Which travel lens for my Rebel?

[j-dogg]

Was looking at a Tamron 18-200 but I really want the 18-270 with the Vibration Control. I travel a LOT and want a decent wide range lens, my kit lenses will only get me so far, plus I have a few Nikon Ai primes I use with an adapter that yield amazing results anyway (50 1.8, 28 3.5, 35 2.8)

My kit glass is decent but changing lenses is starting to suck and I don't feel like walking around carrying 5 or 6 different lenses in a bag, if I could walk around with a body and one piece of glass I would be happy. The reason I want a Tamron is I have a similar Tamron on my Minolta Maxxum 4 (70-300 macro) and it produces top notch images that regularly beat out my Canon 75-300.

Any reccomendations? Not looking to spend more than 500 bones unless I can flip my kit lenses (18-55 non IS and 75-300 non-IS) I also may upgrade my body in the future, I love my Rebel to pieces but may get a low-mileage 1Ds Mark I later on. :thumbup:

 

[pdq5oh]

I have the Tamron 18-270 and am happy with it. Image quality is very good & the VC seems to work pretty well. As a walk-around lens it's hard to beat, IMO. You have plenty of range for nearly any situation. The biggest drawback is focus. It's too slow for any fast moving stuff, but generally is fast enough for most anything you'll be using it for, within it's intended use. I have other lenses that cover the same focal lengths but kept the 18-270 just for the huge convenience it affords me when I don't want to carry much, but want my dslr and not a point & shoot. Hope this helps.

 

[Dao]

Was looking at a Tamron 18-200 but I really want the 18-270 with the Vibration Control. . . . . . I love my Rebel to pieces but may get a low-mileage 1Ds Mark I later on. :thumbup:

Just keep in mind that the 18-200 and 18-270 lens may not work with the 1Ds MK1 camera.

 

[bigtwinky]

As a rule of thumb, keep in mind that the more focal range a zoom will have, the less image quality it will produce. This is one of the reasons pros often look for prime lenses. Jack of all trades, master of none.

But if convenience is important to you (you prefer to have a lens to take a shot rather than not have a lens as you dont want to carry 10 of them with you at all times), the Tamron 18-270 is a very good multi purpose lens. A friend has one and he likes it on his Nikon D90. The auto focus, as with most 3rd parties, is slower and the image quality is slightly under what the name brands will give, but it is still a fine lens. I shoot with a Tamron 28-75 which I love and could be another option. I shot it for over a year with a Rebel XSI and had great results. Not as long or wide as the 18-270, but its a f/2.8 constant aperture, which is great.

But if you want a 2 lens combo, look at the 18-270 and a 50 1.8 for those lower light / DOF times you shoot.