CherylZ

Hi Hoggers,

Question - I have a Rebel Canon SL1 which I love using. I recently purchased the Tamron 18-270 to go along with it, for the convenience of only having to use one lens. Does anyone have any experience with this lens? I am finding that some shots are very good and in focus, and some shots are soft. In fact, the 18-55 kit lens for the SL1 takes sharper images a good part of the time, with better consistency more often.

Are there any hands-on tips, that are not in the information that came with the lens, that would be helpful to know?

My daughter has the same lens and uses it with her Nikon and has no problems.

Haveago Loc: Swindon, Wiltshire. UK.

Hi Cheryl,
I can't help at the mo' as I only got the exact same lens for my Nikon D5300 yesterday but I will follow yr query with interest. If I do have any feedback for you i'll of course post as well.

Just out of interest what Nikon does daughter have plse?

Thanks

Baz :-)

j-p Loc: CT

I had that lens with my Canon t2i. Later I upgraded to the 70D that came with 18-135 STM and with that kit the 55-250 STM was offered for a great price. Both of those lenses were MUCH sharper than the Tammy, so I sold it.
The convenience of one lens is nice, but the hit in IQ vs the 2 lens solution was dramatic.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

This is why I bought the 18-300 Sigma Contemporary instead. I know this isn't much help, but both the Sigma 18-250 and 18-300 have done well for me. The Tamron 16-300 get's great reviews, but be ready to open your wallet.

tomglass Loc: Yorktown, VA

I have the same lens and use it on my Nikon D7000 with pretty good results. I did have to adjust the focus with the AF fine tune and that has helped a lot. Does your camera body have the AF fine tune ability?

don4u Loc: Southern California

I have a Nikon D 40 w Tamron 18-270 mm lens. Its the only lens I use. I use it for landscapes, birds in flight. People and pets. Low light seems not a problem. The nice thing on the kit lens 18-55 is it is light. But other then that. They are both good tools for us.

don4u Loc: Southern California

I have a Nikon D 40 w Tamron 18-270 mm lens. Its the only lens I use. I use it for landscapes, birds in flight. People and pets. Low light seems not a problem. The nice thing on the kit lens 18-55 is it is light. But other then that. They are both good tools for us.

MarkD Loc: NYC

I had a Tamron 18-270 VC PZD and it is a good all-in-one lens. I now use a Sigma 18-300 which is somewhat sharper. With all all-in-one lenses you have to be very aware of the shutter speed as you zoom the lens. A shutter speed that will be fine at 18mm will not be fast enough to prevent blur at 270mm.

VC does not prevent all blur. It will prevent blur due to camera shake at slower shutter speeds than normal, but it has no effect on blur due to subject motion. You still need higher shutter speeds for moving subjects.

You may not have had this problem with your 18-55 because a shutter speed high enough to prevent blur at 18mm may also be high enough at 55mm to prevent blur.

CherylZ

Hi Haveago,

Her camera is a D5000.

CherylZ

Hi j-p,

How did you go about selling your lens? I was thinking of doing the same thing, but don't know where, how, or a safe way to do it.

CherylZ

Hi Tomglass,

I don't know if it has the AF fine tune ability or not. I am still learning all the in's and out's of the camera. I have had the camera since last August and love what it does so far. Where would I look to find that out? I still have the manual, plus two other books to learn how to use it. One of the books is a "Dummy" book. Those books are pretty good at explaining things. If I fine tune for the Tamron, would that mess up the AF for any other lenses, such as the two kit lenses? I constantly am using the camera for projects, so I don't want to try something and have it mess up something else. Any advice would be appreciated. I like the Tamron for its versatility in not having to change lenses, but am not willing to sacrifice image quality, and will stick with the kit lenses. I just don't understand how on my daughter's camera, she doesn't have a problem, but on my camera, it's more of a hit and miss as to if the shots are soft or not. The kit lenses work fine and so does the 1.8 lens. I especially like the 1.8, just wish it zoomed. And it bothers me too, that as much as the lens cost, that there is any kind of problem at all. If I can't figure out how to AF fine tune the lens, if there is one on the camera, where could I go to have it done? Would it be expensive to have it done?

CherylZ

Hi MarkD,

Learned something new. I did not know that info. Do you know if the Sigma 18-250 is as sharp as the 18-300. I am interested because of the price difference. I usually shoot in P Mode and was assuming that the camera was setting the shutter speed, no matter where the lens was set at. Did I assume wrong?

tomglass Loc: Yorktown, VA

I don't think the D5000 has AF Fine Tune. Sorry... not sure what could be done by a Nikon service. But before I did that I would do some testing to determine if that was the problem or something else. Maybe if you could post some pics here, folks could take a look and help determine the problem (if you do post, make sure the check the "(store original)" box so folks can see the full pic and the data). sorry I'm not much more help...

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

I had that lens for a while and found it to be a little soft most of the time too. Sold it and got a Nikon 24-85mm 2.8 and a Tamron 70-200mm 2.8 and am absolutely thrilled. I know it's not the total walk-around zoom lens you're looking for but I have my doubts any Lens with that much reach is going to be strong from A to Z on the zoom.
Craig

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

I have the immediate predecessor, the Tamron 18-270. No problems. Remember that fully extended to 270, considering the crop factor, the minimum hand-held shutter speed would be about 1/500.