Tamron AF 18270mm f/3.56.3 Di II VC LD

Tamron 18-270mm
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Had I listened to all the negative reports about this lens, I would have missed out on a wonderful product. This is no Nikon lens! But it doesn’t sell at Nikon prices. Without any doubt, this is my primary walk about lens. If I want to photograph something special, I’ll change lenses. PS, my Nikon 55-200 mm VR has not been on my camera since I bought this lens.

Great Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great all around lens. Vibration Compensation just works wonderfully. I can take full zoom at lower shutter speeds.

Tamron lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras

I took this on our 32 day cruise and really enjoyed not having to change lenses all the time. It was the only one I used. I sometimes found it very slow in focosing on objects and had to change the zoom to a lesser distance several times. I did miss out on some photos because of this but I am happy with it otherwise.

Solid for all-around use
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I, like many struggled between a couple of lense choices for my new Nikon D90. The Nikon 18-200 seemed a safe choice but I really was facinated by the technology incorporated in the Vibration Compensation and the 15X magnification. A local pro had just got the lense and couldn’t speak more highly of it for me (who wanted a all-in-one-lense). I decided to take what seemed to me, was a big risk and ordered the Tamron with my D90. While waiting for the order to arrive, I second guessed myself many times. Finially Christmas arrived and the lense exceeded my expectations in every demension. The Pro warned me that there is a stiff spot in the zoom by design. I felt the spot but it was less than the test unit I tried locally. The somewhat slow zoom in very low light is there, but then again I was forewarned that any zoom of this aperature range will have the same hesitation. I found it to be slight. I have used this lense now for two full months and have learned to use it well in all lighting conditions. It is truly a marvel of engineering. Not all of my “risks” have turned our well but this decision has been one I have never regretted. If you buy this lense and are knlowledgable about these minor limitations you will be happy. You will not be able to afford a lense that does all this lense does that eliminates all its imperfections. Truly fine Build and image quality.

Somewhat dispointing
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Very good image quality.

Very slow autofocus. Sometimes it does not focus at all.

Zoom crep when not locked.

Zoom difficult to move in vertical when pointing up or pointing down. It works normally on horizontal position.

Good general purpose lens
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
For a super zoom it is a good lens. If you want a fast sharp lens don’t buy this one or any super zoom. Good lens for general use or “walk around” lens.

Tamron AF 18-270 15 X lens for Nikon
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’d been wanting to get this lens since I first read a review on it, but also wanted to wait a bit to see how fast the price would drop (being an early adopter gets expensive all the time!!) Then an upcoming trip to Germany in November of 2009 made it a necessity for me by then! A family wedding in September clinched it so I bought it for myself for my birthday to use and get used to it on that trip. Although I brought all the lenses I have for my D-60, I only used the new Tamron the entire trip. I LOVE IT!!! My wife and I were able to spend a day and a half at Yellowstone during the trip. We also spent over a day a the Grand Tetons as well as an afternoon at Glacier Park and on the Going to the Sun road the weekend it closed in 2009.

The good- Really great photos! 18 to 270 with the 35mm equivalent of 28 to 420 zoom is a great range. Very similar to my Panasonic FZ-50 but I think the my Nikon is a better camera in most respects. NOT knocking Panasonic!! It worked great for the entire zoom range as well as some macro shots I tried. I REALLY enjoyed not having to stop and change lenses which is the biggest plus of the positive reviews I’ve read and I’ll agree. A great all around lens as far as I’m concerned. I thought the manual focus worked really well also. I tried to use all aspects of lens to get to know it.

Also from August 15th to December 31st, 2009 is a mail-in $[...] rebate from Tamron if you buy a new one, another consideration. Brought my final price to $[...] for a lens that started out at $[...] when it came out! I’m happy!

The not so good- not a lot here but there are a few things with it I’d say be aware of if you do get one (and you should!!!). First I’d say is get into the habit of using the ‘lens zoom lock’ on the barrel. Just a little switch to flick on and off on the top right of the lens, its easy to get used to ‘flicking’ on and off with the index finger. It really needs to be locked when you’re not using it because the lens will slide open to the full 270 if the camera’s tilted down like if on your neck. Had that happen a couple of times before I got used to using the zoom lock.

All opened at max zoom it is a bit long. Wasn’t a problem for me but could be a consideration for you. With A/F on as well as V/C, there is some noise to it. Again I didn’t have a problem with the sounds but they are there and I’d read a few reviews that complained about it. When you halfway press the shutter for focus the lens ‘freezes’ the image just before you take the shot. Actually interesting to see, but could be an annoyance to some people. Finally the weight, my daughter also has a D-60 and tried it but she thought it would be too heavy for her to use on her camera all the time. Not a problem for me at all and I know the little extra weight really helped with some waterfall shots with only a mono-pod, but again, something some of you readers might be concerned about! Also with the lens are all kinds of warnings of flash obscuration if you only use the in camera flash due to the size of the Tamron lens. I didn’t try any flash photos this trip but have experienced it with other cameras so the recommendation is use a hot shoe external flash. Only a consideration if you only have the one lens with you and think you might be taking any indoor flash photos.

The only real lens problem I had was early on the trip and apparently in using the zoom so much and with a new lens it would twist and slightly shift and not make good contact with the camera body, so I’d be all ready to take a shot and push the shutter and the auto focus wouldn’t work or nothing at all would happen! It would show blanks or question marks in the view finder for shutter and aperture settings and a couple of times said ‘lens not connected’. It was very frustrating until I figured out what the problem was. Since then it hasn’t happened, I guess I ‘broke it in’ with all the twisting for zoom for all the photos I took.

Other accessories I recently bought for my camera for this trip and upcoming ones, four 4GB SDHC cards, and from Amazon, this lens, two extra batteries, a 72MM three lens filter kit, and a way more comfortable neck strap. Let’s take a trip and take some photos!

Tamron Zoom
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am very happy with this lens overall. It is a little slow and difficult to use autofocus in low light situations however. It is easy to switch to manual focus to overcome though. The overall quality seems very good and it takes good clear crisp photos.

Sigma…cheap, Nikon…pricey, Tamron…YES!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I tried every lens worth trying on my Nikon D5000 looking for a single lens for multi-purpose use. If you are a real wedding photographer or genuine professional photographer you will not be using this lens or a Nikon D-series camera anyway. But for the 90% of Nikon owners who use their cameras on vacation, family shots, and amature shooting for fun…this is an outstanding lens!

Sigma is a less expensive lens because it is cheaply made and the picture results are less than satisfying. Nikon lenses are good, but for the best bang for your buck you cannot beat this Tamron lens.

I was an Air Force photographer for several years and then a wedding photographer until I grew weary of whining controlling mothers of the brides. Photographer is just for fun now so I bought the D5000 Nikon for traveling and wanted a single lens because there is nothing more frustrating than lugging around a camera bag with 2 or 3 lenses when hiking around on vacation.

All the “cons” listed in the other reviews are not very much different than what you will find with the Nikon lenses and certainly worse on the Sigma. If you want to go cheap and don’t care about photo quality, then go Sigma. If you are a name brand kind of person, buy the more expensive Nikon, but if you want great photos from one lens at a decent price…you cannot beat this Tamron…and with a 6 year warranty no less!!!

Poor Low Light Autofocus
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I was shopping around for an all in one consumer grade lens. After a lot of research, I settled for the Tamron 18-270 and Nikon 18-200m. Both the Tamron and Nikon lens, have both very high quality look and feel. Out of the box, bought didn’t have the lens creep and Tamron has the lens locking mechanism. I tested this using a Nikon D80 and D40 camera body. When I tested on an outdoor sunny environment. The performance of both is stellar. Shots were sharp and have nice colors. Autofocus on both is speedy and focused. VR and VC works really well. In the outdoor environment, I would give a plus for Tamron. The extra 70mm is really helpful.

In an indoor environment, once its low light. The auto focus of the Tamron goes haywire, I can only get focus 1/3 of the time. For candid shots the Tamron is not very useful as I have to press the shutter a few times to get focus. The Nikon on the other hand, is more responsive and get focus better then the Tamron.

After 3 days of testing I returned the Tamron and kept the Nikon. I really loved the extra 70mm. However the auto focus problem of the Tamron is a deal breaker for me.

Very good for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I recently purchased this lens as a ‘go anywhere’ lens. The feedback already provide by others was very helpful and for the most part accurate. I must admit though, I have not noticed difficulties with it focusing (per some of the other feedback) even in low light – in fact I tested it some and seems to work fine. In very very low light, I had to take it into MF (this is focusing on distant objects) – I will be testing this more over the next few days. Yes, the lens slide is a pain but I suggest you get used to using the lock when carrying the camera around. Also, the zoom could be a little smoother, but hey, you get used to it. The build quality seems great and I rate it higher than the Nikon lens that came with the camera. For what its worth, it is made in Japan. I also like the internal focusing compared to the Nikon lens. I must admit I’m no expert, but for me, this seems like a good buy.

This lens is horrible
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I returned the first lens I got, and requested a replacement thinking that I just ended up with a bad lens the first time. The second lens I received was worse than the first. The only reason I gave this lens a 2-star review is because when it did finally focus an dtake a picture, the quality was astounding. The focusing was way too slow, I missed several shots in bright daylight, and I couldn’t shoot multiple frames because it couldn’t handle it. I am shooting with a D80, and have no problems with any other lenses I use. I recently sent my second lens back and bought the Tamron 17-50. I don’t have the zoom, but it’s a much faster lens, and I am looking to buy a zoom to replace the 18-270 that wouldn’t work.

Gave Up After Two (2) Returns
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I,too, read the nice reviews of this ‘super zoom’ compared to the Nikon 18-200.

My experience is mainly with quality control, as the two models I purchased had to be returned.

The first, on my Nikon D300, continued to prompt access to the CF card, even when the D300 was powered off. This is a problem that has been noted elsewhere, leading to a drained battery if not noted in time.

The second had a ‘hitch’, out of the box, at 70mm. That is, as you zoomed ‘down’ (i.e., 90 towards 18mm) from any setting higher than 90 mm, there was a firm and audible ‘catch’ at 70 mm. Definitely within the lens – this occured while off the D300 – I was tempted to push past it, but did not for fear of damaging the lens.

If I backed off 70mm by about 10mm, e.g., when from 70mm back to 80mm, the catch would release and I could zoom towards 18mm.

So, two tries, and you’re out!

BTW, who sets the list price (almost $1200) on a lens that retails everywhere for about $600?

Do not buy
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This lense is such a disappointment. The zoom is stiff and it is very difficult if you need to zoom in quick to take a shot. Major lense creep and it’s noisy. You can hear the motor working. I can’t believe others gave this a 4 or 5 stars.

Great zoom, but the slow focus kills it
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Got this lens two days ago, and yesterday went out for a hike, eager to try it out. Must say I’m very disappointed.

In relatively low light (in the shade for example, or indoors) the lens takes forever to focus (I couldn’t believe the 5-8 seconds quoted in another review but it’s true!), and sometimes doesn’t focus at all. It also seems to happen more at certain zoom levels — around 50-80mm, and around 180-200mm.

The images, when I finally imported them, are uniformly fuzzy. Not a single crisp image amongst about 220 that I shot. Sure, that might be the photographer’s fault, but I haven’t had this issue with either my 50mm prime, or Nikon’s stock 18-135.

I’m returning this garbage and getting a Nikon 18-200.

Tamron did a good job!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
before i bought this lens i had a 180mm tamron 1:1 macro ,18-55mm vr and 55-200mm vr nikon i dont have the nikons anymore because i sold em on ebay because i bought this!

i also was thinking about getting the 70-300mm vr for nikon but them i thought about it some more. why would i want to get 3 lens when i could get almost all of them in ONE. so why not a 70-300mm?? because sometimes you may be in awkward situations where someone may ask for an picture like in a car. but you cant because its at 70mm. so the camera would just go blur freezing and wont let you take the picture because your too close.

SO whats the soultion to this?

ALL ROUNDERS.

ANYWAYS

first lens i was thinking of before getting this was the great nikon 18-200mm vr lens but an wall was keeping me from getting it. the price…

for 700 dollars its just seems too expensive to me. but is there another lens that also have this *image vibration stabilizer reducer” well doing some research i found that that tamron had recently made a VC which is essentially the same thing as the canons is, nikons vr, and simgas os. and this lens was 70+ more mm compared to all its rivals. also this lens was 100 less than the nikon and + i bought it on a mothers day week which means another [...] rebate sooo i save [...] compared to the nikon 18-200m.

i mean its not SUPER perfect in EVERY single way because there is draw backs.

1. lens creeps

2. the vc is abit loud.” not soo loud that it would scare your pet away” but loud that you notice.

3. annoying indoors at low light. because it just cant focus. so you may miss the PERFECT moments.

4. sometimes autofocus focuses on wrong spot of leave the main object or person abit blured where you dont want it. like the face.

5. further zoom = less sharp

6. further zoom = vc less stable alittle.

and thats kind of about it. but these things ARNT that serious. i mean i heard that the nikon 18-200mm also has lens creep, its unsharp sometimes,

and all rounders always suffers from the futher zoom less sharp.

but here are the GOOD things about this lens

1. its light

2. compact.

3. Super high range.

4. VC REALLY WORKS!

5. “if taken good and the autofocus focus on right thing” VERY SHARP!

6. a great all rounder.

yes there are cons but the pros is what matters to me.

a image vibration stabilizing thingy that works, sharp images, wide and zoom, and cheap. and yes the 18-55, 55-200, and 70-300 could focus faster and more accurate but its 3 seperate lense and that 20 second switching lens may cost you a GREAT picture. and its a HUGE burden for you, your bag and your camera. so for me ALL rounds is the solutions (for me at least) seriously i had GREAT images with this lens even though some images i took where unsharp because the autofocus is funky. there is still no way i could just give this lens a bad review due to it. you must know whats the lens weakness are and find a way to over come it. the image is less sharper at 270mm but with more shots i took im confident i could over come the problem soon and of course there is the always dependable Manuel. so it may not be the perfect all rounder but with some practice and effort this lens will make a huge smile on your face. like mines. so its quite a challenger to the 18-200mm vr nikon.

Great Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just got this lens to replace the 18-105 kit lens on my Nikon D90.

I tried a Nikon 70-300mm and returned it the next day. Too big, heavy and poor AF for my taste.

Pros:

Smooth, fast AF. Super quiet. VC works great. Great build quality.

Cons:

Sticking/friction between 70-150mm, but it’s better than getting lens creep.

Bottom line: Highly Recommended!

great all-in-one
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Certainly there are limitations but this is, after all, an all-in-one. For what it was intended, there is no better lens, certainly none which give you the range, appx. 27-405 on a digital slr. Add exceptional VR, a barrel lock for holding the lens at its shortest length, where it will then stay when you sling it over your shoulder attached to whatever body it’s affixed to and it’s a no-brainer.

Recommended – with reservations
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens two weeks ago to pair with my Nikon D-50. The zoom on it is impressive. I have taken some excellent pictures with it. However, it does suffer from the following (at least with my Nikon D-50):

*some lens creep (you get used to this minor annoyance).

*failure to gain autofocus lock in low light conditions past 60mm.

*failure to gain autofocus in outdoor bright conditions at or around maximum 270mm zoom.

You will definitely miss some great photos if you try to zoom past 60mm indoors and capture your kids blowing out their birthday candles. If you stay below 50mm to 60mm indoors you should be fine with action shots. I would not worry much about outdoor shots. You will be fine with this lens outdoors. Since I have learned to compensate for some of the deficiencies of the lens, I have decided to keep it because I think its pros outweigh its cons. I have also used the Nikon 18-200 VR lens, and this lens takes as good or better shots. However, the Nikon does a better job of autofocusing in all conditions.

D90 user and having fun!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this Tamron lens based on a prior 18-200mm Tamron lens for my D70. As predicted, it works wonderfully. So far, any “issues” have been with me and my jitteriness!

For the price, it was a normal deal. What really drove me to by it from Amazon was the fact that it was Tamron USA and the warranty (7 years!) was part of the deal. Ebay sellers might have it for less, but they charge shipping and they could be grey market lenses.

For the price (as compared to the 18-200mm Nikon VRII) it was a better deal all the way around. The VC mechanism does let me shoot about 2 stops slower, which helps offset the speed of the lens in lower light conditions. I can’t personally get 4 stops because I shake too much and the lens does has a bit of a hard time compensating for me.

The lens creep from 70-150mm is actually mixed blessing. My old 18-200mm Tamron would just extend out with just a 45 degree attitude. This lens does have that “stopping” action, which helps a lot to keep creep reduced, but it can impede me zooming in without some effort. If you can overcome that issue, you are gold!

Overall, this is a fantastic lens! 5 stars! Cost, quality, ease of use all make this a lens that a non/semi- pro user can do the job with and not spend around $900 for a Nikon brand lens.

Wonderful lens!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I just got this Tamron 18-270VC lens a few days ago.

My D300 and 16-85VR work well, and I needed a telephoto zoom.

I chose this lens from Nikon 18-200VR, 70-300VR, Tamron 28-300VC,

and 18-270VC. This focal length range attracts me, because I mainly

take photos of my son. I usually don’t have enough time to

exchange lens.

Pros;

1) Great focal length range. Multi-purpose walk around lens.

This covers 27-405mm on Nikon DSLR with APS sensor.

2) VC works very well. You can notice that a view through

finder looks “completely stopped.”

3) Small size and inexpensive price.

4) Made in Japan

5) It has a zoom lock mechanism. No zoom creep is found at

both wide and tele ends even if the lock is off.

6) Easy macro.

Cons;

1) Not Nikon.

2) Zoom ring doesn’t move smoothly between 70 and 150 mm.

(This may work for no zoom creep, though.)

3) Apparent distortion and moderate vignetting at the wide end.

4) AF speed is slow at low light condition.

In conclusion, the Tamron 18-270VC is one of the best lens for

everyday walk-around lens. Nikon 18-200 is still a strong competitor

against Tamron. The 70mm difference of the focal length

between Tamron and Nikon may not be a big deal for some people, but

when I compare these on APC sensor, the difference becomes 105mm

(equivalent to Nikon 300mm and Tamron 405mm at the tele ends.)

If you don’t have 18-200VR, it’s a good idea to add this lens to

your candidates. Highly recommended!

Great but slow
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens is one the best lens used at capturing color and clarity. But, the autofocus is just too slow for my patience.

Not as smooth as a Nikon lens
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
The lens has great range, going from 18-270mm, BUT it didn’t move smoothly through the range and didn’t feel as well made as a Nikon lens, so I returned it.

awesome product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
this lens is awesome in any sense of the way. it’s perfect for zooms & closeups. it’s also perfect for traveling since you don’t have to carry multiple lenses.

Best super zoom
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I got the Nikon mount and feel this lens is a better choice than both Nikon and canon 18-200 except focusing speed but it is not really bad at all. Its VR is exceptional even at 270mm.

There are unit to unit variations but given a good copy this lens is as good or better than the above in resolution and distortation. CA can be noticeable but it is software correctable.

Built quality is average and zoom has creep with a notch around 100mm.

My shots at 270 handheld are very respectable and sharp even compared with my better and more expensive lenses that I have.

What you miss here is edge softness and CA but in every day taken pictures you will not see it unless you pixel peep. Good lens overal.

Tamron Glass Is A Gamble
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I bought this from Amazon and decided to take a chance and try and save a little money. From the reviews I read on here I found it was about a 50/50 chance at getting a good lens, and thought (well it’s $600 it cant be that bad, right?) so I decided to give it a try. That was a major mistake. The quality of the lens felt very cheap, if you’ve ever noticed a cheap quality toy made in China, it was kind of like that. I’m not saying stuff in China is bad, because there are always good and poor quality items that come from anywhere products are made. The quality of the color in the photos were shotty, I’m not sure what you would call it but color didn’t look good. The upper left corner of the lens was creating a fuzzy blur on about 50% of the photos taken. With the lens attached to the body, every time I would tilt the lens at a forward angle to get a shot, the lens would creep out fast, all the way with a loud clank, and as far as I’m concerned NO $600 dollar lens should do that. This lens is not worth more than $300 at best. The VC seemed to work ok and you can see it work, All in all just save yourself a headache and save a little extra for a quality lens, it was only $200 more for the one I ended up getting. As far as I’m concerned if your paying $500 or more for a lens, it should be of good quality, producing good images, $500 IS a lot of money.

Amazon customer service was terrible, I really wanted to give this lens a chance, so I called Amazon and explained the problem and to see if they could overnight me a replacement. They were going to do it but then all of a sudden they started acting like I was scamming them and said they could not find my address on file anywhere, (WHAT!?!?), I am an Amazon Prime customer and have been buying from them for years and all of a sudden they can’t find my address!? And then they didn’t want to send me a replacement, they said they could only offer a refund after I sent it back to them first and they would refund the shipping to me, (that was a load of garbage). I needed this for a party I was shooting, paid extra for overnight shipping and Amazon blew it and it caused me a big headache that I should not of had to deal with. They tied my money up for 2 weeks, the shipping cost to send it back was $20.65 and Amazon would only give me back $6.11. I had to get a small loan to purchase another lens for the party I was shooting because Amazon tied up my money and would not send ma a replacement. There’s a little more to the way customer service was but I won’t waist anymore of your time

I enjoy purchasing items from Amazon and will continue to do such, but I will NEVER – EVER buy a high end item from them that is important to me. I can only imagine what would happen if you had to ship a TV back to them, LOL. I ended up purchasing the Nikon 18-200mm VRII from a local photography store for around the $800 price range and actually was a little less than it was online. I am extremely happy with the Nikon lens, it was like night and day difference.

1. Lens Quality – Poor

2. Lens Creep – EXTREMELY Poor

3. Customer Service – Poor

I wish I would have listened to the people on here about how bad it is, as they were right. I was very upset about this transaction and did wait over a month before I could do this review, for a cool down period…

Save yourself the trouble and move on.. Hope this helps your decision and good luck in your searching.

good lends but too slow
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I got the lens last week. I tested it on D300 and D40x. The focus through focal length range 70 to 110mm was slow and sometimes just didn’t focus. I had to change focal length inorder to focus. this performance got worse with dimmer light conditions. The whole purpose of VC is defeated since it can’t focus fast enough to capture moving objects. When it did focus took great pictures they were good balance of contrast and soft tones.

I returned it on the same day and got the Nikon 18-200 R lens. what a world of difference. Plus it was hard to move through the zoom.

Tamron AF 18-270mm VC – a great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I hesitated about ordering on-line after reading about the zoom-creep and the slow focusing under poor light conditions. I bought the lens locally where I could easily return it if there were problems. I have never been happier with a lens. The photos have been very sharp throughout the range of focal lengths. I am using it with a Nikon D60 which I bought to use as a lightweight SLR/Lens combo. I have not found zoom creep too be a significant problem.

Having used other (Nikor) VR telephoto lens, I knew that auto-focus could be slow under poor light conditions. This can be frustrating if you are trying to capture an action with quick shots.

The solution has been simple and has helped me to get better photos than if I was using auto-focus. Turn the VR switch to the on position, and turn the AF switch to the off position. Simply, focus the old fashioned way. I zoom in on the subject and adjust the focus so the subject is in sharp focus. Then I zoom back to compose the photo. When I hit the shutter release, I get an instant exposure, under the poorest light conditions.

By using manual focus, I have regained control over my photos to a degree that was never the same when using an auto-focus lens. No longer is the lens focusing on some far away object when my subject was off center in the composition. All of us would be better photographers if we quit depending upon auto-focus to do all the thinking for us. It never knows exactly what we are trying to do.

Best All-in-one Lense
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great lens, VR works perfect. Pictures are sharp for amateur standards. I tried Sigma 18-200 OS and Nikon 18-200 VR before this lens, and Tamron’s super zoom and VR are better than Nikon, colors are better, IQ and sharpness better than Nikon as well. AF is slower than Nikon. Sigma is the worst (stay away). This is not a pro lens, and for it is consumer target, it is the best lens around. Very compact, and lets you take dim light 270mm pictures with it is state of the art VR. I am using it with my Nikon D90. AF can be a little slow and hectic in extreme low light conditions, but otherwise as good as Nikon. Did I mention that it is very compact and weighs less than a pound.

Very nice all purpose/all around lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have 2 of Nikon’s finest lenses that give me from 24 to 200 mm… I was looking for a single lens that would cover what these 2 Nikon lenses do. Also… the larger of the 2 Nikon lenses is just that… LARGE. I am an avid outdoors photographer and found the Tamron lens to be very adequate for my purposes, and gives me the added range of 18 to 270 mm. All 3 lenses are Image Stabilizing. I agree with previous reviews in that the lens is a little more firm when moving it up to about 150 mm and that if will creep if left unlocked, which the lens does have a nice locking in the 18mm position. I took photo’s with all 3 lenses and the Tameron held it’s own when compared to the Nikon’s… I won’t sell my Nikon’s because they may be better in some cases, but the Tameron is the lens that is attached to my Nikon D-70 for general all around photo’s

Great if you want to use just one lense!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am pleased with this lense. The 15x zoom is perfect for me since I hate to change lenses. It is just a tiny bit slower focusing than my Nikkor 55 to 200, but overall it’s a great lense. The zoom seems a little stiff but I have got some terrific pictures with it and am very happy I bought it. I highly recomend it! (You’ll get a good buy on amazon, too.)

An efficient long zoom
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I wanted to bypass the kit lenses supplied with the Canon d500/T1i. Im my film days I shot a Canon AE1-P and my standard lens was a nice 28-80. I grew to like the extra wide lens and found that most of my indoor shooting was at the extreme wide.

This new Tamron 18-270 gives me the same wide shots for indoors. Although only f3.5, the VC vibration control does a great job in steadyung my shots. It works even bettter on the long side. Ishot the moonrise last night and set the stopped dow the aperture and then compensated for the dark shot and w=swithced my metering to center spot. I shot full telezoom 270mm (equivalent to a 432MM lens) FREEHANDED and got wonderful full detailed images of the cratered surface. Even with a not so bright f5.6 she VC gave me completeely jitter free images. I LOVE it.

This new 15x lens gives the “punch” that the bridge camera superzooms offer, but with superior optics on a full manual DSLR. I also carry the Canon efs 50MM f1.8 prime for instances when I need to shoot in low light, but my primary walkaround lens will be the fantastic new Tamron 18-270.

Note – it is a large lens. I switched over the old glass uv filter from my 500mm mirror telephoto. At 72mm I thought that was big – the TAmron is large to carry all day. You will need a nice big holster to carry it. I found the stealth series case logic available here on Amazon to be Caselogic XNSLR-1 SLR Camera Laptop Backpack (Black) perfect for the task.

Very bad autofocus when zooming
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Under low light condition (normal indoor lighting) the AF is very slow and sometimes cannot find the focus. In the latter case, it oscillate about the focus position. It can keep on oscillating like this maybe forever. Such situation is very easy to find for demonstration.

Actually, since I bought new both this lens and a D300, I was wondering whether it was the body or the lens which was the problem. After much time surfing the web and comparison with cameras in demonstration in shops with different lenses, I find the problem is the lens. I did notice that the lens in the shop was working a little better but also had the same behavior (the shop was well lit maybe).

The problem is that the AF behavior happens very often indoors. I missed a lot of pictures because the event I wanted to capture was over by the time and if the AF worked. I also often zoom a little indoor in order to avoid the shadow created by the lens when using flash. Since the AF issue is mostly when zooming, you see the problem. Struggling for the focus during almost every shots brings me stress. Of course, using the manual focus is a solution, but it also takes time. If it is technologically difficult to build a good AF for this lens, then tamron should clearly state that in its specification… but this would not be good for the business of course.

Please let a message if you have info about the AF issue. If this is a defect of some lenses or if it is normal. Thank you.

New Temron Lens, Same Old Problems
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
The range this lens covers is great, but Tamron still has not learned to make a zoom that works smoothly and does not extend by itself. And, the little fingernail tab used to hold the zoom closed is hard to work and a pain in the you know what. When will they ever learn to use a tendency catch so one does not have to pick at a little tab while missing an important shot?

Better go for a lower spec if you can.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens for Canon DSLR Cameras

I’d like to add to the other review a significant design “defect”. When you use a built-in flash you will experience vignetting at the bottom end of the picture.That’s when shooting indoor and with close subjects. The briighter the subjects the stronger the vignetting. Moreover, if you put the hood on the lens forget about using the built-in flash. I also guess if you put UV filters, polarizing and so on on those lenses vignetting can only get worst.

Indoor shooting is not recommended for these lenses, I’m sure you will get lots of vignetting, as I did.

Lens creep implies that you always use both hands to handle the camera. Don’t forget, if you have 58mm filters you will have to buy new 72mm ones.

In low light you’d better focus manually unless you “have time to waste”.

Try before you buy!

My new favorite lens.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am absolutely happy with the Tamron 18-270mm lens, despite some imperfections. I haven’t experienced the lens creep described by other reviewers, but the zoom action is very uneven and anything but smooth. In fact, I find it preferable to point the lens up to zoom in and point it down to zoom out. Autofocus is very slow and unsure indoors. Sometimes, it just won’t focus at all. For these reasons, I rate the Tamron 18-270mm lens a 4 star product instead of a 5 star product.

Now for the good stuff: the results that I get with this lens can’t be achieved with any other single lens. The quality of image is very good and certainly adequate for my nature, sports, travel and creative photography purposes. I haven’t experienced soft focus at any point in the range. I’m getting tack sharp images. Maybe I’m not very demanding, but I find the versatility and functionality of this lens to be worth a little effort on the zoom action and some manual focus. That’s a lot better in my view than carrying multiple lenses and changing them in the field. Remember, there’s really nothing else like this lens out there and some compromises are in order given the groundbreaking engineering. I prefer to judge this lens according to the results and not in comparison to other lenses.

For those of you who do prefer to judge this lens in comparison with other lenses (I suppose that really is the point of a product review), I have been using the 18-55mm Nikon kit lens and a 55-200mm Nikon VR. Both lenses are fine in quality and function, but together they don’t replicate the function of the Tamron 18-270mm. The optical quality is not discernably different. Frankly, the Vibration Compensation (VC) on the Tamron is noticeably superior to the VR feature on the Nikon, although I have greatly enjoyed my 55-200mm VR. I considered the 18-200mm Nikon lens, but am happy I made the Tamron choice for the additional length on the far end of the zoom range.

The lens feels good and is well made. It is largely sheathed in rubber grip and doesn’t seem plasticky. I shoot with a D40 and the lens dwarfs the camera, but that doesn’t bother me. The lens has the internal motor required for autofocus on the D40 and D60.

The lens does exhibit minor chromatic aberration at the higher end of the range. That is not a major concern for me and one would have to go looking for the defect to find it. If I were competing with my photography or asking someone to pay me for it, I might be more concerned and would probably acquire some prime lenses to carry out my tasks. Until then (never), I’ll be very happy with the Tamron 18-270mm VC and recommend it unreservedly.

Good walk around lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Like the previous reviewer, Y. Fukunaga, I too bought this lens last week and I am also using it on a Nikon D300. I agree with just everything in the previous review, so I will not repeat it again. The reason the zoom ring doesn’t move smoothly between 70 and 150 mm is to prevent lens creep, a notorious problem with the Nikkor 18-200 and that is one of the main reasons I did not get that lens. The Tamron got a very good review in the October issue of “Popular Photography and Imaging” and I tend to believe the reviews I read in that magazine. I have also had very good experiences with the Tamron 90mm macro and Tamron customer service which is well known for being responsive and efficient.

I bought this lens because I wanted a good walk around lens. I do a lot of walking and often don’t feel like carrying a bag and changing lenses. Also I wanted a all-in-one lens to use when traveling. I was pleasantly surprised by the sharpness of the lens at both at wide 18mm and tele 270mm and in my opinion the distortion and vignetting of the lens are minimal and really only noticeable a little at the high end. The lens could have a more solid feel to it, it fells plasticky, but then it would not be as light as it is. Also f/6.3 at 270mm is quite slow, so don’t expect to use it in low light situations. The VC, vibration compensation seems to work well.

So far, so good. I can recommend this lens as a general walk around or travel lens with no hesitation. I am very satisfied and I’m glad that third party lenses are giving the Nikon glass a run for their money. I would like to note that I purchased this lens on October 4, so I will add to or edit this review as I use this lens more.

Update October 15. The lens started developing lens creep a few days ago starting at about 50mm. (Lens creep is when the lens will zoom in or out if you are not holding the zoom ring to stop it from telescoping in or out.) I returned it to the photo dealer today to exchange it. Two other lenses they had, had the same problem out of the box. The third lens was a little tighter, so I took it with me for observation. Hopefully this will not be a recurring problem.

Review by Walter O. Koenig

Tamron lense great addition to a great camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have had the Tamron lenses dedicated to the Nikon digital cameras for years. This new one came out and I had to get it for the quality and price. My Nikon D 90 takes pictures that are out of this world with this lens

What a Value
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been using SLR cameras for the last 40 years.DIGITAL for the last 5 years, however I am not a PRO .

Just got this Tamron AF 18-270mm for XMASS one of the best lens I had in long time. works well on my 3 year old nikon D40. works with low light indoors and with the flash . great outdoors shots

I dont understand the one and two stars given unless they dont know how to use the lens or there expectations are higher than the lens its self.or they recevied defective goods

I would recommend this lens over the Nikon do to the price and and the quality.

Very Poor AutoFocus, AutoFocus Locks, AND Watch out for REBATES!!!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I was wanting to upgrade from a Tamron 18-200XR EDO lens to this Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom lens. Big mistake. The AutoFocus on this lens is terrible in low-light conditions. It locks up and you have to turn if all the way off to unlock it again and that’s using the VC “On” state. One of the main reasons you would want to have a Vibration Control (VC) is to allow for low lighting conditions and you can go 2 to 3 F-stops below without shake. But, that just isn’t so in this lens. It locks up.

I made the mistake of purchasing this right before Christmas and there was a rebate if you mailed it in by Dec. 31st. I didn’t get a chance to try it very well – but was rushed to get the rebate in. The rebate posted on Amazon’s site requires you to cut up the original box and send in the UPC code and serial number – both of which are required to send anything back to Amazon. One way to ensure your customers will never send anything back – have a rebate! What a rip off.

Amazon also has a “hidden” restocking fee that you need to be aware of on electronics. They will charge you at least 20% of the product cost for “restocking” if you have opened the product. So I bought this lens that I am not happy with at all. I wanted to return it and get a more expensive Nikon lens. But Amazon would charge me a minimum of [...] restocking feel for returning it – if they would return me any money at all – which they couldn’t tell me over the phone. The woman said that she was sorry but she couldn’t tell me how much “they would give me for a return” on the lens.

I will think twice before ever buying any electronics again from Amazon. And I was a good customer! I’m cutting up my Amazon credit card right now.

A great lens for the casual photographer or prosumer
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m not a professional photographer. I’m just someone who is interested in photography and has been accumulating gadgets over the past couple of years to keep it fun. I bought this lens for two specific reasons; convenience and value. It has a huge zoom range that gives me all kinds of control and options for my shots when I’m walking around and traveling. I’ve taken it on two trips now and it is the lens I use the most each time. When I switch to other lenses, I do it for a few shots and then switch back. To make it even better, the lens is light weight and price friendly. You probably won’t find a cheaper lens that can do as much as this one or is as convenient. For prosumers on a limited budget, this is one of the best purchases you can make for your new digital camera.

All that to say, there is are downsides. It doesn’t take the best pictures. Don’t get me wrong, it takes great pictures, just not the best. When I go back and review all of my shots, I’m usually finding that the shots I always like the best are the ones I took with prime lenses and not the ones I took with the zoom lens. This is probably true of all zooms, so I can’t fault Tamron too much. The Tamron 18-270mm allowed me to get shots I otherwise would not have been able to take with my other lenses. Great product and great warranty, but if you’re a professional photographer you might want to look elsewhere. This is a fun travel lens that is good for convenience and for those who don’t want to buy or carry around a ton of other lenses, but isn’t going to give you very many “wow” shots that you might be looking for if you’re a professional.

Another downside is that it is too slow for low light situations, and the lens (with its hood on) is too large for the on-camera flash. This is a daytime lens.

Not bad for a “compromise”
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Saw this review [...] by accident and decided I’d love the range and freedom from multiple lenses in situations like this week’s visit to Disney World. A lens-specific search on Flickr kicked back some pretty impressive images (especially a long shot of El Escorial in Spain at night).

So far … 500+ images into the experience, I’m more than happy. During a visit to Animal Kingdom Park I was able to get some fantastic shots with my Nikon D90, and the lens, surprising for me, performed extremely well with the camera on the sports mode setting.

The one drawback is the autofocus – slow or non-existent even in not-so-low lighting conditions, and compared to Nikon’s 70-300mm lens (I tried them interchangeably). On the other hand I get the impression the AF does lock on more quickly in good light than either of the 4 Nikon lenses I’ve used. FWIW.

So … though I may miss the extra 30mm in some shooting situations vs. the Nikon 70-300 the tradeoff in mobility and weight in “walk around” situations makes this an absolute keeper – especially with the ability nowadays to correct digitally all the minor aberrations introduced by such extreme optics.

Highly recommended!

Tamron AF 18-270mm lens, okay but not great.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
im a wedding photographer and needed a new lens because I use and abuse my others lol. 200k-300k shots a year arent out of the norm.

ordered this lens (thru Amazon!) because my Nikon 18-200 VR was getting “soft”. i have the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens and that one is awesome, so i felt confident in ordering this Tamron lens.

lens came and first thing noticed is NO lens shade. where on earth can u buy one lol.. second is its pretty big. 72mm at front and 4 inches long and 7 1/2 when extended fully!!

pros:

very sharp except along edges at 18mm. ive only shot at f5.6 so dont know if its same at smaller apertures.

great range from 18 wayyyyyy over to 270!! can u believe that? with the VC (image stabilizer) on, you could prob handhold that length. i havent tried yet because i shoot weddings and have no use for that …. yet!

the VC works great when ive tried it. super steady.. id say better then the Nikons VR.

cons:

no shade (you have to have one shooting pictures on the beach in Hawaii).

when u have the lens extended a bit, then aim camera at floor, the lens will slide all the way out to 270mm!! thats irritating to have to slide it back in after each shot. i have camera on strap and when u put on shoulder, lens will point at ground.

lens doesnt “talk” very well with my flash(SB800). when i shoot at 5.6 flash is pretty balanced but if u zoom out to 100mm+ (f6.0), the flash will be under exposed! shoot in darker room, the flash too strong at 18mm but too weak at 100mm (object only 6 feet away from me)

lens cant grab focus well in low contrast situations. the 17-50 will grab instantly, but this one will hunt, hunt, hunt and wont lock on! ive missed more then enough shots to have to pre-focus important shots before they happen.

exposures arent that great as when using the Nikon 18-200 or the tamron 17-50. the pictures are either too blown out or too dark. i find myself chimping all the time to check my histograms!! shots that i took for granted (using other lenses) like couple on beach, couple against mountain backgrounds are now a challenge!! +++ exposure compensation, – - – exposure compensation +++ on flash, – - – on flash argggg!!

color of shots isnt as true as compared to other lenses. this one comes out a bit greener.

overall, its a very good lens but i personally feel its not a professional lens. I dont need a f2.8 lens in the churches i shoot so I dont have to buy those expensive, fast lenses but this one just isnt up to par. the 17-50 is amazing lens that i would gladly buy again and again. This one, i might sell and buy another Nikon 18-200 VR.

Everything I expected
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I traded up from a Sigma 18-200mm VC lens for the Tamron 18-270mm.

It is everything I expected it to be. I like taking telephoto shots of birds or airplanes in flight and general nature. I also had a Sigma 80-400mm which was great but very big and heavy.The Tamron is better and about the same size and weight as the 18-200 with the extra telephoto reach I needed. The lens works smoothly with out any hangups and focus is fast and accurate. The 270mm gives me the added advantage I was looking for. It is not the 400 and not the 200.It is just right for me. The Sigma was a great walking all around lens. I find the Tamron to be just as good.

I am not a pro. I just like to take pictures. I think this lens is the only one I will ever need in my camera bag.

Noisy lens
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This lens was too heavy for my D60, and I did not like the noisy motor, so I returned it.

Returning it shortly
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Hi Guys – I just got the 18-270 for Nikon (D80 here) and am NOT happy with it. I guess the other guys got better ‘copies’ than I did (my normal luck.)

The Good:

Feels and looks very well made

Quiet – might not by USM, but is VERY quiet, and would be perfectly fine at a wedding. You can barely here it, honestly

6 year warranty (Don’t buy grey-market, and ONLY buy from an authorized dealer!)

The BAD:

Image quality – Virtually all of my pictures are soft! I even set the d80 to maximum sharpness – better, but still not enough. Focus lock was VERY slow (typically) sometimes even taking 8-9 seconds, and this was in outdoor light around 5pm. Even then, the pics are just not sharp. Inside, even with decent lighting, it just won’t get focus-lock in half my pics. Manual focus worked fine, but there is not a lot of barrel movement between out of focus and in focus, so its tough to get it just right.

Lens Creep – its there – if you point the camera up, my lens falls back in. Fortunately, you do have the lock swith , which is great. Also, when you extend the zoom, it feels “ok,” but the resistance changes as you extend it. You can tell there is a lot rotating inside the lens.

Try it, and write write back your own findings. Make sure whovever you buy from has a good return policy. My thoughts are the Nikon 18-200 is probably the right way to go, but I’m going to try the Simga HSM OS 18-200 just cause the price is $200 bucks less. Good luck.

UPDATE:

I have now compared the Sigma 18-200 vs the 18-270. IMMEDIATELY, I noticed much quicker focus-lock (at any focal-length) with the SIGMA, and upon viewing them on the PC, much sharper results. I’d have to try another 18-270 to be sure if I got a bad one or not, but at this point, my sale goes to Sigma.

Don’t recommend
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Having the same issues as other reviewers mention. More than half the time the lens wont focus and the picture quality is not good at all. Better to spend a little extra money on a nikkor or sigma.

A nice lens, but some compromises
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for the times when it is inconvenient to change lenses and when I want to have a large range of lens options available, say when hiking. Having only had the lens for a short time, I say, so far, so good. It is a perfect lens for hiking. I was able to go from wide angle landscapes to close up of birds far away in trees immediately. It was really nice. The large range of f-stops (which, of course shift as you extend the lens) were very nice, especially that f3.5 in wide angle mode. Also, the Vibration Control (VC) works very well. The lens is not subtle when the VC kicks in, which I consider a positive; it is nice to know when it is ready. Obviously, the lens makes compromises. While this is mostly subjective rather than objective (though I did take some comparison shots), my sense is that the pictures, while very good, were not quite as sharp as the ones taken with my Canon lenses…then again, the Canon lenses did each cost at least twice as much as this lens, and I would have been constantly swapping lenses (and probably missing pictures) as I went along. Having all that capability in one package is worth giving up a little (which, probably only I would notice.) I would not hesitate to recommend this lens and I think people will generally be happy with it as long as one keeps in mind that there are some compromises made to get this much capability into this size package for this reasonable price.

Tamron AF 18-270mm, One of Several Very Good, All Purpose, Walkabout Lenses
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so, I think, is one’s opinion of a camera lens. I’ve learned over the years that lens reviews are helpful, but they are just opinions. Yes, for sure, you generally get better optics with more expensive lenses, but it’s certainly not a guarantee. And for reasons one can only wonder about, oftentimes two copies of the same lens will produce very different results. For example, my friend Sara, who is as nuts about buying (we’re like compulsive buyers) and using Canon lenses as I am about buying and using Nikon ones, has a Canon EF-S 18-55 kit lens that produces images so tack sharp through its whole range that would make you cry.

And so it goes with super zooms, these wonderful lenses that go from pretty wide to very long. If you look at the reviews of any of them, some people claim horrible results, while others scratch their heads, because they’re just loving them to death.

My first superzoom was a Sigma 18-200 which I got about five years ago and I was blown away with what I could do with just one lens. Plus my shots were pretty darn sharp. The lens was more expensive then, than it is now. It’s still a good lens, it weighs a couple ounces less than a pound and if I only could have been satisfied, I’d have saved a bundle of money. Ah well. Anyway, I had an opportunity to try out the Tamron 18-200 as well back then, but I decided on the Sigma. It was a coin toss. At the time I thought both lenses would be good general, all purpose, walkabout lenses. They wouldn’t be as sharp or fast as primes and wouldn’t be as light as shorter zooms, but heck, one lens which went all the way from 18 to 200mm (okay 27 to 350mm in the real world), such a deal.

Both lenses were five star lenses as far as I was concerned, both still are, because they are what they are, a very good compromise. If you’re expecting a lens that will reach out across a dark night and grab a shot of lovers making out by the beach, then you don’t want these lenses, but if you’re looking for a good general walkabout lens, both will suit you and they won’t break your bank.

But they don’t have image stabilization and when Sigma came out with it, I had to have it. So I shelved the Sigma zoom I had, (thankfully I didn’t sell it) and bought the Sigma 18-200 OS and Sigma’s Optical Stabilizer worked great. I got sharper handheld shots in lower light, but they came at a price, almost half a pound. It doesn’t sound like much, eight ounces (7.6 to be exact), but try carrying it around on your shoulder all day long. I really noticed the difference, especially when I was shooting.

I probably wouldn’t have gone to that auction site with my fairly new lens, if it hadn’t been for Tamron. They came out with their Tamron 18-250 and I had to have it. A bigger reach, the heck with image stabilization. Not only could I go all the way from 27 to 375mm in the real world, but I got back a bit over six ounces, the lens was lighter. So now I had two super zooms, which was good, because I go out people shooting with my sister a lot.

So one would think I’d be satisfied, but when the Nikon 18-200 came out, well Nikon optics in a superzoom. I had to have it, so the Tamron went up for auction (because I just loved the Sigma, even though it didn’t reach as far). The Nikon lens focused faster, but not that much faster then the other two, had image stabilization and was faster at the long end and it took great shots, but it weighed more than the other lenses, coming in at a whopping 20 ounces and it was creepy, creepy, creepy and with no zoom lock. The other lenses had almost no zoom creep and they had a zoom lock, which I never used. Very annoying the zoom creep was, still, great shots from a great lens.

Satisfied, well for awhile, then came 2008 and the Tamron 18-270 with their VC version of image stabilization and up for auction went my expensive Nikkor lens. Yeah, I still hung on the my first super zoom, the Sigma. For sure the Nikkor was a five star lens, but a girl can’t justify more than two super zooms at any one time.

The Tamron lens actually weighed a fraction less than the Nikkor it replaced. It was a bit slower on the long end, was a bit stiff in the zooming, but easy to get used to and almost no, sometimes no, zoom creep and it has a lock. It’s just simply one heck of a lens. Sometimes it’s a bit slow to autofocus in lowlight, but still I think it finds its focus faster than I would, but not as fast as the Nikkor.

I should add here that Nikon has upgraded their 18-200 adding a zoom lock. I’ve played with one and not only have they added that zoom lock, but it doesn’t seem to creep nearly as much, but that could just be the copy I used. I should also mention that Sigma has come out with their Sigma 18-250 OS which I was lucky enough to use for a month. That is just one super fine lens. It focuses fast and I think it finds its focus better in low light than the Tamron 18-270. Also this new Sigma has a super quiet motor, though I’ve never really been bothered by the sound of a focusing lens.

By reading other reviews of these lenses, I’ve learned that they are all subject to zoom creep, so I suppose in the main, I’ve been lucky. All of these lenses are very good, at least all of the copies I’ve used. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of them. However, if you go with Nikon, you’re going to be paying an awful lot more. You get a slightly faster lens on the long end and you get Nikon quality, but Sigma and Tamron give quality as well and Tamron warranties their lenses for six years, so they’re pretty confident that they’re building a great product (and now they’re part of Sony).

So through my whole super zoom experience, which one do I wind up using the most? You guessed it, that Sigma I bought five years ago. Like the proverbial Timax, “It takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’.” If the day is bright and I’m going people shooting it’s the one I put on my camera, because it’s light and it’s images are true.

Poor Indoor Auto Focus …
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I agree with the previous reviewer. The lens is struggling to focus indoor (Couldn’t get the focus or takes 5-10 seconds) with the decent lighting conditions (6 recessed lights; 12*15 Room; All lights were lit with full power) where as my other old Nikon lenses (28-80G, 70-300G) takes fraction of a second to focus the same subject with the same lighting conditions indoor.

If the zoom range is more than 50mm, the lens is struggling for the focus. For the same lighting and the same subject, when the zoom is reduced to 50mm or low, then the focus is locked immediately. When the lens struggles to auto focus, focus quickly again one or two times then it might lock the focus but by the time the moment is gone.

I think the lens was designed that in indoors (at home) more than 50mm may not be necessary, indoors are not for action photography or action happens in a very well lit conditions, need a longer zoom when you walk around outside and don’t need to change the lens.

It is a great lens for the outdoor and picture quality is excellent (both indoor and outdoor) comparing my other two lenses. If you are looking for the indoor photography at home and try to capture your kid’s action or need quick auto focus with the decent indoor lighting conditions, then this is not your lens. Other than that this is great a lens.

A Pleasant Surprise
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’d like to start by saying that my lens does not suffer from the “zoom creep” or slow focusing when zoomed in that just about everyone mentions when critiquing this lens. Maybe I’m just lucky, but the zoom feels strong and just stiff enough to keep the lens from folding out/in when tilted up/down (perhaps a little too stiff, but this is much more welcome than creep). As for focus speed, this lens focuses no slower than I would expect (in fact it is much faster). It’s really quite satisfactory, even in moderately low light. It helps (for any camera/lens combo) to make sure you are pointing at an area of contrast the AF sensor will be able to detect. Remember to focus (on a high-contrast area of your subject, in the very center of the frame), then re-frame the shot to your pleasure. The focus is also extremely quiet, though not quite as much as Nikon’s AF-S.

Pros:

- Good image quality; quite sharp given its incredible zoom range (at least as good as Nikon 55-200mm VR, which I am planning on reselling)

- *Generally beats competition in areas of sharpness, CA, vignetting, across majority of zoom range (yes, even the venerable Nikon 18-200)

- Quiet, fast (to lock, generally) focusing; WILL focus on D40/60/5000 etc. For the record, I use a D300.

- Vibration Compensation (VC) works very well! (surprisingly much better than my Nikon 55-200′s VR)

- Excellent value for the price

- No zoom creep on mine! (yet…)

Cons:

- Quite slow (f/6.3) from 200mm on (f/5.6 only takes you to 120mm)

- Too little distance between min and max focus on focus ring, making precise manual focusing a challenge (though I’ve yet to require MF for a shot)

- Rear lens cap not compatible with Nikon lenses (which I found not only weird but annoying)

- No lens pouch/case included, but who uses those anyway?

- Not sexy

- Other cons are negligible/ shared with all lenses in this category

Which superzoom/vacation lens to buy?

Buy the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens if Nikon quality/ brand loyalty is important to you, or if you need the extra light at the end of the zoom range. This lens may also have the best focusing and VR of its competition.

Buy the Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM IF Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras if you’re on a limited budget, and can’t spring an extra $20-70 for the Tamron. Also, the Sigma handles distortion slightly better at 18mm. Other than that, the Tamron just trumps it in just about every respect, including zoom range, sharpness, and CA.

Buy this lens, the 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 if you want longer telephoto, better sharpness, lower CA and vignetting than the competition, without making any major sacrifices or breaking the bank.

Why I purchased this lens: I decided on this lens when shopping for a “vacation zoom” to take with me to Spain and be able to leave some lenses at home/ in the hotel. I decided on the Tamron NOT for its unmatched zoom range (frankly I could care less, I’m more of an ultrawide person myself). I chose this model for its image quality first, features/comparison second. I was very skeptical about spending so much on a Tamron with no experience with this brand, but so far this lens has thoroughly met my expectations. It’s not magic, but I am quite pleased with my decision.

Thus, this lens comes highly recommended.

*I got much of my image quality information from slrgear dot com’s technical lens reviews.

Good value, could be better in construction
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is the second Tamron VC lens I have purchsed. Both have produced good images.

But both have had coupling problems with my Nikon D-300. Basically you are taking a series of pictures and all of a sudden either the auto-focus or the Vibration Control system loses communication with the camera.

I have sent both in for warranty and Tamron processed the repair quickly. The lens have worked flawlessly after the repair.

I like this lens as the 18-270mm range makes it extremely useful in most settings. And while the Nikon equivalent tends to be quicker, the price on the Tamron is attractive.

Great Lens at a SUPER Price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have been serious about photography for the past couple of years after a 20 year hiatus. I own several Nikon DSLRs and lenses by Nikon and Tamron. This is my second Tamron lens. My other, the Tamron Autofocus 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon DSLR Cameras is a great lens at a great price. I was going to an airshow and was going to use my Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameraslens but that meant no wide angle for static displays and family. I have used my [Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens + Deluxe Accessory Kit w/5 Year Extended Warranty but while the photos were OK, there was lots of vignetting (a dark ring around the outside of the picture)against the blue sky.

This lens has the widest zoom range of any currently made. I stumbled across it in a local photo chain store. It has a lock while at 18mm so the lens won’t creep out. This lens has much less creep then my Nikon 18-200. The lens is wider and shorter then my Nikon 18-200. It focuses fast and has no vignetting like the Nikon. I doesn’t weigh alot, has an unprecedented zoom range, takes great photos and is a great value for the money.

Pros

Has a motor so can be used with D40 and D60

Fast Focus

Sharp photos

Low Price

Light Weight

Constant Vibration Control (vs others that do the correction after pressing shutter button)

No Vignetting

Cons

Not for full frame cameras

Slow f speed, limited to f/6 at 120mm-200mm and f/6.3 over 200mm

UPDATE I am reading mixed reviews of this lens by people who have actually bought it (vs many who are dismissing it outright because its not Nikon and haven’t touched one). Some are having great results with the lens such as myself. Others, including a reviewer at DP review complained of its extremely slow focus, something I and others haven’t experienced. I can only conclude its one or a combo of 3 things. First, Tamron has a QA problem with this lens. Second, this lens handles much better on certain camera bodies then others. I am using the D300 with it and its working great. Third and last, some type of operator error. Also, I have started a flickr group of photos taken with this lens in both Nikon and Canon versions to give larger examples of what this lens can do. EXIF data is on the photos including camera body so potential buyers can get a better idea of what you can do with this lens on different camera bodies.

SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO OTHER REVIEWERS
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Used the lens today and it is going back to Amazon on Monday. Directly out of box it had significant lens creep. Very loud lens and extremely slow. I used on a d90 this lens had a difficult time focusing outdoor (missed many opportunities)and much worse indoor. Amazon service and delivery was great.

Lens completely failed after two days
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I was so excited to get this lens. I felt like it would fill a gap I have had with my current lenses. The first day I had it, everything was wonderful. One the second day the AF would just stop working. Turning the camera off and then back on would resolve the problem. On day three, I took four shoots before the wheels completely fell off. I would be shooting just fine and then the settings would change to a 0 F-stop and a shutter speed 4000, a solid black photo. I have always bought Nikkor lenses and now I am reminded of why. I have never had a problem like this with any lens and once I switched my lens back to a Nikkor everything was golden. Such a huge disappointment and a real inconvenience during a large competition. I am returning it now and I don’t even want to try another one. I really rely on my equipment and I cannot have equipment in my bag that has the potential to die.

Perfect Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The lens works very well with my Nikon D50. The VC function is excellent. Although it makes a little bit noise than my other Nikon lens. Someone said that it can not focus in decent light. Yes, that’s true. I tried to use my nikon 55-200 lens in the same environment, it can not focus, neither. In my opinion, this is a perfect lens for travel, and u do not have to change your lens so frequently.

From a skeptical user!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Ok. I recently got a D90 and had bought the 55-200 Nikon lens with it. But I wanted to get a good walk around lens for an upcoming trip through CA & NV. So I finalized the Nikon 18-200 (5 yr warranty) & Tamron 18-270 (6 yr warranty). I had to eliminate the Sigma (1yr warranty) due to significant number of users having their lens go bad in 2-12 months.

I bought it from Amazon last week hoping to keep it or return it for the 18-200 Nikon if there were significant problems. I find that after 400 photos, I see excellent photos and great Vibration Compensation (VR or VRII on Nikon). On low light (maybe 1 candle light equivalent) it takes a tad longer (extra 2-3 seconds) to focus, but I can’t comment about it unless I can compare against the Nikon 18-200.

However I compared the Tamron against the 55-200 Nikon that I already have and whenever the Tamron struggled to autofocus, so did the Nikon under the same parameters. At improved lighting, the Tamron was better than 55-200. The Tamron did better than the Nikon 18-55mm too in similar lighting. I know I cannot extrapolate these results to the Nikon 18-200, but I have to wait until I can borrow it from my friend to compare.

Compared to the Nikon being another three-hundred&fifty more, I don’t know if it is that much better.

I’m very impressed with the build quality of the Tamron lens. Seems well made. I like the autofocus locking speed and pic quality is crisp in most lighting conditions,zoom, shutter & aperture settings. The motor is slightly more noisier than nikon lens, but it does not even bother me. I think is is something that will bother someone who really wants to find fault with this lens. I do feel that people with D90 & D300 have great experiences with this lens while d80 and d200 and older bodies, people complain. So maybe that might be a factor in less stars? I have another 28 days more to evaluate this lens or exchange for the Nikon. I will come back and edit this review if I find anything to the contrary. But so far it is a great buy and looks like a keeper. I reviewed thousands of pictures in pbase & flickr before I felt this lens even merited a try and so far hasn’t failed to impress me.

2009-Nov-14: Its been almost 2 weeks with the Tamron. I also purchased a Nikon 18-200 from Amazon hoping to keep one of them. There is lens creep in both the Nikon and the Tamron. I took a few pictures in low light of the same subject, hand held, VR/VC ON @ 200mm, 0.63 secs exposure, ISO 1600. f5.6 on Nikon & f6.3 on Tamron. I did a side by side compare in Paintshop at 60% zoom of the 4288×2848 image and I see the Tamron has better details, sharpness. The setting was indoors with two 3 w bulbs about 10 feet away at night. I have to try the same on a tripod though. I’m thinking why not spend the money saved when buying a Tamron (almost three-thirty as of today) towards a high speed lens for specialized night shooting if/when needed and/or a Nikon SB-600 flash. So far I like the Tamron. I’m an amateur, but comparing pics side by side with the two lenses is slowly convincing me to keep the Tamron. Will update again if I find anything more to add.

Of course be sure to read the reviews at DPReview for both lenses where they rate the Nikon slightly better. Also look at pics taken at pbase & flickr for the lenses.

Dec 31, 2009: I finally went with the Nikon 18-200 in Nov before my vacation just because I wasn’t sure about the Tamron’s performance in low lighting and if it will bite me if I end up taking some low light pics. Looking back though, I feel like I should have stayed with my Tamron and netted the difference in money and enjoyed! I looked at some older pics taken by Tamron when I first bought it and one thing I really liked was the bokeh in closeup pics. It is very smooth compared to the Nikon 18-200. I for one usually hunt for value in any product and in this I might have not done so by not sticking with the Tamron. I highly recommend this lens.

Incredible!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I don’t know if it’s right for me to do this review now, I just got the lens this afternoon. Nevertheless, I absolutely love the lens! It’s the first mild investment I do in photography (I had bought a cheap $200 70-300 lens), but I think it’s totally worth it. I read that people complained about the lens moving around when you point upwards or downwards. I just have to say that from what I’ve experienced it’s probably a factory malfunctioning lens, just get it traded. Oh, and it’s got a 6 year warranty (waaaay more than enough). My favorite thing about this one is the Vibration Compensation (VC). I didn’t believe at first, but when I tried it out I was stunned! It sort of freezes the picture for at least one second so you can take a better handheld picture. Wow! I fully recommend this one to anyone who wishes to spend a few bucks, and just a few, on a lens that will work for photography as a hobby. Cheers

Works as Advertized
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens in our local store(Robis Camera) here in lakewood, Washington. I could bought a nikon 18-200 (online) for the price I pay $599.00 plus tax Total of $650.00. But I like the fact,if I have a problem its only 4 miles away. Plus I need to support the local economy. By the time I got out in the store, I did a lot of quick shot outside, kind of cloudy. I also holding the camera in my lap and do a lot shot while driving (traffic is minimal, not recommend to do in highway while doing 70MPH. I use the lens on Nikon D200. Inside the house on normal lighting I can really get a good sharp pictures. I find out using Aperture priority on 5.6 setting ISO 800 or 1000 you don’t need flash. I do have SB 800, I to use it with diffuser and point straight to ceiling on Program all my pix is really sharp (potrait setting). I will update and post my pix in flicker.com so far I’m happy and will not plan to removed it my camera body. The extra 70mm is big plus. I think I can do wedding with just one lens. To prove my point visit Tamron.com and check a few pro there making their living in one lens only.. Highly recommend this one. This one has a lock on 18mm so it won’t extend while you walking, mine is kind of really stiff now because its brand new. When I download all my pix to my 17 inch laptop It blow me away. Now the final test will be an enlargement of 20X30 inches poster or 13X19..

My next lens will be nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR still saving for that $1,650.00 and 6 years warranty and metal mount, what a deal…

Great lens – very satisfied with it!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Its really a great all around lens which is exactly what I was looking for (I hate changing lenses). I looked in detail at them all – Nikon / Sigma / etc. The best thing about it is that its really pretty fast in focusing at 18mm all the way to 270mm, close to as fast as my D5000 kit lens the Nikon 18-55mm. It really is a motor equipped lens, I’ve seen a few threads in forums debating this fact, so rest assured it has a motor. The VC (stabilization) is working as it should all the way through 18mm to the maximum 270mm zoom as well. No problems there. I have been using it for only 3 to 4 weeks, but I’m very excited about it and about the quality of the images I have taken thus far. I took some very low light (evening)drag race snap shots and movies that have astonished everyone that have seen them. The lens is better than I am, I’m sorry to say. I’ll be taking it out for a full test in the next few months. I didn’t notice any lens creep (which some of the bigger lens have), but in any case it has a lock switch on the lens, this switch will only work when the lens is at 18mm. I noticed that when you are shooting close-ups (Macro mode) the lens focus’ well. If you are too close to the subject (using regular mode, not using Macro), you can still use manual focus if you want to, but I’ve never had to do this to get a clear sharp picture.

The body of the lens feels nice, durable, and is not so heavy as to cause me to notice the front weight.

It doesn’t feel cheap or plastic at all.

In conclusion I have to say that this lens will beat most of the wide to long lens every time.

If you want a really big wide to big zoom, and price is consideration, I don’t think you can beat this lens!!

Do ya think I like this lens – yep I do!