Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro AF Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this lens from Amazon: Tamron 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 AF Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Photo Zone

Early user comments already suggested that new Tamron AF 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro does not only offer a longer range but also a higher quality over the old Tamron AF 18-200mm XR and the lab results confirm these impressions. The results may not touch the sky but the new AF 18-250mm delivers a very solid performance for most of the range. Unsurprisingly the weak spot is at 250mm @ f/6.3 – stopping down to f/8 is a good idea here. Nonetheless the resolution characteristic is fairly amazing regarding the extreme zoom range. Typical for such lenses the Tamron exhibits a quite extreme level of barrel distortions at 18mm but at longer focal lengths to the problem isn’t overly significant. Vignetting is a problem at 18mm f/3.5 and in critical situations you should generally stop down a bit. … As to be expected for a zoom lens in this price league (<450€/US$) the lens body is mostly made of plastic but the build quality is fairly decent. The AF speed is quite slow on the D200 whereas the AF accuracy is generally fine here. All-in-all the Tamron is a decent all-round/travel zoom lens. Just make sure that you can live with its rather slow max. aperture at the long end which requires quite a bit of light or high ISO settings for stable hand-held photography. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

Other Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro AF Reviews

Photo Zone (Canon Mount Tested)

Early user comments already suggested that new Tamron AF 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical [IF] macro does not only offer a longer range but also a higher quality over the old Tamron AF 18-200mm XR and the lab results confirm these impressions. The results may not touch the sky but the new AF 18-250mm delivers a very solid performance for most of the range. Unsurprisingly the weak spot is at 250mm @ f/6.3 – stopping down to f/8 is a good idea here. Nonetheless the resolution characteristic is fairly amazing regarding the extreme zoom range. Typical for such lenses the Tamron exhibits a quite extreme level of barrel distortions at 18mm but at longer focal lengths to the problem isn’t overly significant. In critical situations you need to take care about vignetting at 18mm @ f/3.5 (~1.2EV) and less so at 250mm @ f/6.3 (~0.7EV). Lateral CAs (color shadows at the image borders) are on a medium level except at 250mm where the problem can get more disturbing. … All-in-all the Tamron is a decent allround/travel zoom lens. Just be a bit careful regarding its rather slow max. aperture at the long end. Unless you’ve a DSLR with built-in image stabilizer (Sony, Pentax) you’ll often find yourself choosing ISO 400 although this isn’t really a problem with the low-noise Canon DSLRs so far. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

SLR Gear

We tend not to expect much from “vacation” zooms, so were pleasantly surprised by the Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical IF Macro AF. It maintained good center sharpness across its entire focal length range, softness in the corners was average to better than average, and things flattened out nicely when we stopped it down just a bit. Other optical characteristics are in line with the rest of the field, and its build quality was quite good for its price range. All in all, a very nice lens, a great lens to bring, if you’re bringing only one! “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

Photo Review

An affordable lens with good performance for photographers seeking a one-lens-for-all-purposes solution. With a zoom ratio of 13.9x, Tamron’s new AF18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro lens provides a good single-lens option for DSLR photographers whose cameras have APS-C sized imagers. Weighing less than half a kilogram with the supplied lens hood attached it covers focal lengths equivalent to 27-375mm when fitted on a Nikon, Pentax or Sony DSLR camera or 28.8-400mm on a Canon DSLR. “¦ READ FULL REVIEW

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