Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

It's ONLY available for Canon and Nikon, though. Why did Tamron do that? - 22x not good enough for Sony?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Give Tamron a break - at least they made the 150-600 V2 in Sony mount - but not many - so if you want one .......get it sooner than later !

My take on the 18-400 is is exactly the same performance as the 16-300 - except 100mm more at the long end - which is an achievement - in other words, the 300-400 range optically, is equal to the 16-300 @ 300 - which, as we all should know is not relatively great but acceptable in trade for the convience.
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Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Got it on order, NOW, Larry … (G2) …

I suspect this one's just a little bit better than the 16-300. That's a PZD! … THIS one's an HLD!!!

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Why 18-400mm? I can't imagine having a use for that. Not saying that there isn't a use for it. Maybe it is a failure of my imagination.

What do you think Chris? Where are you, what are you photographing, what are you trying to achieve, would you imagine, when you tell yourself "wow, I sure am glad I have this lens!"

Mike

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

A lotta folks on UHH have already bought it, Mike. Not me, although, I daresay, if it were available for Sony, I might have already snapped up a copy. It's a Super-Zoom, Mike … what does anyone want a 22x lens for?

You can shoot close, and then zoom out and shoot wide - all in one lens. It's fantastic, if you ask me. But, how good it is, at all lengths? … That's the burning question I'd like to see answered, here ….

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Bought the Tamron for a D7200, which came with an 18-140mm kit lens. The 18-140mm is a fine walk around lens, good for landscapes, indoor family stuff up through portraits, but not enough reach for, say, a day at the zoo or a Disney World vacation. So, I bought a longer zoom lens and started carrying a camera bag and switched out lenses as needed, which was a bit irritating for my family and it got old carrying the camera bag and watching out for it. With the 18-400mm, I only carry the camera (now a D500) and the lens. [Confess to keeping a 50mm f1.4 in my pocket for low light situations]

As far as IQ goes, I was not happy with it out of the box, but have other Tamron lenses that I needed to tune and this one is no exception. Once I tuned all 24 table entries (8 different zoom factors at 3 different distances) I am pleased with the results. It has a couple of quirks, like the focus ring turns when auto focus kicks in (push shutter button 1/2 way) and you have to push the manual focus switch when you want to manually focus, but nothing to irritating compared to the flexibility it provides. I am glad I bought it. BTW, I did not have to re-tune when switching from the D7200 to the D500.

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Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Is that the same bird, in two and four, Dave? ... Looks it! ... Nice shots!!! ... So, you need the USB dock, do you - in order to fine-tune it for your needs? ... I think Nikon put out the D7200 and D500 at the same time - which might account for the similarity, somewhat - but the former IS a 24MP sensor, don't forget, and the D500 uses a 20MP sensor - so, I'm not sure about it being exact. What might be closer, is with the D7500 and the D500 ... they should both give you the same numbers. How long did it take to do?

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Yep, same Great Blue Heron at Galveston State Park. A birding technique is to slowly move towards your subject stopping often to take a shot or two and be ready when you cross it's comfort zone threshold when it will take to wing. You don't want to scare the bird, just make it wary enough to take wing. Yes, you need the Tamron Tap-In to tune the lens. The D500 is Nikon's new DX flagship body released Feb, 2017 and has the same AF system as the D850. The D7500 started shipping in Jun, 2017 and has the same sensor as the D500, but is supposed to be an upgrade to the D7200. The D7200 was released March 2015.

Tuning takes time and patience. There are a few articles and tutorials online. A good starting point is to shoot a resolution target in both Live View and AF mode (take about 3 shots of each as focusing is a random process, use a tripod, aperture wide open, remote release) and compare the two. The LV mode image will be the sharpest image the body and lens are capable of. If the LV shot is soft, there is a problem. You want the AF shot to be as sharp as the LV shot. Putting a - value in the table moves the AF towards the lens. Putting a + value in the table moves the AF away from the lens.

EyeShootWideOpen Loc: Florida

18-400 is an incredible range. Nice shots!

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

I thought it was the same bird. Glad to see I was right. Great Blue Heron, is it, Dave? Thanks for the tip!

So, the D7200 preceded the D500 by two years, then, did it? … I remember picking up a D7100 - right after the D7200 was released - but I thought that was late 2014, or early 2015. I would've gone for the later model, but, back then - there was a whopping great price difference between the two. Anyway ….

Sounds like a complicated process doing that fine tuning with the USB Dock for the Tamron 18-400. So, this will have to be done, then, with both Canons and Nikons, will it? … Does it make a difference WHICH camera it's done with? Or, does it have to be re-tuned for every camera model you plan to use it with?

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

I thought it was the same bird. Glad to see I was right. Great Blue Heron, is it, Dave? Thanks for the tip!

So, the D7200 preceded the D500 by two years, then, did it? … I remember picking up a D7100 - right after the D7200 was released - but I thought that was late 2014, or early 2015. I would've gone for the later model, but, back then - there was a whopping great price difference between the two. Anyway ….

Sounds like a complicated process doing that fine tuning with the USB Dock for the Tamron 18-400. So, this will have to be done, then, with both Canons and Nikons, will it? … Does it make a difference WHICH camera it's done with? Or, does it have to be re-tuned for every camera model you plan to use it with?

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Yes, it is an incredible range, Eye - the most extended range of ANY super-zoom, to date ….

There are many ways to get to 400mm - but, this is, probably, the most economical way, of the lot!!!!

dlbackus

How do you tune a lens? I'm a novice photographer and bought the 18-400 a while ago. I'm happy with most shots, but sometimes feel they could be better/sharper. Love the lens, but now am wondering if tuning it will help any, but I've never heard of this before.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

For me a great all around lens

Fotoserj Loc: St calixte Qc Ca

I’ve bought the 16-300 Tammy as i received my 7dmk II and it has been my walk about ever since, never look back the extra 100 mm would be nice but not enough to shed the money