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Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras | List Price: $490.95
Discount Price: Too low to display
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Brand: Tamron
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 6 years warranty
Features: - Since the lens is designed exclusively for digital SLR photography, it provides high image quality in terms of resolution, contrast and flatness of image field
- It employs a new optical system designed to confine the changing angles of incidences of light rays reaching the imager within a certain scope over the entire image field from the center to the periphery, by considering the effects of variances due to zooming
- Peripheral light fall-off is minimized when compared with that of conventional lenses for film cameras so that images are uniformly bright from the center to the periphery
- Complicated mechanisms are built in the compact body thanks to new mechanical artifices. The lens is a multi-purpose zoom lens, yet excellent portability and ease of use are assured. A number of invisible engineering innovations required to downsize the lens, produce high precision parts and increase durability are incorporated in the new AF18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO since manufacturing this type of zoom lens with such complicated mechanisms inside was almost impossib
- The Zoom Lock prevents unwanted barrel extension when carrying the lens/camera combination
Good lens if there is a lot of light around. [Posted on 2008-03-14]
I wanted an all-in-one type of lens and I didn't have much money to spend when I ran across this Tamron 18-200mm. I really would have liked to get the Tamron 28-75 but it didn't have quite the reach I wanted. The real reason I ended up with this lens is because it has a much lower resale value than the 28-75 and I was able to pick it up much cheaper than it's retail price on a very large well known auction website. For the price I paid I'm very happy with what I got. If I would have paid full retail I probably would have paid a little extra to get the 18-250 Tamron.
Now about the lens...
Pros:
-Focusing is pretty fast in good light.
-Pictures are sharp with plenty of contrast.
-The wide angle photos at 18mm using the Rebel XTI are still very wide. I can stand about 7-10 feet away from a 20 foot tall saguaro and get the top and bottom of the cactus in the picture no problem.
-200mm x 1.6 is equivalent to 320mm on the XTI which is a plenty of reach for most of what I want to do.
-Build quality is actually pretty good. The lens has good weight to it and feels like it's mostly made of metal, it's not cheap feeling at all.
- The end of the lens does not turn when focusing which makes it a good lens for Polarized filters.
Cons:
-It's slow. Especially zoomed all the way to 200mm the aperture is a max of 6.3. Hand-holding at 200mm in broad daylight with a polarized 2-stop filter I have to bump the ISO to 200 or 400 at times to make sure my pictures have enough shutter speed. If you're using a tripod this really isn't an issue.
-Auto-Focus is pretty loud.
-The manual focus rings turns when the lens auto-focuses and sometimes I accidentally have my hand on it, I'm afraid this may end up damaging the lens unless I can figure out a way to remind myself to take my hand off the barrel at all times.
-If you buy this brand new don't expect to get all of your money back if you decide to sell it later on. Like a new car, this lens drops about $100-$150 in resale value when you "take it off the lot".
Bottom Line:
If you can only afford 1 lens, and you want Wide angle and Telephoto, and you're going to be using the lens outdoors in lots of light, then this is a great lens. Look to buy this lens used if you can. You can save almost half the price used unlike the Tamron 28-75mm which keeps almost all of it's original value at auction.
I use it mostly for landscape pictures and I'm thrilled with the results but when the light starts to get lower during sunsets, or indoors, I either have to put this it on a tripod or switch lenses plain and simple.
At the price I picked it up at I rate this lens 4 stars. At the price listed here, I give it 3.
Not very good [Posted on 2008-04-14]
I am a fairly serious photographer, and I have a pretty extensive lens selection. I wanted an all-in-one lens for days that I didn't have specific shoots planned, but wanted to keep a camera with me just in case. I have used Tamron lenses in the past, and the ones I've used have been pretty good. Unfortunately this one isn't nearly as nice.
The main issue I have with it is that it can't focus very well indoors. Now I realized before I bought the lens that it probably wouldn't focus that quickly, or quitely, but I'm telling you, it has real issues focusing in low light. Even with a speedlight attached to the camera it still has issues.
Sometimes even in good light it takes it a couple of passes to focus, so you have to really pay attention to make sure you're getting an in-focus picture.
Better lens than expected. Better than kit 18-55 [Posted on 2008-06-27]
I wanted a walk around lens to replace the kit 18-55 canon lens. The reviews that I read were not very good but for $350 there is not much to choose from. I was pleasantly surprised when I did some tests at home at different focal lengths and F stops and the Tamron did a lot better than the kit 18-55 lens! I then compared it to my canon 28-135 USM IS lens and they were pretty comparable in image quality!!
The only down side to this lens (the only reason it is not getting 5 stars) is the poor focusing speed in low light. Apart from that it is way better than the standard lens that comes on the canon rebels.
Tamron lens produces vivid colors and accurate skin tones [Posted on 2008-08-14]
I am a professional portrait photographer and needed another lens for my portrait room. My two Sigma lenses gave out within a week of each other and I was told Tamron was the way to go. My images have more color punch to them. I am extremely happy with this lens.
good but not great lens [Posted on 2008-08-16]
I've been using this as my primary lens with my Rebel XTi for the past 1.5 years. I tend to do outdoor photography (usually hiking with it around my neck) with a good amount of landscape and wildlife shots. This lens is great for getting the range from wide angle to telephoto without having to switch lenses (out on dirt trails) and for not breaking your neck with weight. I've gotten some great shots with this lens, but I can't blow up many of my wildlife photos because of the loss of sharpness past 100mm. I'm still undecided if the versatility of this lens on long hikes outweighs the loss of sharpness (which isn't really noticeable if you just print 4" x 6"--but who wants to do that with prized rare photos of wildlife?). I'm still a newbie to photography, but I'm already starting to get the itch to invest in some better lenses. For now, I think I'm just going to get the Canon EF 100-300mm lens to give me the sharper telephoto images that the Tamron 18-200mm leaves me wanting.
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