Hi all... I’m looking to buy a new lens, I currently have a Nikon D3400 with kit lens. Iv been shooting A bit of everything apart from wildlife and sports. I was recommended the Tamron 18-270 mm however I feel this is more wildlife and sports correct me if I’m wrong. I’m new and still very much learning so any information would be a great help
The
triple-extension lens barrel design is a thing that Tamron literally __invented__ when they made the first-ever 28-200mm AKA "superzoom" lens, a little over two decades ago in the early 1990's. Tamron worked on iterating the 28-200 for over a decade, and now, in the digital era, has moved into the extreme
superzoom for digital SLR phase. So, the company has vast experience in creating superzooms, which have the wide range of focal lengths that many people want for convenience, and for a one-lens-does-it-all carrying solution.
I've owned an earlier version of a wide-range Tamron superzoom and the Nikon-made second version of the 28-200 superzoom; there are multiple other lenses in this category. This type of lens has a long telephoto end AND a fairly wide-angle short end (18mm), and is a one-lens solution for day trips, photo walks, vacations, etc..
Does this lens deliver the best image quality possible today, at every focal length? NO, it does not. Buuuuuut...it's plenty good for a lot of uses, and at f/8 in good light, it's probably as sharp across 80 percent of the width of the APS-C frame area as are lenses costing five times as much. Remember, diffraction due to small lens aperture widths (like f/5.6 to f/11) tends to take the finest details off of most lenses. For many uses in today's world, it will be literally impossible to tell if a picture was shot with an 18-270 or an expensive lens costing $2,499 or more. On the web? On Facebook? Any lens is plenty good!
The drawbacks of the 18-270 are physical size/length/weight, but the lens is not "that big", relatively speaking. Smaller lenses,like 18-55 and 55-200, and 18-135mm or 18-140 with VR in Nikon, are easier to carry, but not by a huge amount.