Product Description

Experience the great power of a 14X zoom range with Tamron's 18-250mm (28-400mm in 35mm format) a single lens capable of shooting both wide angle and telephoto scenes. At nearly 14X, Tamron's lens is the world's most powerful zoom and delivers all the photographic freedom of this enormous range in a single, compact lens. Macro Magnification Ratio 1 - 3.5 (at f=250mm MFD 0.45m) Filter Diameter 62mm Weight 430g (15.2oz) Diameter x Length 2.9 x 3.3inch(74.4 x 84.3mm) Flower-shaped Lens hood For Canon SLR and most Nikon DSLR

Product Details

• Brand: Tamron
• Model: AF018C-700
• Released on: 2007-01-15
• Dimensions: 2.90" h x 2.90" w x 3.30" l, .93 pounds

Features

• 18-250mm zoom lens with f/3.5-6.3 maximum aperture for Canon digital SLR cameras
• Offers telephoto capabilities of 28-388mm (35mm equivalent) in a single compact housing
• Low-dispersion (LD) glass eliminates chromatic aberration and sharpens ultra-long shots
• Maximum magnification ratio of 1:3.5 for macro shots; minimizes ghosting and flare
• Measures 2.9 inches in diameter and 3.3 inches long; weighs 15.2 ounces

Amazon.com Product Description
Tamron's high-power 18-250mm zoom lens is a photographer's dream come true. While conventional 35mm film cameras typically require two lenses to cover 28-388mm, the Tamron 18-250mm lens does it in one, with a 13.9x zoom level delivering enormous photographic freedom in a single compact housing. The life of a digital photographer has never been better.

Despite achieving the ultra telephoto capabilities of a 388mm lens (35mm equivalent), this Tamron zoom lens sports an extremely compact optical system. Unlike previous Tamron lenses, the lens optimizes the power distribution of the entire optical configuration without using XR glass, letting you achieve both ultra-high-power magnification and a minimal size. In addition to offering low dispersion (LD) glass to eliminate chromatic aberration and sharpen ultra-long shots, the lens offers such special materials as hybrid aspherical elements and anomalous dispersion (AD) glass to achieve three goals at once: increased magnification, compact size, and improved image quality.

Macro Photos and Fighting Glare
The Tamron 18-250mm is great for macro photos, too, with a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3.5 letting you fill the frame with a subject approximately the size of a business card. As a result, you can easily and conveniently enjoy close-up (macro) photography of flowers, insects, and more. Tamron has also adopted various countermeasures against ghosting and flare, common problems in digital photography. The lens employs internal surface coating and new multilayer coating technology to minimize reflections that occur when light enters through the front element, while also reducing image-degrading effects caused by the imagers themselves.

• Lens construction: 13 groups and 16 elements
• Diagonal angle of view: 75 to 6 degrees (33 to 23 feet)
• Horizontal angle of view: 65 to 5 degrees (36 to 19 feet)
• Vertical angle of view: 46 to 3 degrees (21 to 19 feet)
• Diaphragm blade number: 7
• Minimum aperture: f/22
• Minimum focus distance: 17.7 inches
• Macro magnification ratio: 1:3.5
• Filter diameter: 62mm
• Accessory: Flower-shaped lens hood
• Dimensions: 2.9 inches in diameter and 3.3 inches long
• Weight: 15.2 ounces

Customer Reviews

Just Get It
This has been rated elsewhere as the best all-around lens on the market, and I fully agree. The only thing that would make it better would be if it had image stabilization of course. For the way we use a lens like this , the IS is not as huge of a factor as one might think. I have Canon's 100-400MM 'L' lens, and with that lens and application the IS is extremely helpful. But then that is a $1600.00 lens so you can see what a bargain the Tamron lens is. The pros don't really like the Tamron 28-300 lens with the vibration reduction or 'VR' since they say it has some issues at the high end which is where we use a lens like that. Using a high enough shutter speed (like 350-400) and sound shutter technique is enough to get outstanding pictures from the 18-250 Tamron lens. It really is like shooting a gun you know. Press the shutter so slowly that you don't know when it goes off. Let the flesh of your finger compress as you take the picture. Also, a tripod or a monopod goes a long way toward absolutely perfect pictures. As one pro said to me, "this lens is way passed what we expected of it; it is just 'tack sharp'"

Surprisingly good lens
This is a surprisingly good lens for such a large zoom range.
First, the pros:
* Wonderful zoom range giving you high flexibility.
* Very nice color rendition. Colors come out vivid and vibrant.
* Unexpectedly good sharpness. When stopped down (probably f8 or so), the sharpness comes quite close to what I get with my Canon 50mm f1.8. I was blown away when I saw that 100% crop.
* Build quality is very decent, doesnt have that plastic feel. Zoom lock at 18mm is a plus if you don't want you lens shaking around.
Cons:
* Not a fast lens but everyone knows that. Do not expect to shoot your kid's indoor hockey game with this vacation lens. It's just not gonna happen. Well, it does but you'll have to compromise on image quality a lot. I don't think this is such a big deal because you can't possibly expect a f2.8 or so on a 18-250mm zoom.
* Focus tends to be a bit off on the wide end but it is easily corrected by zooming in to get a good focus and zooming back out. It's actually fun to do sometimes.
If you have one, do this as a test for focus accuracy. Select the center focus point (do not leave it on auto select). Zoom out to 18-30mm, focus on something, say a flower. Zoom in to 250mm and take a look, see how sharp the subject is.
* Barrel distortion from about 18-24mm, especially unbearable at 18mm. This means no shooting of architectural structure with lots of vertical and horizontal lines near the edges without having them look like fat barrels. This can be corrected with softwares btw. Beyond 24mm this is negligible.
Overall I'm very happy with the quality of the pictures I get with this lens. I never expected it to be fast. Focus can be worked on. And barrel distortion doesn't annoy me that much (well I don't really shoot buildings).
There you go. Hope it helps.

Tamron 18-250 mm macro lens for Canon cameras

lens produced good quality pictures, but lock tab to prevent lens from extending when camera is carried is useless after several uses. Spend a little more money and avoid the hassle.