Tamron 18-200mm DiII zoom lens

[BlackeyCole]

I am thinking about getting this lens to use in place of my Canon 18-55mm and my Quantray 70-200mm lenses.  I shoot Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) eventsboth the Action or ground matches and the Mounted matches for both SASS and CMSA events.  I find that at times my idea picture range is the 40 and 120 mm and at first I figure grab a new camera body and put one lens on each but I still might miss a shot because I am swiitching cameras so I figured the best thing would to buy a lens that work the range I needed.

I started out looking at the Sigma 28-300mm because I have a Sigma 170-500 mm lens already that I use for those distance shots but after reading the reviews.  I changed my mind since most were not favorable.  But the only reviews I can find on the Tamron are in the mags and I don't trust them since they accept advertising from Tamron.

Any one out there have this lens and what do you think about it?

[larsrc]

I am thinking about getting this lens to use in place of my Canon 18-55mm and my Quantray 70-200mm lenses.  I shoot Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) eventsboth the Action or ground matches and the Mounted matches for both SASS and CMSA events.  I find that at times my idea picture range is the 40 and 120 mm and at first I figure grab a new camera body and put one lens on each but I still might miss a shot because I am swiitching cameras so I figured the best thing would to buy a lens that work the range I needed.

I started out looking at the Sigma 28-300mm because I have a Sigma 170-500 mm lens already that I use for those distance shots but after reading the reviews.  I changed my mind since most were not favorable.  But the only reviews I can find on the Tamron are in the mags and I don't trust them since they accept advertising from Tamron.

Any one out there have this lens and what do you think about it?
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I don't have the lens, but if your ideal range is 40-120, then you may want to consider a lens that's not quite as extreme as an 18-200.  There's an awful lot of compromises in such a range, and the sharpness tests for the 18-200 at slrgear.com is truly a horror.  You could get a Canon 28-135 IS USM for a little more -- the USM in particular may be useful for your purpose.   There's a number of 24/28 - 105/135 around that are significantly better quality for the price.  Especially when you already have a 170-500, you don't need your other lens to overlap it, a gap of 35mm at that range should not be a problem.

-Lars

[Yakim Peled]

I second the suggestion for the 28-135. Another option is the Tamron 24-135.

http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

[situgrrl]

I'll second the Tamron 24-135 - it's far sharper than you would ever imagine and outperforms my sigma EX stuff.  Having said that, I'm selling it - too slow and overlaps other lenses I have.

[larsrc]

I am thinking about getting this lens to use in place of my Canon 18-55mm and my Quantray 70-200mm lenses.  I shoot Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) eventsboth the Action or ground matches and the Mounted matches for both SASS and CMSA events.  I find that at times my idea picture range is the 40 and 120 mm and at first I figure grab a new camera body and put one lens on each but I still might miss a shot because I am swiitching cameras so I figured the best thing would to buy a lens that work the range I needed.
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One more thing:  If these events are indoors, you should consider an f/2.8 lens.  And if there's any kind of fast/sudden action going on, you want to pay close attention to how fast and how well the AF works -- and having f/2.8 certainly helps for that.  Unfortunately, that range doesn't come with a lot of f/2.8 lenses, and the few there are all in the $700 range, like the Sigma 50-150 or the Tokina 50-135.

Consider your targets, then choose the lens.