Tamron 18-400mm

[Warhorse]

I am reading of pretty good reviews on this lens that is made for DX camera's.

Does anybody here have one, and if so, what are your impressions of it?

 

[DarkShadow]

A friend of mine has one on a Nikon D5300 and gets some pretty darn sharp images even at the long end.Not sure how it compares to Nikon or Canon but from what i have seen and read its Tamrons best mega zoom yet.

 

[Derrel]

I thought Photo Lady had one.

 

[Warhorse]

HEY PHOTO LADY, YOU GOT ONE OF THESE!!

 

[photoflyer]

I have one. I got it for business travel so that I would only have to take one lens.

I will start by saying I have numerous L series Canon lenses. It is not a fair comparison. But would I get it again? Yes. There something strangely satisfying about going from a landscape image to a telephoto with the twist of the wrist.

What I like:

One lens does it all
Apparently some level of water sealing. I've had it out in drizzle
My best macro lens

What I don't like

Slow
Image stabilization is just ok
Sone chromatic aberration and vignetting
Only sharp enough

But, one has to get this lens for the right reason. On business travel I can put this and a DSLR in a hybrid computer bag. For personal travel I stuff a Lowepro full on lens and bodies.

 

[photoflyer]

Both of these were shot with it on a 10 year old Canon 50D. They were taken seconds apart. I was on a bike ride and would be kayaking later and wanted maximum flexibility with the least amount of gear.

It is like a Swiss Army Knife. You can cut bread or a steak with one. It is not the best tool for either but you won't go hungry.

 

[Warhorse]

What I don't like

Slow
Image stabilization is just ok
Sone chromatic aberration and vignetting
Only sharp enough

Thank you for your review.

When you say "slow" here, are you referring to the lens aperture, or the speed it focus's.

 

[photoflyer]

When you say "slow" here, are you referring to the lens aperture, or the speed it focus's.

Sorry. Aperture. But for that price point it is in line. With the right expectations it is fun to use. For example, in the kayak the last thing I want to do is swap lenses when an Osprey flies over and then again when I want to capture a landscape. I have much better glass but nothing so flexible.

I went to a local camera shop and tried it out before buying it from the store.

 

[Warhorse]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[photoflyer]

I thought I would share a few more images. You may have made your decision but others may find this thread in the future when they are evaluating this lens.

These were taken on another kayak run. So, you can see the versatility between the wide shot of the bridge @18mm and the bird shots taken at 400mm. The turtle shot is close but not taken at 1 foot which is the minimum focus distance. At 400mm that is macro territory.

Shot on a 16 megapixel Canon 50D (10 years old).

 

[Warhorse]

Very nice shots!
Auto focus, or manually focused?

 

[photoflyer]

Very nice shots!
Auto focus, or manually focused?

All auto focus. I should also say that the second shot was overexposed. I had just launched in the kayak and I thought I was in aperture priority but I was still in manual. I was able to recover the shot in post.

 

[photoflyer]

Let us know if you get one.

 

[Photo Lady]

HEY PHOTO LADY, YOU GOT ONE OF THESE!!

yes i use it quite often..some times i love it..sometimes not.. but i have no other to compare it to.. it does take very sharp vivid photos when all my settings are correct......... i almost sold it but now very happy i didn't. here are a couple of photos i just took for your review..

 

[photo53]

I have read a lot of good reviews on this lens,,, I put this on my next lens purchase list.