One LENS To Rule Them All? TAMRON 18-400 REVIEW

Is the TAMRON 18-400 the only lens someone would need on a cropped sensor camera? This is a review of the Tamron 18-400.

To learn more about this lens Click Here.

You can get this lens for Nikon and Canon mounts and sometime in the future I would be for Sony as well.

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[ThisGuy]

Wind tunnel test has convinced me. It's on the list now.

[guameimei]

I'm not a super technical guy but I know a nice photo when I see one and have carried around enough heavy lenses to know that I appreciate my 18-400 Tamron. I have it on my d7100 Nikon, but also use it on my little d3100 Nikon sometimes. Super happy with this lense. I love everything about it. It looks good and feels good too. I try to carry other lenses sometimes, then I ask myself why? It doesn't make sense. This does everything I need. I've heard criticism of the VC. I don't know why. I think it's great. Nothings perfect. Oh. and the price is crazy good for what you get.

[JohnDoe-zgfn]

Just bought this lens today and took it out. It is amazing!!! It feels great I personally think the build is nice and not too terribly heavy. Great zoom and wide angle was awesome. I recommend this lens 100%

[aboabdo]

I bought this lens exactly because of the vast range it offers. However, after using it for a couple of months, i was shocked to find out the severe focus breathing issue in this lens. I shoot birds and wildlife upclose, and when i compared it to my Canon 55-250mm lens, my Canon lens gave me closer shots at 250mm than the Tamron at 400mm. I contacted the Tamron supplier in Dubai but they refused to acknowledge the problem and said the lens was fine, even though i showed them samples of both lenses. The Tamron lens also has sharpness problems and it really struggles to acquire focus in less contrasty scenes. Despite its great range, i was disappointed with its performance. I hope that you try the focus breathing and compare the lens to other lenses at closer distances.

[nathanfrisby]

This lens is a great all around lens for my Nikon D7500, I have really been surprised by how great some of the photos have turned out.

[JonathanBondu]

pretty impressed by the wind tunnel test results... when I want to choose a lens, I always come back to the wind tunnel tests to make my choice.

[kennygo]

Wanted to drop in here and let you know. This lens lives on my D7200 and I love the images I get from it. I have other cameras for "special" stuff, but for everyday carry "on the road" photography, there isn't a better APS-C lens on the market. You get the composition you want, with very nice quality. At least for the Nikon guys out there... buy with confidence.

[froknowsphoto]

Would you replace 3 lenses with this one? If so why or why not?

[jimcummingspix]

Can't comment on this lens but I spent 17 days in China with the Tamron 16-300 and my Canon 11-22. 90% of my shots on the Tamron. Over 2800 frames taken and 6 were OOF or otherwise unusable. I have printed up to 30x24 and could go larger. I was surprised at how ell the Tamron performed and doubt anyone (except fellow photographers/gear heads) would find the pix anything but great focus, contrast and color. I'll leave the "is it art" discussion to others but all I know, I've sold several large prints to very happy customers who I did not even solicit (they saw the pix and wanted one). So... I wouldn't be surprised if this lens is a great bargain for what it does.

[bartandrasful]

I have purchased it's little brother (not so little), the Tamron B016N, that is a 16-300 mm lens at F/3, 5-6, 3, now I use it for a year on my Nikon D3300 and with great satisfaction.
At time of the purchase came out the the 18-400 lens and hesitated a little about which one to buy. Finally I decided to buy the previous one, because of the extra 2 millimeters on wide
angle, because I make many building shots or in cramped spaces. The crop factor of my Nikon is 1, 5, the wide angle narrows to 24 mm instead of 28, 8 mm on the 18-400 lens.
On the other hand, last week arrived my 2x teleconverter from Japan through eBay. Its for Nikon and all the electrical contacts are included, so I can use the autofocus and
all the functions as without it. So now I got a 900 mm telephoto lens, that is slightly longer than the zoom lens alone. I hardly could wait to test it outdoors with maximum focal length.

[garybrumley]

I took this lens with a Canon M5 mirrorless camera on a British Isles cruise earlier this year. I did have a 24-70/f2.8 and a 70-200/f2.8 as backups. I was satisfied with the results, which were to document our trip with some photos. It was a great walk around lens. It performed very well in most instances. The only time that it did not work well was when I was trying to capture movement. I was on our balcony snapping some shots of gulls flying around our ship. It was having an issue tracking the birds in flight in AF. I tried a few shots in MF and that was just OK. Overall, the Tamron did OK. I even took some indoor shots at a Beatles museum with varying light levels and I was pleasantly surprised. I think that as long as you realize the limitations of the lens, this could be a decent travel lens. If you want to be creative, pull out your good glass.

[jayyy]

i got this lens for aviation photography for a good price and love it

[ajh]

I had Tamron’s 70-200 g2 and 150-600g2 and sold them as they were to heavy for me to really enjoy them. Picked up the 18-400mm and it is lighter and offers me one lens to travel or zoo photography with. Manage your expectations and unless you’re a professional photographer, the image quality will be acceptable for a beginner or enthusiast.

[LourdesVenard]

I use this lens for bird photos with a Canon 80D. Love it!

[GiuseppePipia]

Actually, you should read the paperwork! For example, the Sigma 150-600 lenses in their paperwork it's written that you should not disconnect the lens while the OS is on. The correct way, to avoid having glass stuck in an unrepairable and out of warranty manner, is to turn off the OS and then disconnect the lens from the camera.
Therefore: read the paperwork! Or at least get an eye on it! :P

Great concise review by the way!

[AJITEM]

Hi
Thanks for this review. I am using this lens for a year. Now I need some better, sharp, more zoom lens than thus one. which would you suggest please?

[genghis]

I’m sticking to my Nikon 18-200 that I have now in my bag for sometime. Master and love the one you’re with.

[connorevans]

Has anyone else had issues accessing the sample RAW files? Very very helpful video though thank you!!

[Sclafani_alyssarose]

i use this lens for everything from concerts to sports photography to bird watching

[sobanosilva]

My Tamron 18-400mm is perfect for my artistic needs. I actually used CommLite to adapt it to a G7 M43 camera and now have about a 36-800mm lens which allows me quite a latitude and scenes to shoot without ever having to remove the lens subjecting the sensor to dust.