RixPix Loc: Miami, Florida

I have been looking for a new lens in particular this Tamron and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with it. I have never used any lens other than Canon on my cameras and remember twenty years ago when I was running a camera store that Tamron equipment was not as good as others. Has that changed? I have read the myriad of reviews on this lens and generally discount the ones that trash it as from a competitor's shill and the reviews that praise it to highly as they are mostly likely also from a shill. I just wanted some real life experience from an actual user. Many thanks.

traveler90712 Loc: Lake Worth, Fl.

I use the lens on my D7000. I've had the lens for several months and it has become my primary lens for everyday shooting. No complaints or problems with it on my camera.

RixPix Loc: Miami, Florida

I have been reading that it is not exactly sharp, do you find that to be true?

pigpen

I have spent so much money on lenses that I have been unhappy with. I now save money and buy only Canon, "L" if I can afford it.

That being said: I deffinately like Tamron over Sigma. I have a 9 year old 17-35mm f2.8-f4, and it is my workhorse. 90% of my photos are taken with this lens. I would purchase whatever lens you want through B&H Photo. They have a 14 day grace period, you send it back and get 100% refund (you pay shipping). They also have a program called "bill me later", you pass a credit check, and you have 6 months to pay it off with 0% interest. This comes in handy for pricey items.

Good luck!

P.S. The bigger the range of zoom, the better the chance of "not so sharp" images. (usually)

RixPix Loc: Miami, Florida

Thank you

John Brown Loc: New Mexico

It is the primary lens on my Nikon D7000. Works great and seems very sharp.

John Brown Loc: New Mexico

It is the primary lens on my Nikon D7000. Works great and seems very sharp.

jabber363

I have this lens have had it for about a year. I use it on my Canon Rebel T1i. It is an ok lens if you can't afford L seris lens. Cause since I got it I have purchased the Canon 24-70mm F/ 2.8 L and have it on most of the time now . I will pull out the tamron if I need to bring something in and I just can't get it with the other. Now the one thing I really didn't like the lens if will creep down when you have it down to your side...the lens don't stay in place.

shadow1284 Loc: Mid-West Michigan

I have had the Tamron for over a year. I use it on a Canon 7D. It may not be as fast as the $$$$$ lenses but the cameras operating perametors help me get some owsome shots. It's one of my primary lenses.

I get these oportunities all the time.

patrick28 Loc: Port Jeervis, NY

One thing to check on these long reach lenses is at what point do they automatically close down to the minimum aperture?

I checked one 70-300mm job rated at f3.5-5.6.
It closed down to f5.6 at just under 100mm.

Maybe not a decision-making factor but significant.

. . . . patrick

TJ Loc: Austraila, Toowoomba.

I don't have a lot to compare it to(canon 75-300 non is and a canon 100mm L macro)but it seems to auto focus fairly well and i found it easy to manual focus as well, it's small light I think it has nice tones.

but at full 270 mm i think it has a big vintaging issiue and has lens creep majour but it can be easly controled over all im pleased i bought it but i do exspect to out grow it. Oh and the image stableizer is good very good i'd say.

have you seen the reviews on u-tube ther were two i thought were very fair statements i'll go see if i can find em...............links below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=U41Vwd83rus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xhFC1GtRKWo

russebarre9

Hi. I have a Canon XTI and have had this lens for a few years. I really like it and it stays on my camera most of the time. As for the creep, it does and may not be real convenient but there is a switch on the lens barrel that you can use to lock the lens so it won't creep if your at 18mm. It dosen't seem like a big deal to me. You may have to go back and fourth, like I said maybe a little inconvenient but It dosen't bother me. There is a magazine called Photo Plus in the UK that is published for Canon users only. It contains information on how to do various things on Canon equipment only and they do test on equitment for comparisions of different brands. When I bought my lens, It was compared to a Canon lens of the same or close to the same type and they rated the Tamron as better in all the test. You might see if you can find that magazine in your area. Russ

jgsawyer Loc: New Haven, CT

I have had the non-PZD VC lens for at least 4 years, and have used it as my primary "vacation lens". Yes, there is lens creep, but you can use the lock. Other than that, I have gotten very sharp pictures with it, and have been very satisfied. You can't beat the zoom range. As usual, there are compromises with any lens with this much zoom, one of which being that it is slow at 270mm. But, that's what the VC is for. Is it the quality of "L" glass, no. But, it doesn't have the price, either. BTW, I use this lens with a Canon 40D. My other walk-around lens with this camera is the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC. In fact, I own no Canon lenses at all.

Fred Stuckmann Loc: Ohio

I've used the lens since July and thoroughly enjoy not having to swap lenses in the middle of a shoot. It fronts my Nikon D5100
and the two are completely compatible. (with the pzd drive)
There is creep in the lens when it hangs down, but it has a lock
that prevents that. If I'm shooting down at something, I'm holding the body in one hand and the lens in the other, and so
that hasn't been an issue at all. The first image is 18mm, the second image is of the same scene at 270mm. These shots were taken in the dusk/dawn mode of the D5100. It's still a couple of minutes before the sun peaks over the horizon.

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

Hi guys, been a lurker here for a while but thought I'd register and chime in on this one. I'm a Nikon shooter, always have been since the 70s, so stayed with Nikon when everything went digital.

I had, amongst many other lenses, the Nikon 18-200 VR zoom and it was a good all round lens. When I saw the Tamron 18-270 I tried it out at a store and was very pleased with that additional 70mm at the end of the range, and bought it.

That earlier version had not only lens creep but also had a bump in the zoom feel as you extened the zoom range past the 100+mm, which I did not like the feel of and returned it.

I bought another one and found it did the same thing, and then found other owners had the same feel to theirs. The Tamron rep explained that this was caused by the lens going into its next grouping arrangement of lenses as you zoomed it out. He said that was the compromise you must accept when wanting that much zoom range from an all in one lens such as this 18-270.

I sold that lens and bought the new PZD when it came out, which has a quieter motor, is smaller and lighter, and has no bump in the zoom range as did the earlier non PZD version. This new PZD version also suffers from lens creep, however, so did my Nikon 18-200 VR lens.

In fact, I sent that lens back to Nikon to have their "Anti-Creep" service done to the lens, to supposedly stop the lens creep. Guess what? It did not work, it still did creep, just a lot slower now, so that service was a waste of money.

Neither of the Tamron 18-270 image stabilized lenses are as robustly built as the Nikon 18-200 VR. However, it has a far superior image stabilzation system built into the lens, when compared to the Nikon 18-200 VR, and this has been a joy to make use of. And although not as robust, it is still a well made lens, so again not much of a point to worry about for most users.

As already mentioned in other posts, both the old and new PZD Tamron has the lens lock, so that is a help with lens creep, though with that much glass packed in the barrel, there is nothing that can be done to stop lens creep.

As for sharpness, well I can tell you for sure that it is not as sharp as my $2,000+ Nikon 70-200 VR f2.8 lens, but then it is also not as expensive, heavy or as large as that lens. The Tamron, however, seems to do great regarding sharpness, when I use it inside with flash during weddings for example. Then it seems tack sharp for some reason, but outside, it is for me, just acceptable, not great, not super sharp. For the average shooter it is probably fine.

The other thing that it does have a problem with, is focusing at a longer zoom range in low light. It is not too good in that department and on occassion it will get stuck in a focus battle with itself. It seems to be somewhere after 100mm, and just sits there stuck, going zppp, zpppp, zpppp, zpppp and will not focus on anything, so I have missed a shot from time to time.

The only way out of that situation is to zoom back out to 18mm, focus on something and then zoom in and try again. Overall, accepting some of its shortcomings, this is a very good good lens for the money, the size, the total zoom range and the excellent Image Stabilization System it uses, and nothing out there rivals it. Hope this helps.