Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens with Built in Motor for Canon DSLR Cameras

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Toss the kit lens and start out with this one if you are an amateur and you will manage most situations. What I found was that even with just one filter on, the shots at the 18mm wide end had heavy corner shading in the corners. The Tamron 18-270 VC is, at review time, the lightest stabilized lens in the 18-2XXmm super telephoto lens class, but only barely so.

This newest Pocket model features a camera with a larger Type 1 sensor and a 2-inch rotatable touchscreen for vertical or horizontal framing. At 28mm, the center of the image frame remains reasonably sharp wide open, but the mid and corner areas of the frame are very soft. Typical of superzoom lenses, barrel distortion at the shortest zoom setting is clearly visible, but it’s rather less extreme than the Tamron 16-300mm.Fujifilm’s latest medium format flagship brings updated autofocus and faster shooting, but how does it compete with high-end full-frame models? Turning to distortion for the final round of the competition, Nikon beats Tamron (slightly) at 18mm, but Tamron beats Nikon (slightly) from 35mm on. The wide open center-of-the-frame sharpness shows even further degradation by 35mm and the mid and corners remain very soft. Digital Camera Magazine is packed with more expert advice and more inspirational images than any other title, with the sole aim of helping you become a better photographer. SInce two models of this lens show the same problem but on two different cameras, I think that the AF systems of the respective cameras may be implicated - not accurate enough for the soft focus seen at wide angle.

Stopping down helps, although to completely get rid of this phenomenon, you will need to use an f-stop of f/8 or smaller.Chromatic aberration is very visible at the telephoto end, and fairly strong at wideangle too, giving visually-intrusive green/magenta fringing towards the corners of the frame. This happens most when the focal length is set in the mid to long focal length range or there is a little momentum behind the lens such as when lowered quickly. If you have less money and are willing to forego the VR, the Tamron delivers very similar optical performance for almost half the cost. Di II VC PZD is a compact and lightweight superzoom that manages to fit a huge zoom range into a compact, lightweight package.

At 18mm sharpness is impressive right across the frame even wide open, and improves only marginally on stopping down, with best results around F5. This lens comes with a Zoom Lock switch where it locks the zoom ring at 18mm and prevents the lens from creeping due to the weight of the lens while on the move.This was not something that occured to me to check for in a lens as I've never encountered it before. Every issue we also bring you a selection of great gifts which are designed to help you get more from your photography –everything from tips cards and cheat sheets to free software and bookazines. I do not have the 18-135mm but for street photography, prime lens is always my preferred preference.

Shots considered 'sharp' have no visible blur at the pixel level, and are therefore suitable for viewing or printing at the largest sizes, whereas files with 'mild blur' are only slightly soft, and perfectly usable for all but the most critical applications. The Sigma does win in the area of chromatic aberration though, particularly in the middle range of focal lengths. To be honest, the experience is not as good as the metal-constructed lenses, but it still feels solid and does not feel cheap on my hand.Photographs were taken indoors in ambient light so any changes in colour or exposure are due to that. This lens is equipped with Tamron’s proprietary VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization, which helps to compensate for unwanted camera movements, especially under low light situations.