Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD - Review 2022

Over the years we've seen zoom lenses get longer and longer. The xviii-200mm that seemed ambitious a while back is now pedestrian, thanks to lenses like the Sigma xviii-300mm Contemporary and the Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.iii Di VC HLD ($649). The Tamron reaches farther than any other APS-C all-in-i zoom we've seen. If you're an SLR owner and want a ane-lens solution for trips and other situations where you don't want to alter lenses, the 18-400mm is a solid performer and our Editors' Choice for superzooms.

Pattern

The 18-400mm is adequately long, just matches well with the APS-C SLR bodies it's likely to be paired with. It measures 4.9 past three.1 inches (HD) at its shortest, merely extends when zoomed, to about ix inches when prepare to the 400mm position. It'southward fairly hefty, at 1.half-dozen pounds, and supports 72mm front filters.

How large the lens feels depends on what you compare it with. Nikon'southward shorter 18-140mm zoom measures iii.8 by 3 inches and weighs just over a pound. Canon's pro-grade 100-400mm is 7.6 by iii.vii inches and three.6 pounds, but information technology captures more than light and is designed to work with total-frame cameras.

The Tamron 18-400mm pairs only with APS-C cameras—that's the Insubordinate and EOS 77D, 80D, and 7D Mark Two for current Catechism bodies, and the D3000, D5000, D7000, and D500 series amongst electric current Nikon bodies. Tamron doesn't sell the xviii-400mm in any other mounts, so if you're using a Sony or Pentax SLR, you won't be able to use the 18-400mm.

The lens barrel is black polycarbonate. Information technology's not protected confronting grit, but there are internal seals with moisture protection, so you can feel comfortable using it in rain when paired with a sealed body like the 7D Mark II or D500. You don't become any sort of carrying pouch with the lens, but you do get the standard front end and rear caps, along with a reversible lens hood.

The zoom activity is shine, although it's not effortless. There'south some torque required to twist the barrel, especially when moving beyond the 100mm position. The zoom band is covered in textured rubber, and then it'due south comfortable to plough even though it requires a little effort. Information technology has set markings at 18, 35, 50, 70, 100, 200, 300, and 400mm, and tin exist locked in place at 18mm for storage.

In add-on to the lock switch, the barrel has 2 other controls—AF/MF and VC On/Off. The manual focus ring sits at the front of the barrel. It's very narrow, and finished in textured plastic. It turns when the autofocus organization engages, which is something you need to get used to—you may demand to take some care to not rest your paw on that function of the lens when shooting. You need to set up the lens to manual focus in order to turn information technology manually, only you'll notice that the focus throw is very, very brusque. It makes transmission focus adjustment a catchy proposition. This lens is not a great choice if yous're a fan of manual focus.

It is a solid pick for macro shots. The long focal length, coupled with a 17.7-inch (0.45-meter) minimum focus altitude means that it delivers i:2.9 macro magnification when zoomed all the way in and focused as close as possible. Nosotros generally apply 1:two equally our macro cutoff for prime lenses, but zooms that manage 1:three magnification fit the pecker too.

Optical stabilization makes information technology possible to handhold abrupt shots at longer focal lengths. It's rated to deliver 2.5 stops of bounty past CIPA. I saw slightly better results in my handheld testing, nearly three stops—I got consistently crisp images at 1/80-2d with the lens at its 400mm position. The full general rule of thumb is that requires a ane/600-second exposure without stabilization. Shots at 1/twoscore-second were hit or miss, merely when I took time and care to really steady myself there was no visible blur.

Image Quality

I tested the 18-400mm with the twenty.9MP Nikon D500. Nosotros expect lenses with extreme zoom ratios to come with some caveats in performance, and while that's true of the xviii-400mm, it's non as much as you might expect.

At 18mm f/3.5, the lens delivers stiff sharpness from edge to edge. It scores 2,335 lines on Imatest'south center-weighted evaluation score, only performance is very expert from center (2,423 lines) to edge (2,235 lines). Stopping downwardly to f/5.6 delivers a modest resolution bump (ii,457 lines), and the lens delivers splendid results at f/8 (ii,862 lines) and f/11 (2,846 lines). We come across a slight drop at f/16 (2,389 lines), and a huge one at f/22 (1,492 lines). Diffraction is at fault here—the opening of the iris is and so mall at f/22 that light scatters and harms epitome quality significantly. This is true at every tested focal length.

See How Nosotros Examination Digital Cameras

At 35mm the maximum discontinuity is f/iv. The average score is however very good (ii,253 lines), simply nosotros do run across a drib at the periphery, to i,904 lines. That'due south still ameliorate than the ane,800 lines we want to meet at a minimum, but not by much. Edges go a lot ameliorate at f/five.6 (2,435 lines), every bit does the boilerplate score (2,728 lines). Peak performance is at f/8 (2,887 lines) and f/11 (2,842 lines). We see the expected dip at f/16 (2,326 lines) and f/22 (1,721 lines).

On the whole, image quality remains solid at 70mm f/4.8 (2,194 lines), but we practice see a farther drib in edge performance, to 1,532 lines. Edges go a little better at f/five.6 (1,646 lines), and the average improves to 2,296 lines. For the best border-to-edge quality, shoot at f/8 (2,913 lines average, 2,289 lines edges) or f/11 (2,692 lines average, 2,332 lines edges). Yous tin still become good results at f/sixteen (2,348 lines), but there'south a big drop at f/22 (1,744 lines).

The maximum aperture is f/5.three at 100mm, close enough to f/5.vi that results are nearly identical—2,241 lines on average with skilful operation through most of the frame and edges that take a dip to one,571 lines. At f/viii the lens delivers very good sharpness from heart to border, with a two,629-line average score and edges that top 2,100 lines. Resolution is similar at f/11 (2,665 lines), and we see a drop at f/16 (2,352 lines) and f/22 (1,757 lines).

There'southward non much difference at 200mm. The maximum discontinuity is f/half dozen at this point, but image quality is still good wide open, with an boilerplate score of ii,072 lines. Edges are soft (ane,595 lines), but at 200mm depth of field volition blur them away completely, unless you're shooting a perfectly apartment subject field and filling the frame with it. You'll want to terminate downward to f/8 to get more particular out of photos (2,303 lines), and be happy to know that the edge issue resolves itself as the outermost portions of the frame improve to one,914 lines. Images are sharper at f/11 (2,655 lines) and edges are excellent too (ii,464 lines). There's merely a modest drop in quality at f/16 (2,333 lines), and even at f/22 the lens is decent, 1,844 lines. Yous can narrow the aperture across f/22 when zoomed this far, to f/38, just nosotros didn't test the lens at those extremes.

Information technology's at the 300mm position where we run across some of the 18-400mm's more than apparent flaws. At f/6.3 the lens is a just-OK performer, notching one,915 lines on the center-weighted test. Border quality won't touch on most shots due to depth of field, but information technology's not good, at 1,336 lines. Chromatic aberration has a lot to do with that depression score; nosotros come across heavy purple fringing toward the edges of the frame at 300mm, at every tested aperture. It does diminish as y'all stop downward, but it never goes away. You can see it in a existent-earth shot in the pixel-level crop below.

At f/8 the resolution enjoys a crash-land to two,139 lines, with edges that are a chip amend (ane,614 lines), but still brought down past fuzzy chromatic aberration. They get crisper at f/11 (2,169 lines), as does the rest of the frame—2,438 lines. There'southward a driblet at f/16 (2,140 lines) and f/22 (1,687 lines).

At the 400mm position the chromatic aberration at the periphery of the frame is more visible. And the center resolution takes a couple steps back as well. At f/six.3 the lens shows soft results on average, 1,627 lines, with edges that are just i,256 lines. At that place'due south a expert jump in the middle at f/8, which brings the average up to 2,009 lines, but edges are weak (i,464 lines). Again, depth of field volition hibernate soft edges in many, but not all, photos.

Thankfully, the 18-400mm is not a lost cause at its maximum zoom. Just set it to f/xi and have advantage of the high-ISO capabilities of modern cameras or hope for a vivid twenty-four hours. Resolution improves to 2,375 lines on average, a very good result, and edges are in the acceptable range, 1,938 lines. Remember that f/eleven is your sweetness spot, as there'southward a drop in resolution at f/sixteen (ii,067 lines) and f/22 (1,631 lines).

You're going to get distortion with any long-zoom design, and the 18-400mm is not an exception to the rule. At that place's a strong amount of barrel distortion at 18mm, iv.3 pct, then direct lines are drawn with a singled-out outward curve. Information technology changes to pincushion distortion, an inward curve, as y'all zoom. There's about 2.5 per centum at 35, 50, and 70mm, and less at 100mm (ii.1 percent), and 200, 300, and 400mm (ane.5 percentage).

If you shoot in Raw format and procedure images in Lightroom you can apply a 1-click contour correction to remove all of the distortion. Lightroom can likewise remove the event from JPGs, only if you don't use the Adobe software yous'll either need to alive with the baloney or remove it using different software. This is a third-party lens, then it tin't take advantage of the automated distortion correction bachelor in Canon and Nikon cameras.

The Lightroom Raw contour as well corrects for peripheral illumination—the vignette effect you see in images when the edges of the lens don't gather equally much lite as the center. The eighteen-400mm isn't a bad offender—corners are noticeably dim at 18mm at wider f-stops, with f/3.5 images showing a -3.2EV drop in illumination versus the center and f/5.6 shots at -i.8EV. At narrower settings it's not an issue in real-world conditions.

That'southward likewise true at the tested 35, 50, lxx, and 100mm focal lengths—the departure in effulgence just isn't worth talking about, even with the discontinuity fully open. At 200mm f/half-dozen we run across a -1.5EV drop, which is modest but noticeable, and the lens shows well-nigh the same difference at 300mm f/6.3, and slightly more (-1.7EV) at 400mm f/6.3. Stopping downward to f/8 eliminates the vignette.

Conclusions

The Tamron 18-400mm f/3.v-vi.iii Di II VC HLD is the all-time superzoom lens we've tested to engagement. It's not without some shortcomings, merely information technology covers an absurd zoom range for a reasonable price, without beingness besides bulky for everyday use. The maximum aperture is relatively narrow, there'due south some distortion, and paradigm quality suffers at the edges and the long end of the zoom range unless you lot narrow the f-stop. Just for $650, it covers a longer zoom range than the $579 Sigma 18-300mm Contemporary, and is a better optical performer.

Canon owners don't take a starting time-party culling—the EF-Southward 18-200mm ($699.99) is the most similar lens information technology makes. Nikon has a pair of xviii-300mm options, including a strong, but expensive lens in the $1,000 DX Nikkor eighteen-300mm f/3.5-five.6G ED VR, and the underperforming $700 DX Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR. If y'all have a Nikon SLR, you may want to consider paying a premium for the 18-300mm f/3.5-v.6G ED VR. Merely for the cost, and the actress telephoto achieve, the Tamron 18-400mm is our Editors' Option.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/review/19151/tamron-18-400mm-f35-63-di-ii-vc-hld

Posted by: emerypurpoer2000.blogspot.com

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