make for smaller lenses, but I digress)

Overall this is an excellent, very good lens. Large size and weight, very fast and quiet auto focus also on the 270mm, then indoors in low light ... with easily corrected deficiencies (and, frankly, I get a bit of a pixel Peeper ... even without finishing the pictures are very solid). For anyone who has bought and sold many (non-L, but not cheap) lenses over the years, this is a rare animal keeper. Excellent job Tamron! (Even if you can get me to sell my 17-50VC now ..)