My Review: Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 VC PZD All-In-One Zoom Lens

This lens helps me take beautiful photos!

I got tired of carrying around two lenses, or, having to choose which lens I wanted with me. Choosing between a long zoom lens and the Canon EOS Rebel T3i stock lens caused me to miss photo opportunities. No matter how fast I got at changing lenses, there was always the hassle of carrying around the extra lens. I missed the ability to just use one lens for everything, so when I found this lens on sale I decided that I had to give it a try. There were some reviews that mentioned distortion and other issues, but I have yet to see it in my photos.

This all-in-one zoom lens suits my purposes very well. At 18mm, it captures a pretty wide angle, and at 270mm it's about as much zoom as I'd want to try without a tripod.

Below you will find a few photos I took with it. The photos are cropped and resized to meet Squidoo's criteria, but they are otherwise unedited.

Colors appear bight, photos appear distortion free, and it's so much fun to use this lens! It's a great fit for my artistic desire to capture landscapes and animals up-close.

It's also a pleasure to use. This lens' autofocus works well, focusing very fast and quietly (especially when not using live mode).

It has image stabilization (actually called Vibration Compensation) that helps with producing clear pictures. This is easy to control, though, as there is an on/off switch on the lens, right under the Manual/Auto Focus switch. I turn it off when I use a tripod, since it's unnecessary then.

I am still learning to take better photos, but so far I've found a few tricks. When using the full zoom at 270mm, I usually try to turn up my shutter speed because small movements are magnified. I had a few disappointingly blurry pictures before I figured this out. Alternatively, I use a tripod.

I just found that what works at 18 millimeters doesn't work exactly the same way at 270mm. Also, if you want to blur out the background, setting it at the widest aperture and using a bit of zoom help to give the effect seen in the close-up photo of the frosted leaves. Zoom is not just for far away objects! Try it on flowers and you'll be amazed! I can't wait for Spring to arrive!

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