Tamron announces 15x zoom lens for Nikon, Canon DSLRs
By Donald Melanson 
posted August 1st 2008 1:47PM
posted August 1st 2008 1:47PM
The 15x number may be regularly tossed around these days when it comes to point-and-shoot cameras, but it has been uncharted territory for DSLRs, at least until Tamron's new ultra zoom lens here made its first appearance yesterday. Apparently the first lens of its kind, the AF18-270MM Di II VC covers the 35mm equivalent range of 28mm to 419mm, and does so with the aid of Tamron's proprietary tri-axial Vibration Compensation (or VC) mechanism, which promises to eliminate or substantially reduce the effects of camera shake. Unfortunately, while Tamron was understandably keen to show of its handiwork as quickly as possible, it's not as forthcoming with any word of a price or release date, although it does assure us that the lens will be available in both Canon and Nikon mounts whenever it is actually released.
[Via Fareastgizmos.com]
[Via Fareastgizmos.com]
Sorry, I was simply thinking backwards on plane sizes and equivalencies (which shouldn't be mentioned at all, in my opinion - if you know your format you know what lenses will do what without referring to another format size) and got confused by Engadget's absolute statement (no justification of "...on an APS-C body"). But hey, thanks for insulting my ability to read Arabic numerals. I'll be sure to go back to the first grade.
I should have followed that comment with a ;) As in a gentle poke, not to be offensive.
No offense taken, actually. It's not often I get insulted for basic things (which I admittedly had coming this time around), so it gave me an opportunity to use that 'first grade' line which was sitting around in my brain. In retrospect, it's not nearly as effective as I thought it would be. Back to the drawing board on that one.
I can admit I laughed. But as a Canadian I'm particularly fond of self-deprecating humor =)
I'll wait until it comes for Olympus ;) Anyone with experience in 50-500mm Tamron?
wow im surprised no one mentioned the 15x zoom thing earlier,
i think the 18 - 270 to 28 - 419 is referring to the fact that its not for full frame sensor therefore it can be translated to 35mm (old money) as it will only be used on smaller sensor cameras, although i thought canon and nikon had different sizes slightly like 1.6 and 1.5
grrr my comment took too long sorry
@ Donald Melanson
You might want to get a pic of that lens minus the dpreview.com watermark, since those guys tend to be rather sticky about people lifting images from them.
If you have an agreement with DPReview to do this, n/m. Not trying to make trouble.
Even Canon's huge $2,300 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM lens leaves something to be desired on the image quality front so expectations should be kept pretty low for the Tamron lens... not a half bad effort fitting that focal length into that size though.
Tamron has a looooong history for better prices with top quality. I personally love Tamron glass and have for years. I compare it favorably with both Nikon and Canon lenses. In another life, the only thing I didn't like with my Olympus cameras was that my Tamron choices were always good but large compared to Oly's own stuff.
f3.5-6.3 yawn.
Why are we still bound to the same rules that applied to lenses 40 years ago. We've made great advances in other fields but lenses haven't changed all that much. Sure, VR is great but I'd like to see f2.8 lenses the size of a f6.3. Or what about those liquid lenses I've heard about. It'd be nice to have a single lens that can do everything so I don't have to carry my whole bag of lenses.
I'll get right on it. Just have to change the laws of physics to make them a bit more compatible with Moore's law.
"Sure, VR is great but I'd like to see f2.8 lenses the size of a f6.3"....
Sure linuxamp, that SOUNDS great.... but. There are simple math problems that get in the way. At 270mm, the tamron lens at f6.3 would have to have a front element at 42.9mm. At f2.8, at 270mm, it would have to have a front element 96.4mm. See the problem with "physics" mentioned in the previous reply?
The f number you are seeing, is the ratio of focal length, to (basically) front element size. Try measuring some of your lenses and see.... An F2.8 300mm lens, has a front element (that's the piece of glass at the front ;-) of 300 / 2.8 = 107.1 (in millimeters).
So, a 270mm F6.3 lens, is the size that it is. You cannot physically change this rule. Unless you can change the speed of light....
The 18-250 and it's Pentax equivalent are landmark lenses that changed many peoples perceptions of what was thought possible with a consumer superzoom. (search on flickr for some examples) If Tamron have managed to keep the quality of that lens this is good news.
I think Tom brings up an interesting point. I don't know whether it's a function of Ad Man thinking, or just an industry unable to figure out how to change the lexicon, but an 18-270 mm lens made exclusively for APS-C sensors is not an 18-270mm lens - it's a 28-419mm lens (or whatever the exact equivalent is for a particular maker). And that's what it should be called, and what should be written on the lens. Optically, that's what it is. Calling it anything else is just some form of CameraSpeak. I find it unnecessarily confusing.
And I'm already confused enough...
I'd say the complete opposite. The focal length markings are the literal focal lengths the lens has, defined by the physical properties and design of that lens.
Saying a lens that is 18-270mm is 28-419mm on a particular body is false advertising because this is not physically true of the lens. Saying that a 18-270mm gives the 35mm FOV equivalent of 28-419mm on a particular body is accurate.
This is why many point 'n shoot lenses say equivalent on their barrels, with the actual focal length written nearby. Some don't have the equivalent at all and it's found in the manual or on the box instead.
Those that are serious enough about their hobby will learn what the conversion is for their particular body. Once you get used to it, it becomes second nature.
Hi Razor, you and I have very similar views regarding lens quality VS versitility. If it's ok with you, I'll want to quote you in my blog regarding this lens which will be live very soon on http://www.terrylee.net/blog (shameless plug).
Wow, um... sure =)
This is dumb. 270mm zooms are not uncharted territory on dSLRs. A telephoto with this wide of a range is something, but not terribly impressive. As others said, 18mm would be handy to have on the extreme end of a 270mm if you were going to use this everyday, but you won't. It's too big. I have a 300mm zoom for my Olympus that produces a field of view equivalent to a 600mm, and it's better quality than the crap Tamron produces.
As the megapixel-fixated consumers are now buying entry level dSLR (and most of them are buying into certain C/N brands); we are entering the era of the "lens focal length/zoom ratio race". Just ONE number to get people into impulse buying, this time marketing swap MP with mm/zoom. "18-250mm is last year model, get the 18-300mm NOW"....you get the idea.
That makes me wonder why Tamron only announces the lens for these 2 particular brands.....
"That makes me wonder why Tamron only announces the lens for these 2 particular brands....."
Uh, because Nikon and Canon total over 70% of the market share?
The rest is divided between like 5 other brands.
Nikon's D40 and Canon's XTi alone probably sell more than all of the 5 lesser brand combined.
Numbers don't always translate to quality but.. just saying.
This lens will be very popular without a doubt, thanks to the vibration compensation and 15x zoom range. Are they pushing too far, well I am not sure. Same thing was told for the 18-250mm too. Here is a nice spec comparison of Tamron 18-270mm VC and Tamron 18-250mm:
http://photolectic.com/reviews/lenses/tamron-18-270-vc-vs.-18-250-comparison.html
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