The filter thread does not rotate during focus or zooming, which makes this lens ideal for use with polarising filters and neutral density graduated filters. 62mm filters can be fitted to the front, which is smaller than many other superzooms where you will normally find 67mm or 72mm filters being used. Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD: Handling and featuresĬonsidering the massive range this lens covers, it is surprisingly compact, and at only 450grams, it is lightweight too. Here we'll take a look at whether the extra zoom range and features make the extra expense worthwhile. Focusing on the Sony optic is powered via the screw-driven focusing system in camera, rather than a silent option like on the Tamron.Īs you can see, this new optic from Tamron is amongst the priciest of the superzooms at the moment. Although this lens doesn't have in lens stabilisation, neither does the Sony compatible version of this Tamron lens. Sony users have the DT 18-250mm f/3.5-5.6 AF to choose from, which can be picked up for around £500. The same goes for Nikon's AF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VRII, which costs around £560. It may lack the pulling power of the Tamron at the long end, but has the benefit of a slightly brighter maximum aperture. Sigma's closest offering is their 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM, which costs around £405 and sports silent focusing and optical stabilisation.Ĭanon's nearest equivalent is their EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, which costs around £400. The older version, which is a bulkier optic lacking silent AF, can still be picked up for around £400. This new version which sports a more compact design, silent autofocus and improved Vibration Compensation currently costs around £645. Tamron's 18-270mm lenses are pretty unique in that they are the only super-zoom lenses currently available covering such a huge range. The Tamron 70-300 VC is a G-type lens and thus does not offer an aperture ring.Gary Wolstenholme takes a close look at Tamron's latest super-zoom which sports a silent piezo ultrasonic focusing motor and an improved Vibration Compensation system. According to Tamron the lens detects panning on-the-fly, but does not offer a tripod detection so you have to switch it off in such a situation. Based on our field experience it seems closer to 3 f-stops though. Tamron claims an efficiency of about 4 f-stops. Sounds good at first, but can become somewhat annoying when trying to slightly adjust composition: VC quite often compensates the intended movements. This results in a rock solid viewfinder image. VC in the other hand seems to be in "full throttle" mode all the time. When the shutter is released, the system enables full stabilization movement for the actual exposure. Nikon VR has two stages: as soon as the viewfinder is half pressed VR starts to work with reduced movements to stabilize the viewfinder image. However, this is not due to much better efficiency of the VC system, it simply works in a different manner. When looking through the viewfinder with this lens attached, the image is a lot more stable than with a Nikon VR lens. The Tamron lens offers a VC ("Vibration Control") which is comparable to Nikon's VR. The AF accuracy of our test sample was good. FTM, full-time manual focusing, is possible in single-shot AF mode. It provides fast and near-silent AF operations. The USD ("Ultrasonic Silent Drive") is a new development by Tamron and used in the AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 SP Di VC USD for the very first time. A petal-shaped lens hood is part of the package. The front element does not rotate during focus operations so using a polarizer remains easily possible. The focus and zoom control rings operate smoothly. The inner lens tube extends when zooming towards the long end but there's no wobbling even at 300mm. The lens body is made of quite high quality plastics based on a metal mount. The build quality is not comparable to high-end Nikkor lenses but it's very good nonetheless. The Tamron lens belongs to the SP ("Super Performance") series - Tamron's professional-grade product range. In this review we will have a look at how the lens performs on our FX test camera, the Nikon D3x. Price-wise it is on roughly the same level as the Nikon lens. On paper the Tamron throws a new optical design with XLD glass ("Extra Low Dispersion"), VC ("Vibration Control", 4 f-stop effectivity) and the new USD ("Ultrasonic Silent Drive") into the fight. It faces rather stiff competition from its direct competitor - the Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR - which has been immensely successful ever since it was introduced. The Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 SP Di VC USD is the latest addition to the market segment of stabilized slow speed consumer grade tele-zoom lenses. Review by Markus Stamm and Klaus Schroiff, published May 2011
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