I’ve had my Tamron 18-270mm lens for nearly a month. I’ve not taken it off of the camera in that time and will not do so soon. For the moment, it’s my go-to lens. I like it. Have I seen better? Yes! Is this one good enough for my purposes? Yes!
Before I wrote this, I went to browse through the consumer reviews about this lens as I was curious about what people were saying. As with anything, there were positive reviews and negative reviews. However, a curious point about the negative reviews was that both negative reviews had to do with the auto focus, but it was apparent, to me, that neither of the reviewers understood how auto focus worked, so they blamed the lens. Mind you, both of them were shooting indoors under less than ideal lighting conditions and at near the maximum zoom, or minimum aperture. Also, I’ve not found a lens yet that meets the one size fits all proposition. I say pick the right tool for the job.
My review of this lens
After 28 days of use on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day, I can say that I am somewhat ‘familiar’ with this lens. Certainly, this is not a ‘professional’ review, but more of a usage report. No pixel peeping, or lens resolution charts were used. Those things are for the lab.
I’ll try to hit some of the highlights, as I remember them.
Auto focus
In ‘normal’ lighting situations the lens performs well if you give it a decently contrasty point to focus upon. Cameras need contrast and light to drive the lens to the correct focal point. Any passive AF camera will fail to focus the lens if you point at a blank wall, a confusing pattern, etc. See your camera manual. It’s there in the recommendations. 
Back to the lens.
Aperture vs. focal length (approximate):
- 18 – 27 : f/3.5
- 27 – 32 : f/3.8
- 32 – 35 : f/4
- 35 – 40 : f/4.2
- 40 – 50 : f/4.5
- 50 – 60 : f/4.8
- 60 – 70 : f/5
- 70 – 90 : f/5.3
- 90 – 120 : f/5.6
- 120 – 200 : f/6
- 200 – 270 : f/6.3
As you can see, with each small twist of the barrel, the maximum aperture gets smaller and smaller. After we cross 120mm, we have a maximum aperture below f/5.6. Why is this important? Typically, cameras have a hard time auto focusing apertures smaller than f/5.6. This is why you won’t find auto focus capable catadioptic (mirror) lenses. They are f/8 and not enough light can be let through for AF to work. Now, if you take this lens indoors, into a poorly lit situation, rack it out past 120 mm, well, it’s not going to work well for you. However, if you are out on the street shooting on even a heavily overcast day, it will be flawless.
The movement is smooth, quiet, and very accurate; however, if you understand how AF works, you can make sure to offer it a good target to focus upon! If you are shooting at blank walls and through zoo cages, you mileage WILL vary! I use the camera a lot during the morning and evening, when the light is building and fading, respectively. There have been occasions when it was pretty dark and I had to use manual focusing. This is nothing unusual. I’ve had to do it with several of my lens, even my 80-200 f/2.8, (but not nearly so often!).
Lens distortion
Yep! Hey! It’s a 15x zoom. At the 18mm mark, you will notice a bit of pincushion distortion. At the max telephoto range, some barrel distortion; however, either of these can be corrected quite easily using Photoshop, or a tool like DxO, of which Andreas is a big fan. Hopefully he’ll do a review on it! (Hint! Hint!). I’ve even noticed a bit of chromatic aberration at maximum zoom length. There is some red/yellow fringing that is noticeable if zoom in to about 50%. This was easily corrected inside of Lightroom, though.
Lens creep
Yes! Point it up or down and it’s going to move; however, since I use level most of the time, this is not an issue.
Sharpness
Let’s just say that it is sharp enough. In my experience, most images coming out of digital cameras could use a bit of sharpening to make them look tack-sharp. The images produced from this lens look a little big soft, but a mild amount of sharpening in CS2 or Lightroom brings that critical sharpness.
Vibration Correction
Excellent! This is especially useful when zoomed out to 270mm hand-held. You can readily see the shaking of your hands. A quick press of the shutter button to turn on the VC and all shaking stops for about 2.5 seconds after you release the button, as the VC turns off after that amount of time to save battery life. However, keeping the shutter button depressed will keep the VC on for as long as you need it.
Overall, it’s a great lens for its uses, just like my 11-18mm, which I rarely use, but it sure comes in handy when I need it. Same for the 200-500. Both are Tamron. Kick in a 90mm macro, and that nearly completes the kit. It may not be the lens for everyone, but it is a good, solid performer.
Well, I’m off to the zoo to meet Gordon McGregor! He’s working in Raleigh. Asheboro, where the zoo is located, is the half way point. I’m all pumped up! See ya soon!
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