TAMRON AF 18-270mm F/3 – Replacement for Older 18-200mm lens

December 30, 2019

TAMRON AF 18-270mm F/3 – Replacement for Older 18-200mm lens

Versatile product, good results for general travel photography. However, no good on my cannon 5 d as it will not give full frame coverage.

Just had the opportunity to make good use of this lens while on holiday. It saved having to carry other lenses with me and proved to be absolutely ideal.

Having put up with the limitations of the standard 18-55 bundled lens for a couple of years i finally took the plunge and went for a better lens. By the standard of these sort of lens this is competitively priced and importantly fits in my camera bag while still attached to my camera, don’t want to have to take it off every time i put the camera in the bag. The reviews of this lens where encouraging and helped me decide. I have been using it for a month now and the results are excellent. The flexibility, ease of use and weight (lack of), make this a brilliant choice for any amateur looking to get more out of their camera. I have been abroad for most of the month and so have been taking lots of touristy photos, everything from inside a bar to on top of a mountain overlooking a city getting vast panoramic shots. This lens has coped with it all with quiet efficiency.

Me and my parents have ones on both our cameras.

This lens does what it says on the box and does it exceedingly well. I found this lens to be very versatile and compact, the wide angle 18mm is sufficient for most peoples needs and the 270mm zoom aspect is very good. It produces sharp pictures and the auto focus is quick and quiet. I really like the vibration compensation and it works throughout the lenses range. This gives me the freedom to go out taking pictures without the hassle of having the wrong lens for the shot i want to take. I would recommend this lens to any one who needs wide angle and zoom from one lens.

An excellent travel lens as claimed, and on my nikon d80 it gives me a useful 35mm focal length equivalent of 420mm. This effectively replaces my nikon 18 –>135mm lens and my nikon 70 –>300mm lenses, both for optical sharpness of the image and in the speed of focusing that i need for wildlife photography. I am impressed, and would have been further impressed if the ‘macro’ capability was 1:2 instead of 1:3.

Bought just before a number of trips to southern europe which tested to almost the extreme and it responded very well just a little slow in focusing when light was poor and discrimination difficult but can live with that since not found many lens, for the price, that can cope with that.

I had a tamron of similar range for my last non digital minolta slr. Despite being assured my lenses would fit my sony alpha, if at slightly different f numbers, i was unhappy to find that that particular lens did not cross over. Having grappled with constant changes of lens on a recent trip to iceland where the weather was variable with a capital v forcing one to protect the camera most of the time, i determined to reduce the risk of getting my equipment internally wet by purchasing the 18. I am very pleased with the result despite the well known and undeniable problems associated with large zoom ranges. I can also keep up with my wife with her compact which requires no stopping to make changes as we hike along the cliffs or in the mountains.

Very slow and frustrating auto focus.

Bought this through the lightning deal on amazon. It’s kind of replacing an older tamron 18-200 non stabilised lens. Range is very good and that extra 70mm compared to my old lens makes a difference especially on a aps-c sized sensor. Focussing can be laggy at times so perhaps better suited to less fast subject matter, but stabilisation is very good. Only gripe is the lock switch is fiddly compared to the older model and lens creep is very apparent once off the 18mm mark.

Excellent product i would certainly recommend to anyone who wants a quality travelling lens. Very good lens with smooth, quiet auto focus.

Lightweight, compact, sharp and steady with a great range. What more do i need in most situations?.

I have seen the lens advertised in a number of magazines but thought at about £660 odd i would have difficulty in affording it. This one was just under half that price (second hand, nearly new) but even at the amazon price of £349 it worth it. I may well be able to leave at least three lenses at home now. I was amazed that the lens focusses down to about 500mm even at full zoom. I expect the aficionados will comment on edge distortion or something but i have not noticed any. Here are the specifications for the TAMRON AF 18-270mm F/3:

Make sure this fits
by entering your model number.
Silent ultrasonic Piezo Drive motor
Wide 18-270mm focal range
Ideal travel lens
24% more compact and 100g lighter than its predecessor the 18-270mm (Model B003).
The Sony mount does not include the VC image stabilization functionality, as the body of Sony digital SLR cameras includes image stabilization functionality

This is the first time i am buying a tamrom product. Have heard raving reviews about this lens however havent been to any holiday with it yet. Captured a few sample photos and i am satisfied. The body of the lens is also good quality. Comes with a 5yr tamron ‘1st user only’ warranty which is a plus. I have been an user of canon’s 18-55 and 70-300 and the photographs were satisfactory/good quality for me (a person who has no expert opinion on capturing photos). I upgraded to stop carrying two lens. As long as the quality is not bad from the pair abovementioned i am happy.

Amazing lens ideal for travelling i’ve taken some fab photos with it.

Ideal if you don’t want to keep changing lenses.

I have had my canon d1000 for four years now with the standard 18-55 lens on. It was bought as a retirement present by my wife ant it didn’t have is. Most of the time this is not a problem. Several times i wished i had a longer lens and when visiting america in autumn 2012, i borrowed a 18-200 zoom. It was quite an improvement. So i saved my shekels and then cast around for a suitable longer zoom lens. I read the reviews and eventually made a choice, the tamron 18-270 vi macro lens. So far it has met all expectations. No sign of any vignetting mentioned by another reviewer or any major barrel distortion.

This lens is the best value for money i have seen and quality of build is superb so i prefer it more than the nikon lens that came with my nikon d3200 for ease of use and feel. It also takes very impressive close up photos as well as long distance so it is the only lens i need to carry for a vast range of subjects.

This lens (canon fit) is no bigger than my old canon 55-250mm zoom and has the same maximum apertures. It feels better made than the budget canon and replaces this and an 18-55mm zoom making it an excellent single lens for travel with less weight than the two old lenses it replaces. Performance is proving to be excellent especially one stop smaller from maximum aperture.

Reviews from purchasers :

I love it
A brilliant lens at the price
lens to replace both my Canon lenses which were perfect but carrying 2 lenses became a chore

Good quality lens for your keen amateur photographer. Highly recommend this product.

I recently received this tamron 18-275mm lens, already gave it a test in various conditions and found the versatility and quality of the images where of a high quality. I already have the 55-300mm nikon lens, although this is very good but i was always having to change lenses depending on the situation. This lens overcomes these problems from close up to just over a foot away to distant images, the vc which is similar to the nikon vr works very well, although it does a slight noise during the calibration but at less than half the price of the nikon 18-300mm it is not a problem. The auto focussing also works perfectly on my nikon d5100, the images are crystal clear and very sharp, but it does have manual focusing if required. The other advantage is that it is very compact during storage with a lens lock to stop extending. This lens has an extending barrel to reach the 270mm, whereby the nikon is internal but the nikon cannot be reduced as it’s a fixed length; although some may prefer this with adding filters to the lens; but this lens can still attach 62mm filter. The added advantage is that i also got a tamron £50 cashback offer (providing it is purchased through amazon and not via a third party) and also offers a 5 year guarantee with tamron upon registering. Yes this lens may not be suitable for a professional photographers, but for the armature and semi professional it is a great versatile lens.

Many of you will see the title of this review and think £300 can’t be great value, well read on. I’ve only had this for a day and while shooting with it today i can tell it’s going to be a well used lens for a long time (especially with that 5 year warranty). The first thing you do when you get this lens is go from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, and it is quite amazing how much zoom there is on this thing. A big part of this lens is the new piezo drive autofocus motor, and it’s good. Compared to other lenses in this price range (i have sigma’s hsm and canon’s usm) this is so much faster, more accurate and most importantly dependable. You always know that it’s going to focus exactly where you want it to. Yes, it does hunt in low light but that’s to be expected. Having a canon 75-300mm without is i was tossing up between this lens or a long range lens with is. It is 30mm shorter at the telephoto end and an f-stop or two slower but i’d give that up any day for the vibration compensation technology on this.

I have used several slr cameras in my life, but with the arrival of digital cameras, i went for the point and press type. This was great when i had a family and wanted to take quick snaps without a big camera to lug around. However, i as time went by i wanted to return to my old hobby of photographing landscapes and flowers and found that the point and press could be quite limiting. I bought a canon eos rebel t5i (a low end option for novices). While the camera is a huge leap ahead of the old slrs i had in my youth, the lens it came with was rather disappointing, although better than the point and press. As a result i did a lot of research to find a good if macro zoom lens. The tamron seemed to fit the bill, so i went for it. I have not been disappointed at all. It is quiet, smooth and responsive. I am still learning all the things it can do, but it has made a huge difference.

Arrived promptly,protectively packed. Well worth the money,photos are extremely sharp,would defintely reccomend this lens. Used it on holiday and was well pleased with results.

A terrific product for my kind of photography. A very easy to use lens, adds little weight to the camera and the camera remains well balanced in the hand. The wide range of telephoto is remarkable and the resultant photos very pleasing. I would recommend this lens to anyone who wants telephoto without having to change lenses. I use it mainly for holiday snaps, but also for flowers, insects and small animals. It may not be as good as products twice the price, but isn’t far behind.

I have not used it a great deal yet as i am still getting used to the new camera. I have taken some shots and i am very pleased with the results. My only gripe is that it is quite heavy. As i mostly use a tripod this does not bother me. A very nice lense at a good price.

This is a very good lens indeed and at a very good price. Now i am not suggesting that a hardened pro would consider buying it but for those like me on a limited budget but a fairly reasonable amateur it is all i could want. I now only need the one lens and it offers very clear and sharp pictures, i have not as yet noticed any distortions. It is a wee bit slow in dark situations but as i have very minimal use in this respect then this is not a problem and if i was planning to use in such situations then i would use my tripod. All in all very please and would recommend.

Delivery estimate was spot on. Having fun and appreciating the ‘convenience’ of 18/270 :-).

Not found anything untoward so far. Had it a couple of months now. The £50 cash back helped me price wise. I find my batteries draining quicker than with the 70-300mm tamron macro lens. I wonder if the antishake has anything to do with it. I will still give it 5 for value, delivery and packing, and it also has a five year warranty.

The lens was quite satisfactory, but recently it ‘looses connection with the camera’ and every half-a-dozen shots i have to twist it off and clean the contacts; almost impossible to use.

Just purchased this lens to replace both my canon lenses which were perfect but carrying 2 lenses became a chore. I decided to buy a single zoon lens to replace both my canon lenses. Deciding on the tamron 18-270mm lens wasn,t too difficult after finding out that it fitted my eos 600d, (which was not readily available on the web pages i tried). Only used it a couple of times but very impressed at the moment with its ease of use. Af is very good and precise on pictures but when taking movie it tends to be a little slow in focusing compared to the canon lens, that’s why only 4 stars, but the results are the same. I had to contact tamron about the warranty online,they rang me back, (great service). My advise to anyone considering purchasing this lens, as long as it fits your camera buy it.

This product was easy to find, the product description was spot on and it was delivered very swiftly. It has proved to be an excellent addition to my collection delivering sharp images from wide angle to zoom.

Excellent item at a very good price. I wouldnt be able to afford it from a camera shop. Exactly as it was described, and compatible to my nikon d3000.

Occasionally struggles to focus but not bad.

Huge range, great f-stops and piezo drive for the focus makes it quick and quiet.

Nice lens for travelling, found it to be quiet in operation. Took some great clear videos with no background noise from the autofocus, unlike a canon lens that i have. Only negative view i have is the darkening on the edges when on maximum zoom, but that can probably be edited/cropped out. I wanted a good travel lens and yes this fulfilled that place for me. Some may find it on a little on the heavy side but it didn’t cause me any issues, and my wife was able to cope with it also.