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.