Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical IF AF Review Round-Up

tamron-18-200mm-f-35-63-xr-di-ii-ld-aspherical-if-afIf you own or have used this lens, let us know what you think! Leave your comments and thoughts below.

Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens with Built In Motor for Nikon Digital SLR

SLR Gear

Tamron has long had a history of making some of the better ultra-zoom lenses out there, and this current 18-200mm matches their long-zoom prowess to the needs of the digital market. Thanks to its reduced image circle (it’s designed for cameras with APS-C size sensors), the 18-200 is surprisingly compact, given its incredible zoom range. (For reference, this lens is the equivalent of a 27-300mm lens on a 35mm SLR.) For the Tamron 18-200, the tradeoff is that it is significantly soft in the corners and edges when shooting wide open, pretty much across the focal length range. As always though, closing the aperture down a stop or two makes a big difference. At 18mm, shooting between f/5.6 and f/8 delivers pretty impressive sharpness, but you’ll have to go to f/16 for the best results at 50mm, and to f/11 at 100-200mm. Even stopped down though, this lens is a little soft at 200mm. If you need to just put one lens on your camera and leave it there, yet still want to cover a focal length range from wide angle to a fairly long tele, this lens is a good, affordable solution. READ FULL REVIEW

Other Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical IF AF Reviews

Camera Labs

Delivering a focal range equivalent to 27-300mm on most DSLRs, the Tamron 18-200mm is a highly versatile lens. Its massive 11.1x zoom range allows you to capture both wide landscape shots and decent close-ups of distant subjects such as wildlife without worrying about carrying additional lenses. Unsurprisingly a lens with this kind of focal range is rarely going to perform as well as one with a shorter range, but we were impressed overall by the results possible. Certainly unless you’re into extreme wide or telephoto work, or demand the ultimate quality, you could really be very happy with one of these lenses. Indeed many photographers could fit one and never take it off again – and that’s not only highly convenient but also greatly reduces the potential for dust to enter the camera body. So an 18-200mm could be the ideal lens for you, but since the Tamron and Sigma models essentially cost the same, which one should you go for? Or is it really worth spending double on the Nikkor version? Ultimately there’s not a great deal to choose between the Tamron and Sigma 18-200mm lenses. A handful of our results favoured one over the other, but neither took a decisive lead overall. Since the prices are essentially the same, we therefore have to call it a draw, and leave the final decision between which personally looks and feels better in your hand. The Nikkor 18-200mm is clearly a superior lens in many respects, but only you can decide if its benefits justify paying twice the price of the Tamron or Sigma. READ FULL REVIEW

Photo Review

Tamron’s latest long-range zoom lens, the AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro, extends the range of the zoom at the wide-angle end of the spectrum and covers a popular range of focal lengths for amateur photographers. Like the 28-300mm Di lens we reviewed in Issue 21 (February/March 2005), it’s surprisingly compact and light in weight for its range. READ FULL REVIEW

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