Conclusion - Pros

  • Very useful 15x zoom range
  • Proficient image quality at wideangle
  • Serenity autofocus
  • Reasonably effective image stabilization
  • Compact and lightweight

Conclusion - Cons

  • Rather soft at telephoto, especially broad open
  • Potent baloney beyond almost of the range
  • Chromatic aberration at each end of the zoom (most pronounced at telephoto)
  • Slower autofocus than its peers

Overall conclusion

The Tamron 18-270mm F3.5-6.3 Di Two VC PZD is a compact and lightweight superzoom that manages to fit a huge zoom range into a compact, lightweight packet. Throw in its tranquility PZD autofocus and optical image stabilization, and it's a very versatile trivial lens that's well worth considering if you're looking for an all-in-one solution.

Optically, the eighteen-270mm PZD is somewhat uneven - it's impressively sharp at wideangle, only very much less so at telephoto. Chromatic aberration is very visible at the telephoto finish, and fairly strong at wideangle besides, giving visually-intrusive greenish/magenta fringing towards the corners of the frame. Typically for an SLR superzoom, distortion is also very pronounced at almost all focal lengths. It's of the butt-blazon at wideangle, turning to pincushion beyond the rest of the range (and strongest around 50mm).

Autofocus is virtually-silent, merely on the Catechism-mount version we tested non peculiarly fast - this is ane area where it lags behind similar lenses from Sigma, Nikon or Canon. But the PZD motor is at to the lowest degree faster than the sometimes painfully-slow micromotor used in the older Tamron AF 18-270mm F/3.5-5.half dozen Di Two VC. The paradigm stabilization system works quite well too, although nosotros've found it to be slightly less constructive than its predecessor's, it'due south nevertheless skillful for letting you utilise shutter speeds a couple of stops slower than yous'd otherwise be able to hand-concur without blur.

In terms of build, the Tamron is mayhap best described as functional, with its relatively lightweight plastic barrel. The zoom control is a niggling uneven, and manual focus slightly loose, but neither has a huge impact on normal shooting. The overall impression is of a lens that'due south been fabricated to a price, but quite sensibly so

Compared to its main competitor, the recently-released Sigma 18-250mm f/3.v-v.6 DC Macro Bone HSM, the Tamron performs pretty creditably. The Sigma is noticeably sharper at telephoto, but softer at wideangle - it's also quicker to focus, and nosotros plant its image stabilization to be a bit more effective too. The Tamron offers slightly longer telephoto range, of class, just the Sigma is ameliorate for close-up shooting. All things being equal we'd favour the Sigma, but everything depends on the relative prices (which vary considerably depending on where you lot live).

The Terminal Word

The Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.6 Di Ii VC PZD is a decent-enough choice if you're interested in buying a lightweight, long range general-purpose lens. It won't gave the same epitome quality equally 2 separate lenses covering the same range, but then again it's less to acquit around, and you lot won't miss shots irresolute lenses. It's not the quickest in the earth to focus though, and then not the best choice if you oftentimes want to shoot moving subjects.

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Recommended links

  • Tamron 18-270mm F/iii.v-6.3 Di 2 VC PZD on DxoMark
  • Tamron AF 18-270mm F/iii.v-6.3 Di 2 VC LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Review
  • Nikon AF-South DX Nikkor 18-300mm F3.5-5.6G ED VR review
  • Sigma 18-250mm f/three.v-6.iii DC Macro OS HSM Review
  • Sigma 18-250mm f/3.v-6.iii DC OS HSM Review
  • Canon EF-S xviii-200mm f/three.5-5.6 IS review

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