Tamron’s 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC is available in both Canon EF-S and Nikon DX mounts.
The Tamron 18-270MM F/3.5-6.3 DI II VC offers a long focal length range, sporting an equivalent of 27-405mm on a Nikon body, and 29-432mm on a Canon. The focal length is impressive on paper and on first impression appears to be well built with a solid metal mount and stocky design.
Weighing the same as the Nikon 18-200mm, the lens’s zoom ring is well rubberised and offers a lot to grab onto, but it wasn’t so smooth to use and required a fair bit of force to get it going in the 70-270mm range. The focus ring was smoother in comparison, but didn’t feel quite as refined as perhaps it should.
Tamron has integrated its Vibration Compensation (VC) system into this lens, which lets you shoot up to four stops slower and will help combat camera shake. Both the OS and AF/MF switches are large and positive to use, and on the opposite side of the barrel there’s a zoom lock to prevent the lens extending past 18mm. There’s a micro motor to operate the AF and this gave off a distinct whirring noise in use. AF performance felt a bit sluggish compared to its rivals and we found it hunted a fair amount at the long end in low contrast conditions before locking on. The optical design features 18 elements in 13 groups, similar to the Sigma lens, and uses three aspherical elements and two low dispersion elements. It hosts a 72mm filter thread and comes with a top-notch lens hood.
AT A GLANCEPrice: £459
Mount: Canon EF-S, Nikon DX
Construction: 18 elements in 13 groups
Aperture blades: 7
Max aperture: Wide f/3.5, tele f/5.6
Min aperture: f/22-40
Minimum focus: 49cm
Filter size: 72mm
Dimensions (DxL): 80x101mm
Weight: 560g
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