TAMRON AF 18-200mm F/3 – great value , great range lens

I’ve been looking for a zoom that is longer than the ‘kit lens’ but had a decent wide end. I use a pentax camera so whilst i would like to buy pentax lenses i cannot justify the cost as i am not a frequent photographer. Cannon and nikon obviously don’t do pentax fit so i have to buy from tamron, sigma etc and there is nothing wrong with that. This lens is excellent value for not very much money. I am very impressed with its performance so far. The auto focus is a little noisy but probably no worse that many ‘kit lenses’, if that is a problem in certain surroundings then go manual with the camera viewfinder focus aid. Seems sharp at both ends of the zoom.

This lens offers great quality at an incredible price. As with any zoom lens, best results are obtained by stopping down a little to ensure good sharpness and depth of field (around f8 or f9 works well). Achieved excellent results at burghley horse trials using this lens with my nikon d80 set to 800 asa sensitivity , used the lens all the way to its maximum zoom. Clean sharp images and quick focus. (setting camera to centre area focus and aperture priority). Lens when at short focal length is almost as compact as the nikon 18/55 lens. Lens looks and feels good , and comes with lens hood.

It must be testament to your feedback systems, that i took best advice from reviews of your customers who had actually bought and used this amazing item. I have bought lenses before, but only ever by the manufacturer of the camera concerned. I was guided by your customers and am delighted. My very first test shot has proved to be one of my best photos ever, and a great hit with my friends on facebook.

Ordered friday, arrived monday, well packaged and brand new. Before ordering i did some research as i needed to make sure i got the lens from tamron with the built-in motor (the a14 ii). When it arrived it was indeed the correct one, brand new with a manufacture date of 2013, so spot on. (and a relief a little bit as the amazon description wasn’t that clear. I did phone amazon customer services about the description, they tried their best to help but after they couldn’t find the details did add a note to the order so that i could return it free of charge if it was not the correct item. The brief opportunity i have had to test, it feels comfortable to use, no lens creep, solidly built and better quality pictures than i expected after reading some reviews. I am a keen amateur so don’t have the thousands others might have to spend. Overall, very happy with my purchase, and also worthy of note, i registered on the day i received it with tamron. Uk for a free 5 year warranty. Not sure how many other competitors can offer that. That is great value for moneywell done both amazon and tamron.

I have been looking for a lens to cover a wider range of focal length so i don’t have to constantly swap my canon 18-55 with my tamron 70-300, i don’t use the 300 end of the zoom too much, so spent a while looking for a 18-200 and ended up with this, as it was on sale and already on my wish list. The lens feels (as with all tamron lenses) very sturdy and well built, but it should as it very heavy. Its got a very smooth zoom and a smooth focus ring. Nice touches are a lock with to stop the lens creeping when round your neck, although it doesn’t act as a lock whilst in use, so you can’t set a shot up and lock in position. Lens also comes with a 5 year guarantee and a lens hood. I’m not a professional photographer, so can’t give a really in depth review, but i have noticed that at full zoom, straight lines, such as the corner of buildings, appear curved. This isn’t an issue for me as most of my pictures are portrait and landscape, but may be an issue for some. Overall, seeing as it was considerably cheaper than the competition, i’m really happy with it, seems like great value for money and now replaces my other lenses for a majority of the day to day pictures. I have yet to have used it in anger, so may update this review when i doin summary, cheap, effective, well built and covers the useful zoom lengths, can’t ask for more, go buy one (unless you like closeup pictures of architecture).

A very good lens for the price very sturdy feels just as good as sonys official lenses, only downside is when walking fast the lens can slowly extend which can be stopped using a simple switch and is better than it being hard to zoom which is very easy on this product. The one downside isn’t in any way a reason not to buy and i would highly recommend this for any user.

I have used this lens extensively over the last year on my 1000d and have to say i have been very impressed with it, especially as the ideal solution for a day out with the family etc where having the zoom range up to 200mm is so useful at times. The lens hood is really good too and i like the zoom lock, especially when out walking. The image quality is very good, but deteriorates below f8 slightly and it doesn’t catch as much light as i’d like at the extreme zoom range, but i guess any 9 element lens is going to lose out a bit there. It does seem to struggle to autofocus in certain conditions, more than my genuine canon lenses do, but compared to lugging round and swapping between 2 or 3 lenses all the time these are very minor points indeed and i have no hesitation in recommending this lens. As with all photography, it’s ‘horses for courses’ if you are going out wanting to capture top quality images, this isn’t the lens for you, but if you want good quality images of landscapes to wildlife with minimum fuss, this is definitely a good tool for the job, especially at the price.

I am brand spanking new to dslr photography. For quite a few years now i have managed some half passable photos on my fuji bridge camera but always thought that dslr was too much for me. That was until my husband bought me a canon 600d on clearance (i know they have been phased out) and told me just to get on with it. It was that last bit that i found a bit overwhelming. The camera came with an 18-50mm lens in the box. I took some time using that lens and realised that i would need a couple of others to give me the dslr experience that i wanted. I looked high and low, watched countless youtube videos and came to this lens. Yes, the 18-50mm is already covered but it is a superb lens if you just want to take one for the day out, rather than your full kit. It covers everything an enthusiastic amateur could need. I can get my pictures of fossils in rocks, right up to my pictures of abandoned buildings in the focus that i want with this lens.

I purchased this lens as an everyday walkabout lens. I had read the reviews by other purchasers and was a little concerned with the apparent ‘slowness ‘of this lens ,but as a hobbyist my concerns were unfounded. I admit this lens would struggle a bit in low light ,but this is not a lens i would normally use in such conditions. I would suggest the the more discerning maybe happier with the higher end and faster of the tamron range but for me this lens has not disappointed. I concede that auto focus is sometimes a little slow but personally i don’t see this as a major issue at this price point. As a relative beginner and hobbyist i conclude this is an affordable walk -about lens.

Have been using this lens for several months and it delivers excellent results across the range. Not sure about low light performance and whether it can be bettered, but the pentax all in one lens is considerably more expensive. For £132 this is a good all rounder and sits on the camera virtually all the time.

I’m a fairly keen amateur and have been using an 18-55 and a 70-300 lens but found myself needing something a bit more versatile so save swapping lenses all the time. I bought this as it got good reviews and seemed to be good value, so far i’m very happy. I have got some great motorsport shots as well as some lovely candid portraits. I’m quite sure there are better lenses out there but for such a small price this has really impressed me.

Just to reiterate what others have said on here, this is a wonderful lens for the price, i am using it with my nikon d5300 and it has quickly become the only lens i carry around as it’s so versatile. The image quality is imperceptible from the stock nikon lens that came with the camera. I do have one small issue that i would be interested to hear if it’s a feature that others have or i may have a faulty one, the lens does not appear to hold it’s own weight, and when pointed towards the ground it slides to the fully zoomed position, necessitating using the lock feature after every use. It’s not a show stopper but can be a bit irritating.

Had 55/200 tamron macro lense but found myself switching to my 18/55 lense quite often. Purchased tamron/macro/18-200 hopingto have a leave on the camera lense choise. As with the 55-200 (which i was quite please with) i also found that the 18-200 had the same limitations as the 18-20. I understand that zoom/macro lens are not going to perform as well (image-wise) as a primary lense, but all in all i’m with pleased with my purchase. Here are the specifications for the TAMRON AF 18-200mm F/3:

• Make sure this fits
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• Ultra-compact and light construction

It is not as clear in some shots as it could be (i like my canon is 55 – 250) however for the price it is good. So much easier than carrying around 2 lenses and it is a nice, small size. I never liked walking around with my 55 – 250 lens as it was just too heavy and big and i did not like to change lenses. However this lens gives you the flexibility for close ups and wide angles for a good price.

The 18 55 mm canon damaged during the 5 years and this tamron 18 200 mm makes an excellent replacement with the advantage of 200 mm for the odd puffin that flies into range and is immortalized due rarity on puffin island, as well as a single general purpose to continue the 400d canon’s success. Between the 100 300 mm secondhand ef and the wide angle 14 mm samyang obtained through amazon and the battery pack and filters i can now reach most photographic images with excellent light and stability. The secondhand 28 135 mm which is excellent but provides too little wide angle and not enough long distance range has now accepted its yellow filter to be used as monochrome film element on the old canon 50e so that will allow artistic experiment with ilford assistance. Altogether a good collection from lce pc world and amazon and the second good new lens from amazon source retailers with superb delivery and in good condition. Thank you guaranteed 5 years as well.

For the price you simply can’t beat this. Its a very light lens – much lighter than the nikon 18-105 it was bought to replace. Decent range and focus – a few reviews suggest this is a little slow to focus, but ours is used to take action photographs of horses and it seems to work fast enough for us. Considering the price of the nikon – this is a no brainer.

A good all purpose lens, saving the boring hassle of changing lenses the only drawback with it would be the so called ‘lens creep’ you get if you are using it vertically, copying a document for example, tamron really should take a look at tightening up the mechanism. , but all in all, for the price, a good multi- purpose lens for day to day use.

Very versatile lens which i used for many photo sessions and travel shoots. I don’t think i got the sharpest photos with this lens, particularly the once-in-a-lifetime nude session with my partner on the beach but i don’t know if the camera, lens or photographer is to blame. I sold this lens and bought a nikon 18-105mm which so far is doing the business for me.

This is really good value for money. The zoom range makes it a good lens to take around and the quality is very good. I use this lens a lot when i don’t feel like carrying all my lens around. Well built, good zoom range, picture quality is fine. Price is fantastic for this lens. Two photos with a 40 mm and 90 mm focal distance for your appreciation.

Reviews from purchasers :

• Good all rounder
• It’s a five from Acathla
• An affordable walk-about lens

For the money, this lense is probably great. It certainly zoomshowever, it can be a bit tricky to get a good, sharp shot with it. Partly this is aperture range (especially when zoomed in), and partly the lack of image stabilization. I managed to get some acceptable photos out of it on a bright day (in africa), but often had to take a series of photos then select the sharpest. Having said that, when the lense was held ultra steady (on a platform, or tripod etc) it was as sharp as a canon is 300mm equivalent a friend had.

Unfortunalely i had to return this lens to the seller due to the zoom mechanism not working correctly. The lens glass, mount and casing were perfect. And when working correctly takes great photos. My husband has one so i speak with confidence and experience.

Fine single multi purpose lens. Purists may pick holes in the performance , but for the real life happy go lucky photographer who doesn’t want to go around looking like a pack mule this represents better value for money. If you want to get the last iota of optical performance by all means splash out on a gaggle of nikkor lens. But for 85% of us just slap one on of these on your low cost dslr and avoid missing the shot. Reasonable weight and size, a good match up with my nikon d40.

I am not a pro photographer by any means but i do value the superb versatility of this lens. I use no other and take it on all my travels, which includes a lot of bumping about in a bicycle bar bag, so far no problems with reliability. Fast auto-focus, quick switch to manual focus and great range allow for quick travel photography in varied environments. It has a great lock switch feature to prevent the lens from extending under its own weight, which is essential if you are holding the camera around your neck while bumping around uneven terrain.

I had some doubts about buying this tamron lens for my nikon d3200 camera. (i could not afford the nikon lens). I was really pleasantly surprised by the quality of the photographs i have been taking. I am really pleased that even at full zoom, that i am getting such good results. A very good buy at a good price. A good choice for me and my new camera.

As others have said, the focusing mechanism on this lens is noisy, and maybe a little slow. Everything else about it is good though. I’m prepared to put up with those two faults given the cost of the lens – others of similar quality and focal length range are significant more expensive. If those would be a particular problem for you, look elsewhere.

I am not a pro, but having two kids and a wife asking me to take pictures of them at every given moment, i needed a lens that would allow me to not keep chasing them down to the bottom of our garden. The quality of the pictures look very good. I’m sure the more expensive lens will do a better job, but in my eyes, this lens does just the trick and keeps the wife happy. The only fault is that when you hang the camera from a height, such as a pram or chair, the lens seems to extend rather than staying in place so you must use the lock button.

Nearly all i use at the moment. It is not too heavy and works really well. Easy to use without a tri/mono pod. Have recommended it to others as well. Great price for such a great piece of kit.

I am not an expert photographer but i can distinguish a top notch quality from a decent one, and this lens is the latter. I don’t own many lenses but i guess this one’s value for money is great. I wanted this lens for my trip going abroad, in order to refrain from changing lenses all the time – an overall lens. I think this one will do the job. The bad point is the barrel distortion when it comes to zooming out. At 18mm is definitely visible, however close to 35mm is not that much, if at all. So the pros are that it has excellent zoom, with very good quality for the money you pay. Although the barrel distortion is visible, i think i’d rather have a 18-200mm with distortion on the 18mm but not the 35mm for overall use, rather a 55-200mm or 70-200mm.

I have an oldish canon dslr and i used to use it with the standard lens (18-55) as well as a zoom lens (90-300). This, however, is an excellent all round lens which covers most of that. It’s a little larger than the 18-55, but no where near as big as the 90-300 and so fits in my bag without issue. It may not be the choice of the professional photographer (it’s aimed at the enthusiastic amateur) but it does a fine job and i’ve rarely taken it off since purchase.

My biggest frustration with my camera was never having the right lens for the right occasion. I wanted one lens for portrait and close up work and a zoom for distance work. The tamron ticks all the boxes for me. It’s relatively light and the picture quality hasn’t suffered to my knowledge and above all it didn’t break the bank. The big benefit for me is that i now can travel lighter with just the one lensm and i longer have to fiddle around changing lenses out in the field risking dust getting in the camera.

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