http://www.fotofach.de/ 448-142 http://www.fotofach.de/zoomobjektive-erfahrungsberichte/tamron-af-18-270mm-f35-63-di-ii-vc-ld-aspherical-if-macro/ Just like the rest of its (extreme zoom range) lens species the Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di LD Aspherical [IF] VC macro (sorry, I had to repeat that again ...) tries to provide it all but the continuously higher degree of generalization rather than specialization has a price - image quality. The lens had a bit of a hard time to deliver a good image quality on a very high resolution DSLR (EOS 50D @ 15mp). The center performance is generally decent but the border quality could/should be better especially at large aperture settings. The long end of the zoom range does also suffer from rather hefty lateral CAs (color shadows) which doesn't really help to lift the quality perception here. The amount of image distortions it quite typical: hefty barrel distortions at 18mm but actually a pretty decent correction at all other settings. The vignetting is, surprisingly, a lesser issue although you may spot some hints at max. aperture settings. The build quality is generally Ok but it's nothing to rave about either. The AF performance is good on a capable body although even the EOS 50D had a few problems in Live-View mode (contrast AF). Tamron's new VC (Vibration Compensation) is very promising and about as good as competing image stabilization systems. All-in-all the lens may be a tad better than Canon's 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS but if you're looking for high image quality rather than convenience you should look elsewhere. ]]> Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:15:32 +0100