runakid Loc: Shelbyville, TN

My wife's current all in one lens is the Tamron 18-270. She loves it but it recently will not always zoom out past 18. Thoughts on the Nikon 18-300 or something else. We are both 76 and she is more of a snap shot shooter most of the time. Looking for something that she can easily use. She takes it to her quilt group for monthly meetings where they display their new quilts, etc. On serious photo trips she uses it and other Nikon lenses like the 80-400 or even the 500 f 4.
Sorry to any who saw the original post but I wanted to add some additional information.
Thanks as always to any who look and any who respond.

TonyF Loc: Bradenton, FL

If she loves the Tamron, why not look into their 18-400?

runakid Loc: Shelbyville, TN

I will but wonder what the weight on the 18-400 is like. We are both 76.

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

It weighs 25 oz.

TonyF Loc: Bradenton, FL

I'm 4 years behind you in age and made the switch and don't regret it.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

I have an 18-400 on my crop camera and it is almost always there. It does not feel heavy to me (I"m 73) however, age is not a good reference for strength. It is worth looking at even if you rent one for a few days.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Have you contacted Tamron Customer Service? I'd check into repair before replace if she is happy with the lens. I also have the 18-400mm Tamron. It is not that heavy.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Has she ever tried one of the Superzoom Nikon Coolpix? Might be just the ticket and less expensive.

CO

It seems like you have the telephoto range already covered with the 80-400mm and 500mm. For photographing the quilts at her quilt group it seems like an ultrawide zoom would be the ticket. I imagine the quilts can become rather large and the ultrawide zoom would be good to get. I bought the Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 VC HLD lens earlier this year. It's considered to be the best ultrawide zoom for cropped sensor cameras right now. It's fully weather sealed and it's HLD (High/Low torque modulated drive) focusing motor is extremely accurate.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

I have a nice little selection of lenses. My wife requested, we know what that means, that I get her the Tam 18-400. After several thousand assorted shots, that is the only lens she uses. The experts are not satisfied with the extreme focal lengths, but it is an excellent choice for many. Some of us old folks like just one all around lens and this fits the bill for her. I prefer to carry two cameras and a few lenses. My backpack still fits my 70 plus year old body. So far.

If I get to the point where everything is too heavy, I'll go with Quixdraw's suggestion!

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Sometimes it is possible to have just enough information to come to a "bad" recommendation. So I'll share what I decided in a related situation, and the two of you can decide whether a similar approach might work for you or if this is just another bad recommendation.

I shoot both crop and full frame. Sometimes it depends on what I'm doing, sometimes it's just what I choose for the day. I have had the Nikkor 15-55mm f/2.8 for about 12 years and love it. But sometimes it doesn't offer quite enough flexibility. I also have the Nikkor 18-200mm. It is surprisingly OK for non-critical stuff, but it can be really quirky sometimes and kind of slow sometimes.

So I went in search of "something different." One lens, carryable all day, would do a nice job for me, no requirement that it be a premium lens, but it had to be suitable for use on a D500. While looking (not reading), I ruled out Sigma ART lenses (too big and heavy for this application...did you know that weight is not considered at all in the design of those lenses?), the Nikkor 16-80mm DX f/2.8-f/4 (too expensive, too average, and f/4 over almost its entire zoom range), really wide lenses (have that capability with an older Nikkor 18-35mm zoom) and any zoom greater than 5:1 (just too much compromise).

What I ended up with, for $425, was a very nice used 24-120mm f/4 VRII. It cost me a little at the wide end, but I don't shoot really wide all that often...and it's really easy to do a three shot portrait oriented panorama, which gives me something like the equivalent of 14mm. And I can do some cropping in those cases when it really isn't long enough. This lens has become my favorite well beyond what I initially selected it to do. It was not what I initially intended to buy. Some don't like it. The main reason that I hear is that the corners aren't sharp. I'm not using the corners. Some say there is too much distortion. Since I'm using the center of the image, distortion is not a problem. Some (including me) say it doesn't render color quite as intensely as some other lenses. I just bump saturation up by one notch.

An important thing to say here is that except for the 18-200mm zoom, which I still use only rarely, I've never used a "super zoom." So the 5:1 zoom ration was not a problem for me. In fact, it was a little bit liberating against my 17-55mm, which is a little bit more than 3:1. But it might be more of an issue for your wife.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

The Tamron 18-270 is an older design, the 18-400 is newer. It is more expensive and heavier.
Sigma made an 18-250 but the newer one is the 18-300. I have this and love it.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

The first lens I referenced should be the 17-55mm f/2.8 DX Nikkor. Not sure how I garbled it quite so badly...

ELNikkor

Since you already have an 80-400 beast, get her the 18-140 for her quilt group outings. She'll love its compactness.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

Despite my gentle urgings on occasion that she diversify, my wife has the Nikon DX 18-300 glued to he D5300. When we go birding together, she acknowledges that she can not get the longest of the long shots, but likes to get both wide scenery shots and close-up flower shots. The Tamron 18-400 might be a bit of an upgrade, but we have no urgent need to change.